6/19/06
Bathtub Cake you can Make

Thanks to Christine Dorthea Maris for spotting this How-to Bubble Bath Cake in June 2006 Issue of Woman's Day. In fact if you were to buy all the ingredients to make this cake, you'd spend a lot of money and time - my goodness the receipe calls for 11 packages of chiclets, 6 packages of blue gum, 1 marshmellow, 1 pez candy, 1 stick of green apple gum, 1 gray necco candy wafer, 1 donut hole, 6 white good & plenty, 1 thin breadstick... etc not to mention you still have to buy two pre-made cakes, and pink marshmellows. It's fun to look at the cake to figure out what it made of. Click picture to Enlarge

Check out the BATHTUB CAKE BAKE-OFF - Deadline August 23rd, 2006 - Photos of cakes will be shown on August 28th in honor of the Bathtub Art Museum's 3rd Birthday.

6/16/06
Keweenaw News

Chevalier Daniel C. Boyer who has guest curated the "Bathtubs in Heraldry" exhibit that opened June, even got a little press in Michigan. He sent us this clip from his local paper. Click to Enlarge.

5/15/06
Björk Bathtub with Oranges

Japanese Culture, a bath of oranges, a whaling ship, Björk & filmmaker Matthew Barney: This is the upcoming Japanense-American art film Drawing Restraint 9. The preview was stunning and mysterious - especially this bathtub with oranges on a whaling ship. Coming out first week of June 2006 in Portland.
5/8/06
Fame Part I: As Cited in the Bathroom Companion

So the story goes, I was at the Portland Central library waiting for a friend, when I noticed this little book called "The Bathroom Companion" on the New Releases shelf. Oooh that looks like it might have cool tub facts, I thought. So while I waited I started to flip through the book of random facts under no category. The kind of book you can read while you are on the john. A few cool tub facts here and there, but I was getting tired of all the facts on toilet paper - who cares! Well then I turned to page 33.. and suddenly read my own name, Carye Bye, in bold. My draw dropped - as I did not know I was refrenced in any book, nor bolded for that matter. I looked around for someone to show, but was all alone. What a funny little moment. I now am known as Carye Bye, as cited in the Bathroom Companion. I thought it was kind of pecular that my name was bolded instead of the Bathtub Art Museum. Click images to enlarge. The Book is by James Buckley Jr. and published by Quirk Books/Distributed by Chronicle Books

5/8/06
Fame Part II: Portland Puzzler

A day or two later I'm still glowing from my previous fame moment when I am shopping in SCRAP in North Portland. There is a huge stack of these 2006 portable calendars called "Who Knew Portland Puzzler." Each page has crossword with a Portland Theme. Such as bridges, famous people, or parks. I went through a few pages when I get to August which is about Museums of Portland. I see the clue: " A Museum dedicated to the art of the rub-a-dub-dub"Answer Key. Bathtub Museum? Why Yes! Again a surprise "in print" of the museum I did not know about. It's funny how these things happen when you least expect it. (Click pic to Enlarge)
5/2/06
Spartacus Tub Window

Saw this 'tubby' window last week at Spartacus (Adult Shop) at SW 12th & Burnside in Portland - A little duckie tub display. Click photo to enlarge.

3/31/06
Slither Opens Today

I'm not huge on horror flicks so I won't be seeing this one - though a few reviews said it was great 80s style comic horror film. Well my interest of course is the promo poster shot of a bathtub, a ladies leg, and somes slitherly creatures crawling in. Hmmm.

3/06/06
Oregon's Governer in a Bathtub

In a political cartoon published on 3/6/06 in the Oregonian, Governer Kulongoski is bowling, juggling, handstanding, and taking a bubble bath with the caption, "Governer Kulongoski has other priorities than debating at this time." Click on detail to see full cartoon.

