McMenamins

Acrylic on 48" X 96" panel. Painted between March and May of 2010.

This painting is intended for the Zeus Cafe, which will be on the ground floor of the building made triangular by the intersections of Stark and Burnside Streets and Twelfth Avenue in Portland, Oregon.

The three-sided plot of land that normally holds Ringler's Annex and the Crystal Hotel buildings has been replaced here by a giant soaking pool in the middle of this "neighborhood bar" scene. Jazz musicians use the power of their music to lift ghostly dancing couples out of the warm, pink water and further along their haunting flights out of the picture frame and into the hotel rooms above the liquid dance floor.

A rotating mirror-ball casts starry reflections around the room as the bar's customers sit with their backs to the soaking pool. At each table they are conducting séances with electric crystal balls that glow even while unplugged. The singer's microphone is also disconnected from power. Quite a few things are amiss in this painting, and yet the dancing continues.

I could say more about all the people and details included in this scene, but for now let it be noted that I relied heavily on the vast amount of research and photographs provided by
McMenamins' historian, Tim Hills.

About the author: Lyle Hehn is one of our McMenamins artists and has been with the company since 1988.