For mixed-media artist Yoshi Aoki, working in a variety of media is one of the main reasons he enjoys being an artist. “I love materials,” he says. “Only after coming up with a design do I choose the materials I’ll work with to create it.”
When dog portrait artist Brian Vegter was working as a film and television cameraman in New York City, a friend of his opened an upscale pooch boutique in 2003. “I wasn’t getting film work I liked, so I took up the paintbrush again to make some paintings of dogs for the walls,” he says. “That turned out to be the beginning of a new career.”
An unexpected trip to Oregon in 1992 changed the trajectory of mixed-media artist Vicki Grayland’s life. “I was on my way to Venezuela on an environmental vacation and then the organization canceled the trip because of the political situation there,” says. “I looked for something else to fill the slot and came to a tai chi retreat in Southwestern Washington, and in my version of the classic Oregon story, I saw how incredibly beautiful it was here and started planning to come back.”
While growing up in sunny San Diego, Calif., furnituremaker Lawrence Newman was frequently surrounded by wood, metal and tools. “My grandfather was a general contractor, so I spent a lot of time as a kid on his project sites,” he says. “I’d take things apart and try to get all the pieces back in order. Once I even took my grandfather’s chainsaw apart and put it back together, and it still worked.”
Until she was in her early 30s, stained-glass mosaic artist Tatiana Isotov had never considered a career in art. “I started doing mosaics when I shared a yard with someone who was making them,” says Isotov. “She taught me how, and then I kept on doing it by myself.”
When painter Alison O’Donoghue was growing up, art was both a sibling bond and the basis for a bit of sibling rivalry.
While he was working and exhibiting in Germany, metal sculptor Mufu Ahmed’s friends gave him an unusual nickname: Iron Must Obey.
When fiber artist Anne Greenwood was a child, her artist-grandmother introduced her to art.
For jewelrymaker Susan Goodwin, crafting pieces is about recognizing what the material has to offer.
For furnituremaker Chris Cardy, the best part of designing furniture is creating something people like and use.
