Scottish-born Jo Hamilton is a painter by trade, but her recent work has manifested itself in a truly exciting new medium: crochet. She spends hours calmly, painstakingly crocheting large-scale depictions of Portland's cityscape as well as portraits of her dearest friends. The work is impressively meticulous and pleasingly colorful; Jo interprets shadows through tone and color in a way I've never seen! She also organizes her gigantic collection of yarn according to their tonal ranges: warm and cool versions of each color residing in their right and individual places. When I visited she was working on a beautiful full-body portrait of a close friend, half-done the piece easily sprawled out to 3 feet long. Imagining it completed is an exciting prospect, so keep an eye of for upcoming shows to see this inspiring hand-crafted work!

click to visit Jo's website

Andy Paiko is a glass blower that has been practicing his craft since he was just a teenager. Taken under the wing of a seasoned artisan at that young age, he has honed his abilities and used them to to create non-traditional glass works like spinning wheels and bicycles! He has also collaborated with many artists and businesses throughout the city; most notably the Composer and Sound artist Ethan Rose to make one the most visually and sonically compelling installations, Transference. When I visited his studio, he was working on a stunningly diverse range of projects: fixing his glass spinning wheel so that it will be pristine for it's permanent residency at the Smithsonian (!!), perfecting a gorgeous Bell Jar for a fancy London Jeweler, and fixing some vintage thrift store goblets for a friend. Andy's workshop is full of glass projects within that spectrum, as well as gorgeous curiosities like bird feathers and mysterious bones. Check out Andy's beautiful and enigmatic works below and through his website!

click to visit Andy's website

Liam Drain is a ceramic wonder - making usable and lovely pottery as well as mysterious objects that look like they surfaced from a hidden future realm. He recently showed the latter work at PNCA's Manuel Izquierdo Gallery in a show entitled "If you were asking the right questions you would know the answers in advance." Taken from the roundabout and strange words of a Soviet Commissar, the show features ebony pieces that speak of secrets but no clear uses; half-mast flags, objects reminiscent of teapots on tall intricately curved stands, and curious manuscripts whose pages cannot be turned. Liam makes gorgeous wheel-thrown pieces for use as well; vases, bowls, cups, mugs, stands, and bottles which are all available to custom order! So get yourself some handcrafted and meaningful wares while you can!

click to see some of Liam's work.

Emily Counts is an artist who explores organic and geometric forms through a variety of artistic disciplines. Her aim is to document the "transformative, unstable, and energetic properties of our world, while presenting a landscape or object that physically manifests an individual or shared psyche." This has recently taken the form of lush, gorgeous and otherworldly installations that include ceramic representations of familiar objects; candles, plants, etc. as well as intriguing self-portraits. She was finishing up with several pieces when I arrived - ceramic works that take the forms of computers and telephones, utilizing electricity to function in the most interesting ways I've ever seen! The computer pictured below has a two-way mirror and a button which illuminates the geometric forms within.
Though she studied painting at the California College of Arts and the Hochsule der Kunste in Berlin, her work is usually based in tactile, detailed objects that look like rare and precious relics. She paints her ceramic works with white gold (literal gold!) and often depicts damask and diamond motifs within those works. She has shown recently in Portland at The Vestibule and at Place Gallery, as well as several galleries in Los Angeles and Tokyo. She is currently a member of the LA based art collective Durden and Ray, which includes some awesome contemporary artists and really unique work. Emily also makes fantastic ceramic jewelry, which can be seen/purchased locally at Nationale on Burnside.

click to go to Emily's website.