2/4/06
Bathtub Parade Scene cut short

This past month the PINE (Portland International Nature & Evironment) brought engaging films to Portland audiences. In the schedule I read about a movie called, The Nome Road System (2004, Germany). In the discription it described that a "Fun bathtub parade down main street" would be shown as part of this documentary. Well I had to go see this. I'd read about the Nome bathtub parade, but had yet to see film footage. However the movie stopped towards the end, before I saw the scene, and the volunteer promptly put on the next short. I enquired afterwards about what could be done. Well it turns out getting the movie was a huge ordeal, first a non-working copy was sent. Then this version had the end cut off. So it sounds like I won't be seeing this one anytime soon. Ah well. - Carye

2/3/06
Rob Flower's Postcard Art

Discovered this small work by UK artist Robert Flowers at Half & Half Cafe (923 Oak St, Portland Ore.) today as part of a gocco print show put on by The Wurst Gallery. The show was showing Gocco print artists. Gocco is an easy screen printing technique using a Japanese made press. Ther is no more information about this artist, as he is the only one on the list of artists without a weblink.

12/13/05
Seven Swans A-Bathing in Holiday Window!
Click Photos to Enlarge

Every Year Meier & Frank in Downtown Portland has an animated "12 Days of Christmas" window display. Seven Swans are A-swimming' in a fine bubble bath in one of the windows. If you are in Portland, Check it out through Christmas at SW Morrison & 6th Avenue, one block from Pioneer Square.

12/06/05
Russian Woman in Tub Falls into Neighbor's Living Room

From News of the Weird 11/8/05 The Oregonian (From Ananova.com)

In Solnechnaya, Russia, a woman was taking a bath when the floor gave way, droping her and the bathtub into the apartment below. She said, "I had just dozed off and then I heard this huge crash and realized what had happened. The bathroom floor just collapsed under the bath and I came crashing through the ceiling of the people below me. They seemed as shocked as I was when they saw me lying there naked in the bath in the middle of their living room".

10/06/05
Bye Bye Bobby!

Thanks Matt P. of Portland for discovering bathtub art in his Sticker Book from 1985! Garbage Pail Kids are now Classic 80s Nostalgia

10/06/05
October 7th is National Bathtub Day

Take a Bath or paint your tub to celebrate!

9/29/05
Bathtub Art Seen at Last Thursday

Art on Alberta in Portland, Oregon debuted a show called "Urban Legends" on Last Thursday September at the Embellishments Studio located at 5018 NE 22nd Ave, Suite E. This Bathtub piece "Sewer Croc" should be on view through the month. Call for more info 503-335-7044.

9/06/05
October's Tub Artist seen sporting Tub Tee

Sang Park, BAM's tub artist next month(October), was seen in North Portland wearing a Tub T-shirt based on his own design. Not only does he have exquisite taste in clothing, but he happened to be riding his bike & recycling. Wow, what an outstanding citizen!Click picture to enlarge

8/28/05
BAM celebrates TWO YEARS

The Bathtub Art Museum celebrates it's 2nd Birthday today, Sunday, August 28th, 2005. Since the Museum's debut,15,000 visitors have browsed the bathtub art exhibits.

Illustration by Alessandra Silver

8/25/05
Amazing Movie Star Bathtub Book

Thanks to Petr Sorfa for donating this fabulous book to the museum's collection. The book compiled by Jack Scagnetti and published in 1975 contains 156 photos of movie stars in tubs.

8/22/05
Bathtub Sculpture jipped of First Prize!

Teams of 10 competed Saturday July 23rd in SCRAP's (School & Community Re-Use Action Project) Iron Artist Sculpt-off. In Three hours, team "Arts & Scraps" sponsored by Wild Oats, designed and built this spectactular mermaid bathing in a tub sculpture out of wire, duct tape, bottle caps, scrap paper, and more. This year's theme "Flow" was announced seconds before the competition begin. Another team that made a sculpture of a miniature man took home grand prize this year. We here at the Bathtub Art Museum disagree with the judges, and believe the bathtub mermaid sculpture to be most deserving. Click Image to enlarge

8/10/05
Rattle-snake Bathtub Sitting Champion!

