“I was brought up surrounded by the smell of oil and steel and the sound of machinery.” – Tokyo-born Shinya Kimura, founder of Zero Engineering and now California-based Chabott Engineering uses the motorcycle as his medium of choice.
Relaxer Natalie Ramsland of Sweetpea Bicycles featured in Patagonia’s summer catalog. Two brands that taste great together.
Anish Kapoor’s Memory at the Guggenheim. 24 tons of core ten steel revealed only in fragments from vantages within the gallery. Extraordinary.
Art construction from Megan Pahmier. Better than beautiful; perfect. Find further perfection of the simple at Kindling, a collaboration with her brother, also a maker.
The sophisticated poetry of traditionally-trained potter Akio Nukaga. “His pieces are so humane — they embody his free spirit, humility and incredibly kind soul. I use one of Akio’s teapots almost every morning — it truly enhances my experience of having tea and honestly starts my day in a nicer way.” – Adam Silverman, Heath Ceramics. See Nukaga’s special one of a kind works shown in September at Heath.
Deep in the heart of the Amercian Return to Craft are hand tools and the leatherworker. MAKR began as a one-man workshop sewing up small goods with a nice touch, and is evolving into an authentic cottage industry of perfectly-conceived small-batch carry goods. These are things you want to touch. And handle. And live with, for a very long time. We hope that one day there will be a maximalist version of the Minimal which will accommodate the change that women do not like to carry in pocket.
Occasionally you see something so incredibly beautiful and resonating that it simultaneously breaks your heart and pastes it back together again within the same moment. This is that something. Spaghetti bench from Argentina-born, Paris-dwelling artist and designer Pablo Reinoso. Gorgeous.
Happening upon a window installation of Portland artist Hillary Pfeifer is to be instantly delighted. Her Bunnywood exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Craft last winter was our favorite of the season, producing smiles at every passing. Wander past Guardino Gallery this month for some further friendliness.
A swell little portrait of Sweetpea Bicycles, Members of 1% for the Planet and the Portland cycling community. Portland is home to many that are creating their own brand of success, and it’s not hard to see why women are drawn to the Sweetpea experience (hint: it’s not the dog).
Organ Tools
A tool chest made by a gentleman named Studley in the 1800s. He was an organ and piano-maker and obviously a phenomenal carpenter. Seeing this incredible tool chest reminded me of a more contemporary work by artist Tom Sachs. His piece is called “Hardcore.” It’s a really crude-yet-astonishingly-wonderful cabinet of weapons that are also made by Tom Sachs. They are all constructed from common plumbing supplies and general hardware store materials. My understanding of the story is that the NYC police had a program by which they would collect weapons at precincts, no questions asked, and give something like $75 for each weapon turned in. Tom Sachs and company were making these crude guns out of scrap and turning them in for cash.
(Interesting to note that Tom Sachs has tried his hand at piano-making with a piece called the Bösendorfer. I had a chance to play this with Mr. Peter at the Sperone Westwater gallery in NYC and it’s really incredible! I think it’s made out of road barriers and plywood.)
