Portland Maker Ballot - Hand-Eye Supply

"Jill Bliss is celebrating ten years of her professional career as an artist/crafter/designer" – "selling her work directly to fans online or via indie boutiques around the world, Bliss has become an indie-business icon. transcending studio art, graphic design or craft culture, her name is a lo-fi lifestyle brand – a grass-roots counterpart to martha stewart or ralph lauren [!!!]."

"The masters at Stumptown Printers taught me everything I know about letterpress. I make postcards using linoleum and print them on a C&P letterpress. I also paint, but can't stop making the cards. I was told that I had to choose between the two — either you're a fine artist or you're "crafty" — what do you think? My work is heavily inspired by nostalgia, both real and imagined. My studio is 60s girl group powered."

From her PSU professor bio: "Kate is often found illustrating fancy things based on personal consumerism. The likes of IDEO, New York Times, HOW and Print Magazine love her, and we do, too! She's always inspiring students as well, being a professor at PSU and most recently speaking at the student symposium of the AIGA Make/Think National Conference."

"...has been interested in self-publishing since her high school days of making 'zines. She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has lived in Illinois, Georgia, Ireland, and San Francisco. Carye has a B.A. in Studio Art (Printmaking & Photography focus) and Art History from Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Travelling, collecting, bike riding and going to small museums are few of her passions aside from Red Bat Press. Carye is also the director of the online Bathtub Art Museum."

Amber Case is a cyborg anthropologist, examining the way humans and technology interact and evolve together. Case founded Geoloqi.com, a private location-sharing application, out of a frustration with existing social protocols around text messaging and wayfinding. She's currently working on a book about using anthropological techniques to understand industry ecosystems.

Hazel Cox "...her line of jewelry and accessories for men and women setting the tone for the wild, earthy-but-modern feel that was a visible influence on the streets as much as in artists' studios." – "She makes these prefabricated materials her own by combining them with her own hand forging, now favoring traditional Native American cold-forging techniques that "follow the metal," pounding it into new shapes."

"I'm a Portland, Oregon-based clothing designer specializing in special dresses and wedding gowns. My dresses are made locally, by hand, and they often feature antique trims and fabrics and take inspiration from the style of past eras. I love thoughtfully-designed details and one of a kind touches - they are what set a handmade dress apart from something you can buy off the rack. I began designing custom one-of-a-kind dresses in 2000, and have since made it my mission to offer alternatives to traditional bridal fare."

"Having lived the DIY lifestyle for longer than there's been an acronym for it, I've made everything from utilitarian household objects to backyard billboards to clothing to housing for my daughter, my tools, and me. I insist on a life in which art, craft and livelihood are merged. My current incarnation: a designer and fabricator of apparel and jewelry for the literate, hip, style conscious person. I place the highest value on things that are entirely made by my hands with an attention to the tiniest detail, so that each thing is its own miniature story."

Andi Kovel and Justin Parker make up Esque. Their "eccentric blown accessories, lighting fixtures and architectural details are a new kind of art/craft/design hybrid, conceptual pieces for everyday living, neither constrained nor solely defined by their sophisticated form and fine workmanship. Function (or the suggestion of it) and the beauty of the glass are simply part of their allure. Their real magic comes from being handmade."

A professional upholsterer. Erin combines a knowledge of the traditional practices and history of her trade with a modern ethos to bring new life into a shrinking profession. Her efforts include employing environmentally friendly techniques– using natural latex and organic battings – and focusing on socially concious practices – sourcing US milled fabrics, for instance.

"With a rotating line up of talented vendors, Crafty Wonderland is the place to go to find the best handmade goods in the NW, as well as affordable work from talented visual artists. It's an event meant to bring together crafty people with those who appreciate cool handmade items, to support artists, and to spread the joy of craft throughout our community. The show even offers a kids' area where budding young artists can set up and sell their work! Each Crafty Wonderland features a free DIY area where local artists share their talent and teach visitors how to make a craft of their own to take home."

A founder and principal of Plazm, an award-winning design studio and publisher of Plazm magazine. "Berger's prints, installations, and street interventions often confront sociopolitical and environmental issues. Recent projects include "5%" for the Urban Forest exhibition in New York's Times Square, and the development and curation of Anti-war.us, a web project that collects anti-war graphics from the international design community for distribution to activists around the world."