Jackie "Texas Snake Man" Bibby holds the world record for rattlesnake bathtub sitting. Eighty-six snakes at last count (July, 2005)! Learn More! Click Image to enlarge

8/01/05
Found Tub Art

Christine of San Francisco found this "Bunny in Tub Reading People" drawing in a notebook in a closet at her old job. What a fantastic find worthy of a news blurb. Drawing by Unknown SF Mental Health Resident

Click to enlarge

7/27/05 6 pm central
Historic Tub up for auction on EBAY ($10,000)

With Less then 24 hours to go, for $10,000, you could be the owner of a historic tub. Whose was it? And why is it historic? The Headline for the sale reads: Martin Luther King Jr Civil Rights Artifact Bathtub. At First I thought it was the tub that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr last bathed in before being shot in 1968 -- but it is in fact the bathtub from a boarding house across the street from the Lorraine Motel where King was staying. James Earl Ray stood in the tub when he fired the fatal shot through the bathtub window. Go to the ebay auction to read more. No bidders yet.

6/24/05
Oily Bird gets a Bath
Photo Essay printed in the Oregonian 6-24-05. This poor Barn Owl fell from his junkyard nest into Motor oil. He is getting ab ath at Portland Wildlife Care Center.

6/15/05
Economist Cover: Marat in Tub
In an Article entitled "The Europe that Died" the editors of the journal The Economist chose the painting The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David as the cover. It shows the murdered Marat in his tub (which also served as his office since he had to soak often because of a skin ailment). Marat had connections to the French Revolution (1798), and was murdered by a traitor. The words on the wooden box, next to the tub have been removed on this cover, probably for design sake. In fact this particular point has opened up a new mystery. The painting I know about has the words "A Marat" and "DAVID" centered underneath. The Postcard I have says "Nayant Pu ME Corrom pre ils m'ont assassine" I don't know French, so I'll have to do a little more searching to figure this one out. As far as I know there is only one Marat painting. (But then again, I thought there was only one "Scream" but there are in fact 4 - with one currently missing.)

5/9/05
Drowning as Performance Art and Other Bathtub Works at Reed College
Senior Art Thesis Projects on view May 6 - May 16th


I found this "bathtub" postcard for a senior thesis art show at Reed College that is up for 10 days - May 6 - 16th. I went to the opening and was thrilled to discover that 4 out of 5 Senior thesis works included some form of bathtub art!

Arini Esarey's "Constructing an intimate place" was a personal and scientific look into a particular house on Belmont Avenue. A book represented each room. There is no furniture, nothing on the walls. The downstairs bathroom book showed a photo of a tub (one of the few pieces of furniture that never really leaves a house and gets passed on to future lodgers.)

Lindsay Fuchs' "Nothing's Ever Simple" was an installation of photos, postcards, & clippings from Nat'l Geographic. Her piece at first seems simple, tacked up photos, but then as you look you discover patterns -- the horizons of the postcards match up, shapes repeat, clusters of clipping seem to speak. And of course my eye was drawn to a couple old photos of babies in tubs.

Julia Bean showed photographs of shadows and light, bodies, rooms, lovely compositions. One photos shows Julia's shadow in front of the tub.

And now we come to Jonathan Murphy's Post Video. I watched it twice, once with out sound, once with sound. At the beginning there is a close up of Jonathan talking to the viewer, giving a little background - though not much. He is a performance artist, and his piece is drowning in a tub. He has bound his hands, put nose plugs in for safety, and asked his friends to put a big concrete block on his chest and they are instructed to only take him out of the tub when he's gone unconscious. Jonathan also says that he admires the 70's performance artist Chris Burden who shot himself in the arm in the name of art. So I watch the video, Jonathan peaceful lays in the tub with the concrete block on his chest. Soon enough his breath runs out and he starts gasping for breath and swallows water. He then goes quiet; his friends come, drag him from the tub and give him CPR. Jonathan wakes, and spits up water while coughing on the floor of the bathroom. End of video. We get no more explanation of why Jonathan wanted to drown for art. I feel there is more dialogue and questions that this piece brings up, and I hope to write up an essay on the Bathtub and Performance Art in the near future.

3/1/05
A Bathtub Valentine


Someone actually asked me if I wrote this valentine that was printed along hundreds in the Portland Mercury (2/10/05) on page 43. Alas I did not, but whom ever did, I hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

2/7/05
First Thursday Bathtub Art in Portland


Three Dictators in a Tub, a 40" x 40" digital print by Jim Riswold is on view through Feb 24th at the Augen Gallery (817 SW Second, Portland)

Note: The picture is from the Oregonian, The crease is not part of the real work.

