I was interviewed for this week’s Artist Profile in the Portland Mercury! In it I talk about comics, bartending, and making art. Check out the interview here.
Plus, all Adult Babysitting merch is still on sale in my Etsy shop! If you like laughing, I suggest you pick up a copy of the comic.
Thanks to the Portland Mercury for the feature!
Cheers!
Posted in Adult Babysitting, Comic, Interview
Tagged Adult Babysitting, Bartending, Comics, Little Wolf, Maryanna Hoggatt, Portland, Portland Mercury
While documenting our home studio last month, Ryan of Marrow Mag took a lot of photographs that focused on our personal styles. You can check out our profiles here & here. Thanks to Ryan for taking such lovely photos!
Posted in Interview
Tagged Eagle + Wolf, Jake Hollomon, Little Wolf, Marrow Magazine, Maryanna Hoggatt, Portland
Ryan of Portland-centric online magazine, Marrow Mag, was kind enough to feature Jake & I at our home and in the studio.
Ryan is a pretty swell dude and we found we shared more than a few common interests. He took a ton of photos with both digital and analog film, and he promises another feature or two to come. Check out the post here!
Have a lovely weekend, everyone. Cheers!
Posted in Eagle + Wolf, Interview, Portrait
Tagged Eagle + Wolf, Jake Hollomon, Little Wolf, Marrow Magazine, Maryanna Hoggatt, Photography, Portland, Portrait
Early this Spring, Jake and I collaborated again as Eagle & Wolf for a logo project.
The logo is for Head in Heart, a Portland-based company spearheaded by photography wizard Brittney Myers.
Besides being delightful to work with, Brittney puts out some wonderfully dreamy photos. Her new logo was used to help launch the Head in Heart website, as her love for photography slowly shapes itself into a freelance business and explores personal creative projects.
Her production is wide-ranging and has included animals, weddings, lifestyle, events, and fine art. And totally adorable babies (see below). After getting her site up and running, Brittney was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.
LW: How long have you been shooting?
BM: I started falling in love with taking photographs a few years ago – I’ve been on the road to craft refinement ever since…
LW: Who inspires you?
BM: Besides me mum, pup, a pocketful of friends and witty strangers – I absolutely fancy:
Me. Oh. My! Just seeing their names all sandwiched together like that makes my heart dance!
LW: Any advice for other photographers getting their business off the ground?
BM: The reason I got into photography is because it sets my soul on fire. I know that when I do work that doesn’t rock my boat, I become bored and disinterested. That said, I’m really adamant about finding what fits – filtering out jobs that I know I won’t get personal satisfaction from.
I’m just starting in the game myself – so I can only offer what I know to be true for me. Here is a little list of ideas to get the ball rolling:
1. Define what motivates you – what feeds you. WHY do you do what you do. I believe this is the #1 most important thing to consider when starting a business pursuing your passion.
2. There are a billion photographers in the world – but no one is YOU. Remember this when you’re comparing yourself to everyone else. Admire and be inspired.
3. Research – Learn – Do – Mess up – Experience – Research – Learn – Do –Experience (you won’t mess up all the time!)
a. Repeat this pattern over time and the sky is the limit!
LW: Anything else you’d like to say?
BM: Shel Silverstein says it best:
“Listen to the musn’ts child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me…Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.”
Believe in yourself….that pretty much sums it up.
INDEED. And just look at that baby. Seriously, this lady has some skillz.
Her advice can be universally applied to all creative folk out there who are just starting out, and I’m excited to see where Brittney’s work will take her.
Head in Heart will be taking commissions on a very select basis. See more of her work at her site or her blog, or feel free to drop a her line about any ol’ thing.
Once again, thanks to Brittney Myers.
Posted in Interview
Tagged Brittney Myers, Head in Heart, Little Wolf, Maryanna Hoggatt, Photography, Portland Creative
Welcome to another edition of Portland Creatives. This week:
His drawings are dark, moody, and sometimes humorous. Andrew C. Wood works like a mad scientist, stitching human and monster together into creepy hybrids and placing them in color-muted environments where precise lines mix with messy splatters. Incredibly talented, Andrew is an easy-going dude who likes metal music and often ends our conversations with, “I gotta go home and draw”. It’s this simple dedication that I admire in any artist, and Andrew has it in spades.
Jake and I visited Andrew’s sub-level studio (self-proclaimed “dungeon”) to find out what he’s all about.
