Liz Hatcher

Original Liz

Liz Hatcher is a jewelry designer and artist specializing in wire wrapped beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings; with an emphasis on fresh water pearls and semi-precious stones. Liz's pieces can range from only a handful of beads to more then a few hundred individually wrapped beads of varying size, color and texture.

With designs inspired by nature and a love of playing with color and texture, all of Liz's pieces are limited edition original works of art, handcrafted with a meticulous eye for detail. 

The design for a particular piece may begin with a unique stone or pendant; or it may be the simple pairing of two or three elements that will spark the design, which can range from very minimal to quite elaborate and detailed.

Liz also enjoys creating pieces specially designed at a customer's request. She has created one of a kind pieces for brides and bridesmaids, special occasions, and gifts.

Liz works with sterling silver wire and chain, 14k gold filled wire and chain, and Clear Sterling, a synthetic non-tarnish silver wire. Occasionally, Liz will use copper or a colored base metal wire or chain.

Brenna White

BlueLucy Studios

Brenna was born and raised in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Brenna has been a working artist for the last seven years, painting original work, commissions and murals. Happy art, filled with patterns and color. A little whimsy for the real world. When she’s not creating, Brenna loves to be at home with her family, outside on a walk, or having coffee with a friend at a local coffee shop. Brenna lives happily in Tualatin with her incredible husband Ryan, her awesome son Eli, and fantastic daughter Samantha. She also shares her home with her dogs Zeke and Lucy and her cat Oscar.

Heidi Marx

Heidi Marx Designs

Jewelry Designer Heidi Marx was born in Chicago, Illinois.Some of her fondest childhood memories are of playing with her mother’s jewelry.  She was fascinated by the textures and colors at an early age.  “I especially loved the vintage, faceted crystal necklaces and earrings,” she says.

Heidi earned her degree in Marketing of Textiles at the University of Illinois, after which she spent several years working as an interior designer in Indianapolis.  Eventually she returned to her roots in Chicago where she managed a fabric showroom at the Merchandise Mart.  This job led to an exciting career as the Accessory Buyer for all of the Baker showrooms across the country.  As a buyer Heidi traveled extensively throughout the US, Italy and France, meeting with artists to design and buy unique art and home furnishing accessories of the highest quality.   This career inspired Heidi to create her own designs.

Eventually Heidi made the leap from buyer to artist.  She loved the idea of making art that people could wear and that would make them feel really beautiful.  Heidi started making her own jewelry and jewelry for her friends and family.  When strangers started to ask her where she got her jewelry she knew she was onto something.

Heidi’s jewelry is created with semiprecious stones, sterling silver and gold filled metals, crystal and vintage beads. Her designs are inspired by colors from nature and tend to be very feminine.  She is always experimenting with new techniques of wirework and combinations of colors and textures. 

Heidi lives in beautiful Tualatin,Oregon with her husband Scott and their two children.

Charity Stewart

Momma Mosaics

Heidi Meslow

Northwest Cozy

Heidi Meslow is a native Oregonian who was born and raised in Corvallis. She went on to get a Leisure Studies degree (fitting degree for Heidi's current business!) at University of Oregon. Her career spans work in the hotel industry and ten years in high tech public relations. She became a stay at home mom after the birth of her second daughter in 2003.

Heidi married her high school sweetheart, Eric Meslow, in 1993. The entrepreneurial spirit runs strong in the Meslow family as Eric also owns his own company. Timbercon, a successful fiber optic cable manufacturing company, has been in business for 13 years. Heidi and Eric make their home in Tualatin and have two girls, Elaine, age 10 and Halle, age 6.

Heidi draws her sewing experience from her mother who had a background in Home Economics. She was involved in 4-H cooking and sewing and brought several projects to the Oregon State Fair. Heidi is thrilled to bring her skills and creativity to the Northwest Cozy brand dazzling customers throughout the Northwest and beyond by offering her luxurious blankets at gift shows and boutiques.

Fall 2009 marks Northwest Cozy’s third holiday sales season. Northwest Cozy is privileged to be a part of Portland area shows such as Art in the Burbs, The Big Little Art Show and Lake Oswego Holiday Market.

Heidi enjoys travel, long road trips in their family travel trailer, tailgating at OSU football games, scrapbooking and northwest grey weekends snuggled under blankets with her family.

Jackie McCartin

www.jmccartin.com

Born and raised in the Midwest and Arizona, Jackie received a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Arizona, and has called Oregon home for the past 20 years. The vibrant, extreme colors of the Southwest along with the mystical, fleeting moods of the Northwest are reflected in her impressionistic landscape paintings. Jackie’s vivid oil paintings are represented in several local galleries, along with juried shows, festivals, wineries, solo exhibits and private collections. She has also done commissioned pieces.

“As an artist, oil is my medium of choice. The rich, fluid colors enhance the spontaneous brushstrokes I use to create a scene. I am drawn to that moment when one captures a place or feeling in their mind and stores it as a special memory. Color and light fascinate me and I use them to create a harmony of shadows, moods and forms. Hopefully, my vivid colors will be the trait you notice in my work. I want to evoke an emotional response from the viewer drawing them into the painting.”

While she is a native to Chicago, Illinois, Portland artist Roberta Palmer grew up taking summer trips to Wisconsin and Michigan, where she learned to love nature. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a double major in printmaking and ceramics, she worked  in the art department of a package design company and learned to love type combined with art.

Eventually, Roberta’s love for nature won her over and she moved to Oregon to be closer to nature. She spent some time working in the art department of a publishing company.

Roberta began casting leaves from concrete and found she could capture the incredible texture and detail of each leaf in the concrete. She also began adding various colors to the leaf castings to create beautiful, yet virtually indestructible reproductions of nature.

