THE ILLUMINATING ART OF POLLY MALBY

Shalynn Robinett

The Advocate

Polly Malby has lived a remarkable journey in the U.S. and beyond, working as a midwife and teaching midwifery to the next generation with a balance of science, art, and faith weaved into her story.

Now she channels her passion to create into unique custom lampshades and light fixtures. Her art pieces are displayed at the Red Trillium Gallery in downtown Troutdale and additional locations.

The Fairview resident said love for the arts has always been a part of her life, even while teaching nearly two decades at the Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland.

“I have always had a sense of creativity and desire to make things beautiful and fun,” she said.

“When I did midterms and final exams for my students, I made them like screenplays, and the students had to figure things out – not just regurgitate information, but show they had critical thinking skills. I had former students come up to me many years later at conventions and say they still had those exams.”

She often made special gifts for students, such as hollowed-out eggs on which she inked an image of a baby in the womb, or a young child with a mother. She made a golden speculum award for one faculty member. “Then, of course, my daughters were getting older, and they needed prom dresses, wedding dresses, and wedding cakes,” which she was glad to craft, she said.

By 2015 Greg took a secondary job at Hippo Hardware in Portland, which sells antique hardware and salvaged goods. One day he brought home a broken lampshade and asked if Polly could do something with it. She quickly replied, “Are you kidding? Silk, ribbons, colors, beads... Yeah!” And since that moment, her custom lampshades and fixtures have come to brighten many lives and earn renown.

Besides at Red Trillium, her works are displayed at the Café Delirium in Gresham and The Pendleton House Historic Inn, in Pendleton. More can be seen at McMenamins properties, such as Edgefield in Troutdale, the White Eagle Saloon & Hotel in Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood, and the Blue Moon Tavern & Grill in northwest Portland. Two of her lamps were purchased to be featured in a hotel scene for the television show “Billions.”

Polly lists artists William Morris, Maxfield Parish, and Duffy Sheridan, as well as the Art Nouveau and Craftsman eras, as inspiration. But her favorite type of lampshade project is creating heirloom and memorial lampshades, as well as shades to commemorate special events such as weddings or anniversaries.

An example: She had an opportunity to create a shade in remembrance of a child who died in a tragic accident. The mother had taken many years to unpack or dispose of any of the belongings. Finally, the mother gave her some clothing and charms, and a newspaper clipping with a poem on it that the mother read at the funeral.

“I designed the lampshade thinking this mother would never be able to attend that child’s wedding, to see them graduate, or welcome that child’s children,” said Polly. “I used strips of a blue dress to create a pocket for the mother to tuck in her child’s student body card and display that treasure, if she wished. The child’s soccer number was 2, so I included No. 2 charms with the others along the trim. I printed the poem from the newspaper clipping on a ribbon and incorporated it at the base of the shade just above the trim.

“And it was very subtle, but you could see the beautiful words from this poem as they ran around the shade. It was a very special project for me because I knew I was being helpful to that family.”

Polly loves to create shades that incorporate a bride’s colors, flowers she picked out, the style of the wedding invitation, or the type of lace on her dress.

“People having a wedding spend a lot of time and money shopping for the right flowers, the right atmosphere and theme. And then the event is over, and all the tablecloths get re- turned, the flowers wilt, and everything gets thrown out. If I make a lampshade that incorporates all those beautiful elements, it helps to preserve the memory in a beautifully unique way.”

Always there is a story attached to how she comes about her lamp-making supplies, how each piece comes together. At the Oregon Coast she encountered a woman moving her own antique shop, and in the stash was a Chinese gentleman’s wedding skirt from which a large square had been cut out from the middle. To most people, the garment would be considered ruined and unusable, but not to her.

She explains the Baha’i faith she shares with Greg plays directly into her appreciation for beauty and possibility within objects large or small. Take her love of vivid colors. “Why does a hummingbird look for a red flower? Why do we like butterflies?” she said. “It’s the color and vibrancy and marveling at the incredible creative energy in the world and trying to reflect that harmony, beauty, and joy because the world is full of darkness and sadness.

“Creating helps me feel whole, healthy, and connected to the community.”

Recently Polly was asked to join a study group researching the importance of the arts on a spiritual level, and became one of three facilitators in the U.S. for this program. Among the first topics covered was that art is a gift from the divine.

Polly loves repurposing old neckties because they come in beautiful colors and silks. She has a collection of Czech glass buttons that she uses in the shades as a little “window” to great effect.

“I’m always looking for antique crystal and glass beads. They are so brilliant when the light shines through them it excites me, and I think it excites the people who appreciate my art.”

“We are looking at the role of art in society. When we have a body of knowledge, whether it’s midwifery, education, or business, and we study it, it is just a body of knowledge; but when you put that knowledge into practice, it becomes art,” she said. “It’s not just about how we use our knowledge but also about brightening the world with beauty and creating harmony.”

“Art takes your mind to these meditative spaces, and you become more open to the divine light we’re all capable of accessing. If more people did art, I imagine that society wouldn’t be so crabby with each other, and we would find other things to do with our time other than hurt each other.”

For years, Polly has sponsored a monthly ladies’ tea meeting at the Corbett Grange. She brings an expert to teach the group an art form such as improv, cooking, quilting, painting, or even estate and financial planning. She currently has two lamp-making apprentices whom she meets with weekly and may add a third (readers here are invited to inquire). A YouTube channel that includes instructional videos may be in the works.

Polly advises students looking to enrich their lives through art to do it, and keep doing it: Grab a piece of paper, start doodling without expectation, and see what shows up. If you hit a creative block, you should put their work down, take a walk, and return to it again in the morning.

“See everything as art. See it as a way to express not just what you know, but what you love about it. You never know who or what may bring you inspiration.”

• For a full, unabridged story of Polly’s amazing life, visit: https://www.advocate-online.net/artist-births-lampshades-with-creative-passion/

• For more about Polly and her work, visit: https://shadestoremember.com/