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Becoming a Portland artist

Portland artist
Photo: deanoinamerica.wordpress.com

I’ve been living in Portland for three years and a half, and the longer I live here the more I find Portland “weird” – in a good way. (There’s a saying “Keep Portland weird” – everyone lives in Portland knows) I would say Portland is a town or small city of artists and people who enjoy hand-made, home-made goods. Portland artists include visual artists, potters, micro-brewery owners, pop-up restaurant chefs, and many other types of artists.

Micro beer breweries mean they brew their own beer, create their own beer flavor, and brew it in small batches that are enough to sell locally; and there are so many of them in Portland. When I have friends visiting, an easy and very good recommendation for what-to-do in Portland is checking out all these breweries, and that should keep my friends busy for days.

The same for pop-up restaurants – restaurants that are not uncommonly run by amateur chefs, or people who simple loves cooking – but not sure yet whether they want or can open a restaurant. I’ve been to pop-up brunch, dinner, etc. The chef I had for my small wedding celebration was also a pop-up restaurant chef; or more correctly – we knew him at his pop-up dinner event.

The food scene in Portland is amazing, and the chefs (and perhaps the eaters) should get all the credits. The chefs in town cook great fusion food; their food is not as fancy as the food at Michelin-star restaurants, but  it is for sure at a very high standard, while stays at a very affordable price for how good it is. There are also many good food events around the year: dumpling week, burger week (where restaurants serve different burger styles at promotional price), and the best is FEAST. You will see very few fast food or franchised restaurants in the city, but single coffee shops, small/very casual restaurants – and of course, food carts are countless. Even as someone who lives in the city, I find it hard to keep up with the food activities here. Thanks for my husband who is a “food snob”, and who follows a very helpful food blog Eater PDX, I also have a long list of restaurants which I always recommend to guests visiting Portland from out of town.

Portlandians tends to prefer home-made, artisan goods to big names or chains. They (or we) also like to make things by themselves. Take kombucha as an example. I was introduced to kombucha for the first time by my then ceramic instructor – now friend (she is a ceramic artist, and she brews her own kombucha – how Portlandian is that!) and ever since every kombucha bottle I bought at the supermarket was like a treasure to me, because it is quite expensive. Then the same friend let me taste her home-made kombucha, and told me how easy it is to make my own. So I tried, and I’ve been making my own kombucha for the last 6 months, and I will keep doing it. I shared it with some colleagues in the office, and I learnt that some others make their own kombucha as well. And guess what, some of the most popular kombucha brands are from Portland!

My ceramic studio is within a complex with many other Portland artists. Most of them are full time artists. The owner of the complex is an artist himself, and he owns two or three more complexes for artists in other parts of town. The complex is home for photographers, print makers, ceramicists, painters, stone sculptors, wood makers, and many other artists working on different media – many of which I’ve never known before.

There are many makers in Portland, but I am not sure about buyers. Art galleries’ openings on first Fridays every month are always packed with local artists, but from what I understand, strong buyers are usually from out of town. One Portland artist who has been very successful developing her art business/career in Portland is Lisa Congdon. I find her story aspiring: she decided to become a full time visual artist / illustrator in her 40s, and now after less than 10 years she is very successful with multiple line of work. Another Portland artist/business owner that I admire is Brett Binford  He is the owner of Eutectic Gallery – a contemporary ceramic gallery in Portland. Brett is a talented mold maker, his gallery displays very unique works of ceramic artists from all over the country. In the back of Eutectic is Mud Shark – another successful business of his that makes custom molds. After seeing all the beautiful work at his gallery, it is no surprise to me that he is the Director of Exhibition of NCECA 2019. He briefly explained to me that taking this responsibility, he is being a curator for the NCECA show – the largest ceramic conference in the US. Being responsible for telling a compelling, cohesive story at such a prestigious show/conference like NCECA is a great honor that requires talent, knowledge and passion and devotion.

There are many other forms of arts in Portland, like dance. From ballroom dancing to pole dance, ballet to hiphop – there is something for everyone. I like trying new things and I’ve been to two (out of many many) pole dance studios in Portland, I even had a pole at home eventually. My husband – no one would ever think he would dance just even one step – was convinced (or forced) to take six dance lessons with me, and surprising he liked it and grooved better than I did.

As for me, living in Portland has influenced and made me feel more “natural” as I explore arts. What I know about the art scene or the Portland artist community is like the tip of the iceberg, but I still find myself lucky to move and live here; I don’t think I would have ever been interested in ceramics or think about having my own studio and working part time as an artist. No one, not my parents, my brother, my friends would ever think I would enjoy playing and covering myself with mud so much. It’s also strange to me. But I live in Portland now, let’s keep it weird.   

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