Roberta’s work is inspired by nature, color and texture. With each leaf, she combines her passion for gardening with her interest in three-dimensional art and her love for painting. For Roberta, it’s all about the texture.

Today, Roberta’s distinct leaves can be found in homes and gardens throughout the northwest, whether they are small table-top leaves, or leaves as large as a few feet across.

Judee Moonbeam

Judee Moonbeam Studios

As an avid reader of historical fact and fiction, I get my current inspiration from Middle Eastern, African, Celtic cultures and their stories. My formal training (a degree in clothing design) causes me to put motifs, design and color from these cultures into functional form fibre art for contemporary use....of course, a little fantasy never hurts!

My “process?” I often recycle,.....using collected fabrics and other supplies in an unexpected way. (A set of quirky buttons may wait 3 years before finding its perfect fit on a cozy tribal jacket.) I form islands of color and motifs ‘til something says, “I'm complete.” Folks observe my work with puzzlement, then delight, enjoying the cross cultural effect of my fibre collage.

Perhaps I’m just trying to create a little global harmony in fabric...

When I’m not selling my work at art fairs and shows, I do custom clothing-- often a great idea a client brings me, her/his need for something unusual... or simple stuff like hemming a vintage skirt. For a portion of the winter I sub for Portland Public Schools. I offer classes and workshops at my studio or other locations. During the summer I run the fibre art studio at Grace Art Camp under a tent in a lovely courtyard with a flock of busy, budding artists... where we “swim” in cultural fibre and color.

Most of the work I do is through referral.Clients approach me having been told, “Ask Jude. She’ll figure it out.” This has given me amazing creative opportunities. I’m a happy member of the casual, coffee loving Beaumont/Wilshire Artspace artist’s organization and a 24 year member of Local 14, the woman’s art organization to which I owe my deepest loyalty.

Sandra Willis

Dancing Thread Studios

I have been sewing for 35 years.  I excelled in college sewing and design course work.  I am currently taking classes to learn and keep current in the always changing and exciting textile world.

My business was formed with the great idea that I could join my design and artistic expression with my exuberant joy of fabrics.  I picked handbags, as they are a fun necessity.  A form of self-expression for women whose style choice is as individual and original as they are.

Construction: I take a great deal of care in making a fine handbag.  Most of my handbags are constructed with the outer decorative fabric, interfaced with a product to give stability. Then I often use a batting material to give the bag more texture and feel. The bottoms are reinforced with two different base materials for extra support. The lining is made with duponi silk, usually with pockets and a cell phone pocket.  The closure is magnetic in either silver or gold. The straps vary with each bag; they are made of the highest quality of materials. I am currently working on embroidery designs, hand made buttons, and painting on silk fabrics.

Studio: I work out of my home in Tigard Or.  My Mother provides beautiful hand knitting that is an embellishment for some of my styles.  She does a great job in workmanship and being a great moral support and team player. My QA inspector is my wonderful 13-year-old Lab ‘Emma’   She looks at each handbag with endearing approval that only a Lab knows best!

Goals: My goal is to provide a high quality, stylish and unique handbag. When I finish a handbag it is very important that I feel happy with the design element and my workmanship.  It is fun to see how my designs and details keep growing and changing.

Sharon Meeker

Just Beachy Glass Company

Creating one of a kind designs that bring smiles to peoples faces is what drives Sharon Meeker. In her studio in Sandy Oregon, glass art that can be used indoors or out is reminiscent of art that her grandmother had hanging on her porch.  Wind Chimes, Kite tails, Garden art stakes, and Driftwood glass art are are a few of the art pieces offered.  By adding colors and textures to the glass during the kiln fired fusion process she is able to offer glass works that are one of kind, extremely durable and amazing to look at.  Her love for the beach will be seen in many of the pieces she creates, shells, driftwood, glass balls, and sea life provide a path to her creativeness.  Add sun and wind and her pieces come to life with color and beautiful sounds.  Art that is affordable has been a priority for the past six years since the studio was opened, it is art that everyone can take home and enjoy!

Jane Russell

campcactus.blogspot.com

I've been an artist ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon. My earliest influences were from my artistic siblings and from my dad - an editor and writer who was always taking used, free furniture and repurposing it into beautiful new stuff...

I studied art and photography in high school and in college, and have worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, typesetter, photo stylist, calligrapher, art teacher, textile designer, florist and barista.
To some people, career hopping like this might recall the saying: "jack of all trades, master of none", but I prefer to think there's absolutely nothing wrong with being a renaissance woman!

So thanks for looking at my stuff, and allowing me to indulge in all of my creative whims! 

Suze Fatland & Amy Turner

Hot Flash Glass

Amy and Suze met and became friends while working at Nordstrom’s 11 years ago. We came upon fused glass as a creative medium at a local art show.  We took classes under the direction of Kari Fahrenkopf of Sunshine Glass, a local Newburg artist.  Here a whole new world was opened up to us that introduced texture, color, depth, and design using glass. 

We quickly decided that fused glass was what we had been looking for, and thus our “Hot Flash Glass” business evolved.  After many hours of creating and developing our own contemporary style using a variety of glass products, which is still and continually in process, we have come up with a variety of pieces that will compliment any home or décor style.  We have a wide range of pieces that are as small as pendants, as large as platters, and everything in between.  Colors are endless, styles know no limits, and we are continually looking for new and creative ideas to implement a one of a kind fused glass piece.

Bruce Allison

Paperwings Studios

Bruce Allison as an illustrator, and a painter has attempted to give a depiction of everyday life with a mix of odd metaphors, humor, and realism, in a style that is both representational and abstract; notions enhanced with a richer expression through a confluence of form, color and texture.