Museum patrons and theatergoers know from the odd shop nestled in between arts institutions off the South Park blocks such as the Portland Art Museum, the Portland Center for the Performing Arts (think the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Newmark Theatre) and the Oregon Historical Society. Some of these specialty shops, though, merit a standing ovation of their own.
For metal artist John Xóchihua, creating a new piece usually leads to an entirely different product line in his always growing lineup of offerings. “I have a hard time staying in one category,” he says. “I made trellises, for example, which led me to an interest in stone slabs. Seeing how beautiful the stones looked when they were wet got me interested in doing water features.”
Glass artist Jolly Wahlstrom began his artistic career as a woodworker. “I grew up on a small farm in Northern Minnesota, in a family that didn’t have a lot of money,” he says. “When I was 19, I wanted a musical instrument, so I had to make it myself. I made an Appalachian dulcimer, and that was the beginning of my career as a craftsman.”
Growing up, fiber artist and painter Julie Simpson loved designing on graph paper. “I spent many, many hours coloring and drawing and making designs in the squares,” says the Olympia, Wash.-based artist. “I think all the time I spent doing that still influences my love of color and structure.”
In 1968, when she was 18 years old, Portland glass artist Linda Ethier learned her first glass techniques from a friend who taught her how to make stained glass. “I loved all the colors of the glass,” she says. “I made some small pieces and began selling them at crafts fairs. I’ve been working in glass ever since.”
Are you a foodie who craves the taste of a just-off-the-vine cherry tomato? Or maybe you’re thinking about growing your own veggies to slash your grocery tab during these penny-pinching times? Oregon Home asked a longtime victory gardener, two landscape designers and a professional backyard farmer to detail how you can transform a typical backyard into your own private farmer’s market.
Newly renamed, Burnside East—the business district between Sandy Blvd. and S.E. Stark St. between 39th and 12th avenues— has both a working class feel and enough boutiques geared to people with good taste to make a trek there worthwhile.
For engineer and artist Todd Loewy, designing furniture lets him combine his creative and mechanical sides. “I like to combine good design with clean structures to create something that is art, but is also useful,” he says.
Jewelry maker Loren Peters has been making jewelry almost as long as she can remember. “When I was in third grade, the mom of a friend of mine started encouraging us to make jewelry,” she says. “Growing up, I used to make necklaces with plastic heads and small dolls and miniature plastic things.”
For glass artist Steven Cornett, function is an important aspect of the creative process. “I got interested in glass when I was a college freshman,” he says. “I was studying art and learning metalworking and sculpture. One day, a friend showed me a blown-glass pitcher that a professor had made. I liked that it was something you could use and that it was art, so I visited a glass class, and I was hooked on glass-blowing.”