The Portland Garment factory is a local Pattern Drafting, size grading, design consultation, sample construction, line production, garment manufacturing wonderland located in the adorable Montavilla neighborhood. Originally conceived as a business to make children's clothing by owner Britt Howard (who was in turn inspired by her two amazing kids), simply because there was nothing currently offered in that arena; Britt soon came to realize that there was a need for local, larger scale garment production here in our fair city. Hence, The Portland Garment factory was born, and now serves local favorites such as Holly Stalder, Dawn Sharp, and Emily Ryan (just to name a few) as well as other designers and companies across the United States. Britt has a wonderful team of people behind her, including lovely business partner Rosemary Robinson, and a beautiful SUPER high-ceiling-ed warehouse complete with a nifty swing to construct garments in! Britt also makes beautiful soft sculptures, and has a show at PLACE gallery opening within the coming months that you should not miss. Now, don't you feel just a bit more fantastic about our lovely localities?

click to go to Portland Garment Factory's website.

Rachel Hays is an illustrator and performer who makes heartfelt and personal comics. Her style is very unique - using little shading and a very specific palette of colors. She often pairs realistic emotional content with surrealist imagery, something that ultimately gets her point a cross in a very interesting way! She also makes masks (which can depict anything between greek god-like bearded men to woodland creatures) as well as beautiful textured jewelry. Her current pursuits are directed towards her music; she performs under the name Golden Spun, singing sweet rhythmic songs and playing guitar alongside. Much of her inspiration comes from things and people she's come across during her extensive travels - she recently came back from a long stay in Korea teaching, and returned with one of her two cute cats! Check out Rachel's comics, and keep an eye out for upcoming Golden Spun shows!

click to go to Rachel's website.

Midori Hirose is an intermedia artist who works largely with the concepts of structure and disorder; using an almost staggering array of disciplines to investigate these ideas. Her work is often geometric, dealing with form and it's ability to invoke chaos or order when placed near more playful, loose shapes or colors. Her current work is highly influenced by the previous ideas, but also by the medium she chose: sand. Using sand to "paint," she creates gradients and patterns, encasing the sand within transparent geometric containers. In the past she has utilized sculpture, paint, astroturf, woodwork, and faux fur to create a range of beautiful pieces, and is influenced by her background in early childhood education as well as folklore and historical references. Her studio is full of mesmerizing mediums, and is shared by her husband and fellow artist Adam Sorensen as well as several sweet felines (see below!). Midori has a group show or two in the mix, keep an eye out for her wonderful work! I highly recommend seeing it in person, eye-to-eye is magical with these pieces.

click to go to Midori's website.

Heather Treadway is a fashion designer who loves capes! Her sewing studio/boutique Aequanimitas is full of them, and when I happened over she was working on the stunning number below for queen-diva Big Freedia, a cape complete with shoulder pads and gold chains. Heather's work is always intriquing - most often pairing geometric shapes with unexpected colors and fabrics. Her studio is no different; full of the tell-tale geometry of her work as well as those fabulous colors. Located in the 811 building on East Burnside, Aequanimitas has openings every first friday and I highly recommend heading over!

click to go to Heather's website.

Keegan Meegan Press and Bindery was founded by Katy Meegan and Keegan Wenkman, two amazing printmakers that have a real passion for antique presses! Besides tending to the lovely and impressive machinery gracing their workshop, the two are raising funds to preserve a Historic 1950's Chandler and Price press (donate here!). What really sets Keegan Meegan apart from other print shops is their beautiful, hand-illustrated letterpress and their incredibly personal approach towards new projects. Each new endeavor comes with a set of thoughtful questions and friendly consultation, so that prints can be as distinctive as possible; especially in the case of weddings invitations (which have such adorably couple-specific imagery!). Katy and Keegan have been printing as Keegan Meegan since 2007, and their spacious printshop on the Southeast Waterfront is full of magical presses, drawers of lead type, and a sweet-hearted Black Lab named Roxy. Be sure to check out their important fundraising project and all of their beautiful work!

click to go to the Keegan Meegan website.