Little Wolf: Hello Andrew!
Andrew C. Wood: Hello.
LW: So who are your favorite artists?
AW: Lately it’s been John Baizley, Dave McKean, Aaron Turner, and Jacob Bannon. And a guy that goes by “Puddnhead”, but his real name is Kevin Llewelyn. Derek Hess was also a huge influence in my early 20′s.
Andrew’s secret muse: “Kitty”. Blurry = elusive.
LW: You’re from Olympia, WA. Did you go to school there?
AW: I went to school in Seattle, at the Art Institute for two years.
LW: What was your major there?
AW: Animation, Art & Design.
Jake Hollomon: Do you still do animation?
AW: No, but I still practice their drills. Lots of character studies, lots of thumbnails. I took the classes for the amount of intensive drawing.
Numerous character studies from Andrew’s sketchbook.
LW: How long have you been drawing?
AW: I started taking it seriously when I was 16. I met a group of friends who were graffiti artists. I didn’t take part in the graffiti aspect, I just hung out and drew in black books and listened to music. It was a big influence, as far as dedication goes.
LW: What inspired this darker style?
AW: When I was kid I was drawn to darker comic books, and in the music I listen to the visuals are dark and interesting. The fairy tales we grew up to were also very morbid.
Andrew’s sketchbook: his very own Book of the Dead.
LW: What do you like better, drawing monsters or humans?
AW: Both. I love monsters, definitely. I like turning humans into monsters.
LW: Who are some of the bands you’ve worked for?
AW: I’ve done work for are Bacchus, Lord Dying, de-krep-it, Silent Epidemic, and American Wrecking Company. I also worked for Bandoppler magazine out of Seattle and they had me draw pictures of Hip Hop artists Gift of Gab, KRS-1, Mr. Lif, Paris, and Chuck D.
Old pain reliever containers are used to hold paint – perfect for traveling. Genius!
LW: Have you done any art shows?
AW: I had a lot of art shows in Olympia, and a couple here in Portland. I’ve only been here a year.
LW: Do you want to be more of a gallery artist, or would you prefer books?
An excerpt from Andrew’s portfolio book.
AW: I’m having a hard time with that. I like doing Illustration work, but then I miss doing larger pieces and hanging work.
JH: Do you use any digital manipulation in your work?
AW: I sometimes scan my drawings in and add color tones.
LW: What is your drawing process?
AW: I use Illustration paper. I start with pencil, then ink and color – I use color pencil and gouache. For a series of paintings, I perform each step on the whole group before moving on. The hanging pieces are mounted on foam core and framed.
LW: Do you like making humorous pieces?
AW: My sense of humor has been coming out in my drawings in the last few years. I like mixing dark subjects with humor.
LW: Tell me about your current project, the book you’re doing illustrations for.
AW: The book is called PsyKu - a work of forensic prose, written by Bart Abplanalp, Ph.D. It’s a book of haikus that was first released without any drawings, but then the author hired me to make 21 Illustrations for the reissue.
LW: Do you think Portland is a good place to establish yourself?
AW: Oh yeah. I think there’s a ton of opportunity here.
Andrew is currently launching his portfolio site. Look for his work in PsyKu this coming December.
A short time ago I realized how many awesome Portland creatives I know. These friends have often surprised me with their unexpected talents. Like myself, most of them work jobs unrelated to their crafts, while in their spare time they hole up in basements, garages, or studios to perform their wizardry.
I’m so inspired by the motivation, drive, and different talents of these artists, that I’d like to share their work with you through a series of studio visits I’ll be conducting with each one.
So, without further ado:
I meet all sorts of people at my “day” job, and when I met Brian, I knew him as some sort of professional dude who did stuff with computers. Just under two years ago, he showed me some pictures of ceramics he had made. “You made that??”, I said. They were amazing, weird little doll part ceramics.
For my birthday that year, Brian gave me a butter dish he’d made (pictured at the beginning of this post). It was entirely unique, and wonderfully odd – a duck that, instead of a bird head, had a delicate arm extending from its body.
A year and a half later, Brian has taken his ceramics to a level above and beyond just a simple hobby. He’s mass producing small armies of functional dishes to great success, all from his garage.
Jake and I made a visit to his studio and picked his brain about how this all started.
Little Wolf: Where do you get the molds for your ceramics from?