12/29/04
American Standard is having a Sexy Plumber contest. Check it out! Click on the image below to vote on your favorite pin-up plumber. 12 guys and 1 gal to choose from!

12/15/04
Phil Busse will scrub your tub in Holiday Online Auction

Two Days remaining to Bid!

As I post this the biding is at $51 with only 2 days and 18 hours left. The auction started at $1.99. This is for Portland, Oregon folks only. I wish I could afford to have Mr. Busse scrub my tub, perhaps in the future he might donate his services to the Bathtub Art Museum

Go to the Portland Mercury Holiday Auction

Go Directly to Auction

12/06/04
Bathtub Matchbook Art found at a Bazaar!

At the Winter Handmade Bazaar, an annual tradition at Nocturnal in SE Portland on Dec 4 & 5th this year, Bathtub Art was discovered at the table of a young man selling collaged matchboxes. As the director of the Bathtub Art Museum, Carye Bye, picked up a few, she asked the usual question, "Do you have any with bathtubs?" Expecting the usual answer, "No", She was surprised to hear, "Yes I do." The above matchbox with a collage of a 50s advertising of a man in a brown suit showing a yellow tub was then displayed. How much? $5. Sold. A new piece of Bathtub Art has been added to the collection. The artist name was taken, but currently misplaced, and will be added shortly.

12/02/04
Reprinted 1950s photograph in Oregonian

This photograph was reprinted in the Oregonian today in the Archived Stories & News weekly section. It says: Donated dolls to the Toy and Joy Makers are given a thorough scrub-down by Fireman Darrelil Coffee and Russ Duhrkoop at Station 1 before the toys are sent out to women's groups to be dressed. Lt. Lee Carter prepares another doll for the tub. The season is Christmas and the year was 1959.

5/3/04
Battlefield Bathtub

This week the local newspaper ran a story by Tony Perry from the LA Times-Washington Post Service called Battlefield Hell moves Marines to seek Baptism. This is probably the first "serious" bathtub story I've seen (that doesn't involve a scene of a crime.) The article talks about troops in Iraq on the frontlines requesting baptisms. This request has been so popular the miltary has even created a how-to guide to build a bathtub onsite for baptisms. The photo shows one that was made by stacking up boxes of Meals Ready to Eat to make a small bathtub; then plastic put inside and water from 14 five-gallon Marine Corps water cans.

2/3/04
Bathtub Chan!

I recently discovered a lovely (Japanese?) cartoon character called Bathtub Chan by San-X. I am not sure, but it seems that San-X is related to Sanrio. Bathtub Chan is a giant bathtub head with many friends taking a bath inside including rabbits, ducks, bears, and frogs! All I could find on the web for my new friend is the stationary/sticker set on auction on Ebay. Unfortunately someone else wants to pay more for it that I do.. But next time you are in a Japanese/Korean Stationary store. Look out for Bathtub Chan!

12/16/2003
Big Fish- Bathtubs on Film Tim Burton's new movie opened Friday (US) and while I haven't seen it yet, I have come across two promo shots using bathtubs!! One is of Albert Finney and Jessica Lange in a tub, clothed. And the other is of Bruce Snoweden, the fatman, in his tub. I hope to see this movie soon!


11/2003
Bathtub of Baked Beans

London Artist sits in bathtub of Baked Beans in store front window for 12 days. His purpose?? To show his support of English Culture, namely the full English Breakfast. Read the story from Ananova.com.

Collect Canadian Cancels

Daniel C. Boyer of Houghton, Michigan sent me information on how to get a Canadian Bathtub Cancel. Apparently you just send your stamped envelope (with proper postage) inside another envelope to the Postmaster at Bath Post Office, 166 Church Street, Bath NB E7J 1E10. I haven't tried it yet since I live in the States, so I will have to get some help from a Canadian.

8/20/2003
While over at my friend Cathy's house I spotted this cover of JANE magazine (September 2003) with Lisa Marie Presley in a bathtub. Apparently it cost $2,200 for retouching the cover photo.
--Carye Bye