Grant McGavin is a woodworker and custom furniture designer who works primarily with Oregon Black Walnut. Grant designs under the moniker, "Heartwood Design," and uses wood that has been salvaged from urban areas - meaning that his creations have no impact on natural ecosystems, and are saved from being used as firewood. Grant's designs have a very modern, sleek feel to them; simple elegance that doesn't distract from the wood's natural beauty. He also keeps in mind the way the wood is milled, letting the edges and grain of the wood shine through within his designs. His pieces can have the mark from where a branch once sprouted, or don the telltale age-rings from the magnificent trees they are made from. Each piece is hand-made, taking time to consider form and to find the perfect wood pieces with which to make it. Grant in fact surrounds himself with this very same wood, working at a specialty wood company by day (Goby Black Walnut), and on his own designs after hours as well as with almost all of his free time. His work stands to be the most beautiful and unique furniture I've ever seen, and the sustainable and local aspects of it only speak to his amazing dedication to his craft. Check out more of Grant's wonderful woodworking below!

click to go to Grant's website.

Colette Patterns is an amazing sewing pattern company founded by the lovely Sarai Mitnick. Fusing vintage sophistication with modern clean lines and simplicity, Colette makes the sewing patterns we've all been dreaming of! I was lucky enough to visit while Sarai and sewing intern and counterpart Caitlin Clark were working on two new patterns; Violet and Ginger. You can see Violet in its beginning stages below! The Colette studio, located in southeast Portland, is full of lace-y trimmings, ribbon, thread, buttons, light, and all the fabric you can imagine, making it the perfect sewing dreamworld to construct such lovely patterns in. Colette also features a wonderfully helpful sewing blog - detailing inspiring designers, fabric descriptions, and sewing tutorials by Sarai, Caitlin, and fellow intern Rachel Rector. Their hope is to get people sewing, showing the way with patterns that are easy to understand, but nonetheless chic and impressive. You can purchase these fantastic patterns through the Colette Patterns website as well as in person at local fabric boutique Bolt.

click to go to the Colette Patterns website.

Dominic De Venuta (aka Dominic Toast) is a photographer, painter, and illustrator from LaFayette, California. Currently slaving away on his thesis for The Pacific NW College of Art, Dominic hopes to bring to light questions about death and its connection to art - especially outsider art. While he has been grappling with those feelings, he's translated them into detailed, visceral, and absurd scenes of characters pseudo-hilariously dealing with the physical being of death and its inescapable dominion. Dominic's illustrations draw you in with such vibrant color and personality, dishing out funny or strange remarks and technically immaculate line-quality. He is somehow able to inject pieces of his demeanor into each work, leaving a visual diary of clever finished or unfinished thoughts. This is probably partly due to the fact that he is constantly drawing, keeping multiple sketchbooks at any given moment and always working from observation or pure imagination. Besides being a drawing-machine and working on his thesis, Dominic is an illustration gun for hire that also shows his work around town - he has a show at Vestibule coming up in June! He will also be debuting his fantastic thesis in May, so look out!

click to go Dominic's website.

Wynde Dyer is an artist, photographer, community builder, performance artist, and founder of local shop ad art space, GoldenRule. Without any formal training, Wynde works from intuition and memory - categorizing bad or good memories within pieces that are made with very meaningful and specific materials. Her paintings are largely made to understand her past and access traumatic memories with greater detail, allowing her pieces of consciousness as work progresses. She describes memories as flooding back from dormant images when used as references for paintings, creating a physical representation psychological space. Much of this categorization is also put towards imagery and how it can be provocative, "safe" or "unsafe." Wynde describes her black and white paintings of colonial architecture to be therapeutic and safe, whereas pieces that reference childhood can feel unsafe. To that point, she is working with those feelings of danger and discomfort to exorcise past demons by creating sand paintings of hurtful words she has been told within the course of her life. Sand works as an important medium due to its personal significance for Wynde, and also serves to create a bright, aesthetically pleasing rendition of content that is not so cheerful. This saturday, Wynde will be making her sand paintings at Place Gallery at 7PM, spreading her freeing works and offering the same therapy to all attending. GoldenRule, the space she founded and helps run, also has regular openings on the first friday of every month that are themed and curated brilliantly! So if you haven't been, don't miss out!

click to go Wynde's website.click to go GoldenRule's website.

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