"A pioneer in both design patterns and Extreme Programming, he started programming the software WikiWikiWeb in 1994 and installed it on the website of his software consultancy, Cunningham & Cunningham (commonly known by its domain name, c2.com), on March 25, 1995, as an add-on to the Portland Pattern Repository." He named his software "Wiki" after seeing Hawaian airport shuttles that were labeled as Fast-Fast in the local tounge.

"Hopworks Urban Brewery is Portland's first Eco-Brewpub. We offer handcrafted organic beers and fresh, local ingredients, all served in a sustainably built and operated building with a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Brewmaster Christian Ettinger spent a year and half constructing this "dream brewpub." HUB incorporates many aspects of sustainability. From composting to rain barrels, and from pervious pavers to hand dryers, we have made every effort to protect "our" future with a thoughtful alternative."

Chris Hoffmann is a mechanical engineer with 15 years of experience in the automobile industry. His small firm, called Ryno Motors, "has built a one-wheeled electric scooter that uses a gyroscope to keep itself upright, like a Segway. The device, which is called the Ryno, requires you to lean forward to accelerate and backward to decelerate."

"Hufnagel Cycles, hand built by Jordan, are known for their clean lines." "My shop is in SE Portland right on a major bike avenue. I occupy a 500 square foot box in the corner of a warehouse with some big windows. The tools I use on each build are your usual shop selection ranging from a large selection of files to a 2000 lb vertical mill. I have a lug vise from Efficient Velo Tools as well as a bunch of odds and ends that I have made over time that have made my work a lot easier too."

"It was three years after arriving in Portland when 26 year old Jeff founded his own architecture firm, Skylab architecture. He admits that he started his practice at a very young age and wishes that he'd worked under other architects beforehand. Nevertheless, Skylab Architecture has grown into a fully fledged successful firm." "Skylab has built several private homes and commercial spaces around Portland using techniques and materials that blur the distinction between architecture and design, natural and synthetic, and past and future."

Joe Mansfield and Ken Tomita run Grove : " a team of designers and makers focused on changing the way you think about products by doing everything themselves in Portland, Oregon and only selling direct to the consumer. The result is greater innovation, complete accountability, direct human relationships, and superior quality." "We use high tech machinery combined with a lot of old fashioned hand work."

Luke makes bags under his label, Truce. "Truce prides itself on re-purposing high-performance fabrics that may have been otherwise discarded. Sails, waterproof drysuit cloth, and ballistic weaves are reclaimed and assembled with high-performance hardware at our shop in Portland, Oregon. At Truce, everything we make is a limited edition."

"As a maker and as a student of both traditional crafts and industrial design, Kurt Mottweiler attempts to find balance between the utility and beauty of mechanical objects while acknowledging the value of both traditional manual skill and contemporary manufacturing technology in creating those objects." "One of his passions is the design and creation of traditional, film-based cameras that range from the simplest, lensless, wooden cameras to fully computer-controlled, rotating panoramic cameras."

Tanner Goods was founded by Mark Perusich and Sam Huff. "Our small team of craftsmen produce every piece by hand in our studios here in the Northwest. We utilize the same tools that have been put to work for decades manufacturing heritage leather goods, and in many cases have sought out antique equipment that produce the best results." "Plying their trade with the utmost in artisan care and attention to quality, it has become an interesting intersection of America's past and its production on a small scale."

"I build bespoke bicycles to fit the rider and their habits. You ride one of my bikes because you understand what it's like to see curb and want to jump it, see a puddle and splash it, or see a corner and want to round it. I want to give my friends and allies bikes to get radical with... whatever that may mean, it's OK to get rad!" – " I use a 225sqft building in my backyard, a Henry James original jig, a Hardinge BB4 horizontal miller, a mix of files, a POS vise, an old craftsman lathe, torch, Miller maxstar, and a bunch of other junk."

"Growing up in Portland, Wesley Younie has always been inspired by the natural world around him. His work deals with how society interacts with the natural world. Entering landscapes and environments that have never been seen." – "He is interested in the man made, the plastic worlds we have created to represent "the natural world"". His work has ranged from photo styling, animal exhibit fabrication, illustation, floral and garden design.