The following blog post was written by metal arts artist Shelly Durica-Laiche of Indio  Metal Arts. While visiting in St. Petersburg Florida this past summer, I popped into a museum downtown called The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art which opened in November of 2017. Being from the Pacific North West I was intrigued to find this museum located in the Sunshine State. For co-founders of the museum, Tom and Mary James, it all started as a personal passion to purchase western themed art. Over the decades it became their life’s mission to support artists working in the genre and to cre ..read more

This week's blog post was written by polymer clay artist Laurel Swetnam of Sequels. The decade ends with many lists - best breweries, worst fashion trends, 10 colors for your living room, etc. It’s interesting to catalog our memories and impressions.  Work in my medium, polymer clay, continues to evolve as artists adapt and discover new ways to use it. Here are three trends of the last few years that I’ve observed. 1. Taking advantage of the resilience and lightweight nature of the material, jewelry has become more three dimensional and dramatic, like this imaginative organic brooch by Shell ..read more

Our blog this week is brought to you by polymer clay artist Laurel Swetnam. Laurel highlights the importance of play through art! One of my greatest challenges as a family therapist for young families was to teach and motivate parents to play with their children - they just didn’t know how.   Play is a cornerstone of early childhood development, but it’s just as important for us adults. Unfortunately, sometime our brains just get in the way. I posted an apt quote that a friend gave me near my workbench. Playfulness takes us out of time and place as it eases stressors and renews our sen ..read more

And now for something completely (and deliciously) different. This week's blog is a reflection of sorts and was written by visual artist Ben Gilbert of Crayons and Cardboard. The title of Ben's art business sums up his materials but not his extraordinary talent. Ben is a master at creating oftentimes hauntingly beautiful images meticulously imagined onto sheets of cardboard. If you haven't checked out Ben's work at Artistic Portland yet, you're missing out! "I tossed a spicy Dorito to the fat pigeons of Burnside and Grand today... they pecked but did not nosh until I stepped on it... if any ..read more

This week we are proud to feature potter Ren Anderson of EigenDesign. How long have you been a member of Artistic Portland, and what appealed to you about joining the Co-op? I’ve admired the concept of an art co-op for a long time. I’ve been a member of Artistic Portland since May 2019 and joined the co-op to gain first-hand experience and support the success of the co-op. What is your background? I’m a mechanical engineer, moved to Portland about six years ago and decided to open a home studio. Prior to having my own studio, I always used city or university rec center facilities ..read more

A visit to Artistic Portland will never leave you feeling uninspired! Check out this visual blog featuring current artists showing at Artistic Portland! And did we mention the holidays are right around the corner? Be sure to click on the images to see who the artist is behind the art ..read more

The following blog is brought to you by June Martin of MOTH & TWIG Mosaic Jewelry. Artistic Portland houses a wide variety of great local art, including ceramics, glass art, painting in various mediums, fiber arts, sculptural pieces in various materials including wood, metal, and found objects, as well as pretty much everything in between. In other words, if you're looking for some pretty fabulous art, look no further than Artistic Portland! You can also find a beautiful array of jewelry at Artistic Portland. Full time jewelers currently showing at Artistic Portland include Becca Paisley ..read more

This week's blog was written by polymer clay artist Laurel Swetnam of Sequels. One of the most appealing qualities of polymer clay as an art medium is the fact that artists can mix any color under the sun from three primaries, black, white and maybe a touch of metallic pearl or gold for sparkle. Although I drool over tools as much of as any artist, I love the simplicity of being able to mix all the colors of the rainbow from 5 blocks of clay. Since my monkey brain gets in the way of traditional meditation, I turn to color mixing when a dose of tranquility is needed. Here are the primaries in ..read more

This week visual artist Jennie O'Connor interviewed glass artist Ann Mackiernan of AM Glass Studio How long have you been a part of Artistic Portland, and what appealed to you about joining the Co-op? I joined Artistic Portland about one month ago. After retiring from my full time career one year ago I knew the co-op would provide me with companionship of other artists along with a space to show my work.   What is your background? I am from Buffalo, NY and lived on the east coast until my husband and I moved to Portland 20 years ago to escape the snow. I am one of seven children and wh ..read more

This week's blog was written by Ammi Brooks of Ammi's Art. I found a beautiful skirt at the thrift store and knew it would make a great scarf. The fabric needs to be a natural fabric like cotton or silk or even rayon. The lighter the better. Heavy fabric takes long to felt and full. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of it before I cut it up. If the skirt is straight or ruffled I can lay it out evenly. In this case the skirt had many different seams. To get it to work I needed to cut it and then sew it together so the ends were alike. I used the seams as a guide for the black wool ro ..read more