“It’s not magic,” says David Johansen, who is perhaps better known by his online persona, Neon Dave. “I have a pet peeve with that word. I get why people want to call this magical because it’s cool, but everything we … Continue reading →

The artist stands on a piece of plywood in the middle of the frame. It’s night, and the lighting is fluorescent, turning the walls of the gallery a sickly yellow. Shadows on the wall reveal the presence of a crowd: … Continue reading →

Allie Norman just wanted to design a beer label. The designer had moved to Portland—a mecca for craft brew enthusiasts—after spending time working and traveling abroad. Although she had studied graphic design in college and had been working as an … Continue reading →

When people hear that Courtney Norod is a painter, most of them assume she means fine art or perhaps murals for kids’ bedrooms or faux finishes—something of that type. They don’t expect her to be a housepainter. “It’s a very … Continue reading →

Shopping for my toddler daughter is hard. So much of the children’s clothing available is extremely gendered, with hot pink sparkles and crown patterns on the “girls” clothes and trucks, footballs, and monsters covering the “boys” clothes. I’m always looking … Continue reading →

Lucky Platt was at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts when she met her wolf. She had been thinking about them for a bit, mulling over ideas about these “hairy creatures” she had been making. Sometimes, she would paint bears, which … Continue reading →

In 1994, Erica Moody attended a party that changed her life. She was living in Boston at the time, on a break from her undergraduate studies. She’d always thought she would become an artist, but learning art in an academic … Continue reading →

Although she’s been painting her whole life, it still sort of baffles Sarah Madeira Day when I call her an artist. “I think of other artists as real artists. I’m just a girl who paints out of her house and … Continue reading →

Ted Carter has been planting, growing, and pruning since he was a child. Growing up in suburban Chicago, he found himself drawn to every wild, overgrown space. “I was kind of a loner,” the landscape designer says. “Though I am … Continue reading →

When Billy Landenberger was growing up in Attleboro, Massachusetts, there “wasn’t really a longboard scene.” But when it comes to chasing adrenaline, it doesn’t take much to get a teenager’s gears turning. A few of his friends built a half-pipe, … Continue reading →