I bought this painting from Jennifer Mercede (chaboo artist) for my mom.  She has seen it more than a year ago and wanted it but the painting was already sold.  Something happened and I found out that Jennifer still had the painting.  I thought I would surprise my mom for christmas this year with the walrus she had always wanted.

She lives up in the west hills though and the roads are impassible without chains.  So, I trekked it.  I carried the painting and walked up to her house from SE Portland.  If you saw someone walking through downtown with two walruses under their arm odds are good that it was me.

It looks great in her house.  I put it next to these sumi inked bamboo shelving units I made for her years ago.  She likes to put little trinkets up there and make sculptures.  The quiet monotone quality of my work and the exuberance and bright color of Jennifers work play off each other surprisingly well.  The home feels so much warmer now.

I remember now when I was writing essays to get into grad programs for architecture I wrote about how I wanted to learn how the design of spaces could affect people emotionally.  I wondered why some spaces felt warm and cozy while others felt cold.  Id like to get back to thinking about feeling more in my own work as a designer.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Jennifer is a good friend of mine who is the most prolific artist I know.  I posted about her last month on my blog here. She has the best attitude ever and it really comes out in her work.  I wish my work was as direct an extension of my personality as her work is. 

Jennifer works so freely and fast.  Im jealous!

Rooaaarrr

Jennifer is the last person on earth after zombies wiped us all out and shes still painting.  If there were no people around to see our art would we still create it?  deep…..

detail photo by anna campbell

Its kinda cool that we got to photograph her while she was painting but isnt that cutting it a little close?  Procrastination to the extreme but Jennifer can pull it off.  Her paintings are all about spontaneous energy and uninhibited creativity.  But dont get any ideas chaboo artists.  Deadlines are DEADlines!

portrait photos by Joe Mansfield

In no particular order here are the artists participating so far:

Alisha Wessler - illustration

Lauren Wessler - wood, paper mache

Jennifer Mercede - painting

Chris Haberman - painting

Sohaila Adela - illustration

Kelly Neidig - painting

Nell Warren - painting

Robin Kaplan - illustration

Dave Laubenthal -wood, metal

David Bertman -wood, metal

Kari Merkl - metal

Joel Wakeman - wood

Juno Lachman - glass

Eric Day - wood, metal, fiberglass

Todd Griffith - painting

Joe Mansfield - laser

George Ramos - wood

Mike Halvorson - wood

Paul Sykes - wood

Lindsay Holmes - recycled skateboards

Jess Hirsch - watercolor

APAK - illustration, painting

Erin Albin (appetite) - screenprinting/fabric

Brendan Budge - industrial design

Lisa Kuhnhausen - interior design/fashion

Jason Hernandez - wood

Sarah Bennet - wood, epoxy resin

Karl Ramentol - industrial design

Ken Tomita - wood, bamboo

Amy Ruppel- designer

Maren Jensen- illustration

Sara Huston - furniture design

Orange design.build - salvaged materials

Marshall Ryan - architecture

Ryan Thomson - architecture

Megan Scheminske - painting

Don Jensen - wood

David Butts - kinetic sculpture

Marc Riera - architecture

Ryah Radomski - furniture

John Paananen - interior architecture

Emily Steen - graphic design, environment design

Oluwaseyi (Shay) Sosanya - mechanical engineering

Tom Huang - furniture design

Ben Wood - furniture

Emily Knudsen - interior design

Corbin Keech - architecture

Jim Haas - furniture

Last week artists started coming by my shop to pick up their chaboos.  I had made ten and now I only have 2 left.

Jennifer Mercede, Chris Haberman

Jennifer Mercede and her friend Chris Haberman were the first to pick up and got the best selection.  They often collaborate on large scale murals around town where their styles really compliment each other.  As you can see, their work is amazing!  Jennifer had several ideas for what to do so I gave her two chaboos.  Her work has a youthful exuberance that will add alot of energy to this project.

Jennifer Mercede, Chris Haberman

One concern of mine is that the artists will be hesitant because they are not used to this medium.  Jennifer told me its going to be hard for her to hack into such a finished, beautiful piece.  I hope this hesitation/intimidation to use a finished piece of furniture does not hinder the artists from being able to release their full creativity.  Being able to let go is the critical ingredient for a successful transfer from idea to reality.

Jennifer Mercede