Brian Connolly: I go to Craigslist. There’s a lady up in North Portland who has a ceramics business, and she was giving away a barn full of molds, and I asked if she had any doll parts. I got a stack of forty molds for $30.
LW: So you were looking for doll parts specifically?
BC: Oh yeah. I have to find things that are “cartooned” to a certain degree. They can’t be too stylized.
Jake Hollomon: How many molds would you say you have?
BC: I don’t know. I never counted them, and they keep growing. And I throw a lot away.
LW: Didn’t you tell me a while ago that you have an Art Degree?
BC: Yes, BFA in Ceramics.
LW: When did you get your degree?
BC: I graduated in ’98. I spent 6 years in college, and 3 1/2 of those at Cal State Long Beach. A couple at Orange Coast College.
LW: What happened? You were laying dormant for awhile, weren’t you?
BC: Oh yeah. I started school with an engineering major, so I have a bit of a right brain/left brain that bounces back and forth. The thing is, I felt like I needed to get a career; I got married. I was like Mr. Proactive, I wanted to get my life on a roll. That worked out for so long, then I moved on and let go of the things I thought I needed to do. But, I really like my software career.
LW: What was the official title of the position you were in?
BC: Systems engineer senior professional. I’m a web application and database developer.
LW: What do you call yourself with your ceramics?
BC: Uh, “I Make Stuff”.
LW: Do you feel like you’re running out of space?
BC: Yeah, I’m about to build another shelf. I’ve gone through incremental steps of more and more shelving and space and storage, but it’s getting more efficient. So what I do is set out the molds and I categorize them by the time it takes to cast each one, short molds and long molds. Then, I fill these boxes.
LW: What made you think of making practical ceramics, that can be used in the kitchen, instead of just decorative?
BC: When I started doing ceramics, I did all functional work. I was a potter. And then, right around the time I went to university, I injured my hand, so I couldn’t throw on the wheel for about a year and a half. So I had potter’s skills, but I couldn’t do anything more for a while. Which was good, because I wanted to get more into sculpture, and it forced me to learn to speak more visually.
LW: When did you first participate in Crafty Wonderland (a Portland fair featuring the works of local artists)?
BC: The first Crafty show I did was last December, and that’s kinda when I started selling.
LW: What made you want to put these on the market?
BC: Because if they can pay for themselves, I can make more.
LW: Do you plan on putting your ceramics in stores?
BC: Yeah, there is one store that I’ll put my work in – BillyGoat Vintage on Alberta, where I actually had my work hanging (wall sculptures) this last month. And there is a pop-up shop that I can’t mention yet.
LW: Can you explain your shadowboxes?
BC: I’m gathering fired items and glazing them so I can do 3-D collage, like shadowboxes filled with pre-fired pieces. Those were some of the early ideas, I actually had that idea before the butter dishes. Sometimes when I have an idea, it takes me a good year to get there.
LW: How much time does it take to make a batch?
BC: It varies. For my first sale at Crafty Wonderland, it took me about three weeks, with a day job, working nights and weekends. 80% of work I sold in about 4 hours. For 3 weeks worth of work to go in 4 hours, that’s pretty fast. The second show I did, it took me 8 days. My process has cut significantly.
LW: Can you talk about your butter dishes?
BC: People do lack an interesting butter dish. I don’t know where they are putting them, some people put it in a curio, or on a shelf, or sometimes, in their fridge. I’d like to think that everyone puts it in their fridge.
Which reminds me, back before I lived in Portland, I made lots of candles every holiday. Instead of filling them with potpourri, I’d fill them with nuts and bolts. I had a rule – you wouldn’t get a candle the next year, unless you lit the candle you got the previous year.
I want people to use things, if they are beautiful and interesting, use them. You’re gonna die one day, if that thing’s still around, what was the point? I like to make things that people use.
LW: What does your mom think of your ceramics?
BC: She….appreciates my imagination.
JH: When you were a kid, did you recombine the parts of your action figures?
BC: Oh yeah. Cobra Commander and whoever else, traded faces, genders, and whatever else.
To view more of Brian’s ceramics or to purchase his work, visit his website:
Thanks to Brian for participating and allowing me to invade his home, and to Jake for all his help.
Posted in Inspiration, Interview
Tagged Brian Connolly, Ceramics, Interview, Little Wolf, Maryanna Hoggatt, Studio Visit
