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Artist of the Week: Angela Gonzalez

Posted by Christy Eriksen · September 20, 2019

"I love the healing nature of beading. It connects me to my family, ancestors and culture."

Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

This week’s featured artist is Alaskan artist Angela Gonzalez. Like so many Alaskan artists, Angela wears a lot of hats - including public relations with First Alaskans Institute and writing on her popular Athabascan Woman blog. Her generosity of spirit and skills is seen in her digital life (check out her youtube with beading tips and tricks!) and throughout her beadwork.

Who are you?

I am Koyukon Athabascan. I'm from Huslia and live in Anchorage with my family. My parents are Al and Eleanor Yatlin. My maternal grandparents are the late Edwin and Lydia Simon. My paternal grandparents are Alda Frank and the late George Frank and Minnie Yatlin.

What do you do?

I work in the public relations/communications field in Anchorage. I am presently the Indigenous Communications Manager at the First Alaskans Institute, a statewide Alaska Native nonprofit. I enjoy sharing photos and stories of life in Alaska, with a focus on Athabascan culture and people on the Athabascan Woman Blog. I love beading! For the past few years, I have focused on making slipper or moccasins. I bead on smoked moose hide and sew them onto the vamps. I add beaver fur trim. So far, I made nearly a 100 pairs with most of them being gifts to family and friends. I customize the beadwork for each person, like a favorite colors, sports team, flower and more.

Who/what inspires you?

I’m inspired by my mom, aunts and late grandma Lydia Simon. They are all great beadworkers who have taught me how to bead and are willing to help when I want to learn something new or how to fix my mistakes. I am also inspired by people who I’m making them for and love the challenge of a new design.

What’s your favorite moment in the process?

I love the healing nature of beading. It connects me to my family, ancestors and culture. I also get filled up when I gift a pair. In someone’s lifetime, they may only have one pair of custom-made beaded slippers. I know how much it means to people. When I was gifting slippers to my nieces, my nephew asked, “Can boys have them too?” I was planning to make some for my nephews too, but I immediately got started on his pair.

What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

I love sharing how to videos on my YouTube channel and blog, and someone can learn tips and even how to bead slippers. I love following Indigenous Beads (@IndigenousBeads) on Twitter to see their creations and learn about their process. They have a new host each week, and I have been fortunate to host occasionally for the past few years.

What’s next?

Recently, I’ve gotten into beading earrings on smoked moose hide, and especially love making bead soup designs. I have beaded glove tops, but want to learn how to sew them onto gloves and add beaver fur trim. I recently learned to harvest silverberry seeds to make beads, and can’t wait to use them in my work.

See (and smell! Mmmm that smoked moose hide 😃) Angela's work in person at the shop!

Artist of the Week: Melissa Garcia Johnson

Posted by Christy Eriksen · September 06, 2019

"It's a delicate balance of intention and freedom."

photo by Sydney Akagi

Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

This week’s featured artist is local artist Melissa Garcia Johnson, principal designer at Frenchie's Floral Studio! You may have seen the seasonal bouquets we offer on First Fridays or holiday weekends -- they're all made fresh from her hands and feature seasonal, regionally-sourced blooms. Her fresh, whimsical work will be in full bloom tonight at our 5 Year Anniversary Party from 4:30-7:30! Melissa will be here with stems and bouquets at Frenchie's pop up Flower Bar; come get yourself some living beauty.

Who are you?

Melissa Garcia Johnson, Principal Designer and Manager at Frenchie's Floral Studio. I'm also a doggie mama, wife-to-be, and nature lover.

What do you do?

Frenchie’s Floral Studio is Juneau's neighborhood flower shop located in the downtown Historic Flats District. With a focus on regional, seasonal ingredients and elevated design, we strive to create lush, organic, and artful florals that are unique and custom tailored to all of life's moments. We love serving the Juneau community through daily designs & deliveries, and also offer wedding floral services to couples in love. We are the only flower shop in town that allows you to shop by the stem, offering you the chance to play artist and curate your own bouquet! In addition to all things floral, our little shop also offers an array of juicy plants and thoughtful gift items. Most of my days are personally spent bouncing between armloads of flowers and administrative tasks at the shop.

Who/what inspires you?

Nature, always. I was raised roaming the foothills of Northern California and spent many summers as a child on my grandparent's ranch, knee deep in mud, grass, and wildflowers. I had (and continue to have) a love for the natural world and can often be found dissecting the elements around me to learn more about their form, color, and texture. The movement of blooms and branches in the real world informs most of my designs in the studio.

What’s your favorite moment in the process?

I have two: the first is selecting color palette. I love working with color and always pay very close attention to the way that colors interact with each other in florals and foliages. I believe a solid color palette and top notch ingredients are the foundation of any design, so establishing this with each of my designs brings me a lot of joy.

After that, once I have flowers in hand, I find the first few steps of the process can often feel tedious and challenging because I'm mostly focused on building out the structure of the design. There's almost always a moment in my work where I absolutely hate what I'm creating. But then, I usually make one small tweak or one killer stem insertion that dramatically changes the design and brings the whole piece together. It's a lot like problem solving, and that moment of resolution makes the rest of the design just flow. From that point on, I'm in my element and can groove and play until the design is done.

What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

A simple piece of advice for those who like to buy bouquets from the store and then design their own arrangements at home: play around with height and dimension. When all the stems are cut at the same level and placed in a vase, depth or dynamic movement can be lost. Give each stem a moment to shine and accentuate its shape and character.

For those who dabble with flowers more frequently, I'll share this (and it's advice I offer to myself often too): just trust your intuition and don't take yourself too seriously. When I first started in florals, I felt like I needed to be super precise in how I designed because I was such a beginner. I found that I was constantly tweaking things and couldn't just let a design be. Now, I really heavily rely on my gut to just know when a design is done and I feel like a lot of that is informed, again, by nature and the awareness that, when things grow in the natural world, they're not perfectly curated but still hold so much beauty. It's a delicate balance of intention and freedom.

What’s next?

We're excited to keep on flowering for the lovely people of Juneau and surrounding communities here in Southeast. We've seen a lot of really exciting growth with weddings over the past year or so, and I'm over the moon to meet our 2020 couples as the 2019 wedding season minds down. We're also game planning around workshops and community events in the future, so stay tuned for that!

See Melissa and her work tonight at the party, 4:30-7:30pm!

Artist of the Week: Carley Thayer

Posted by Christy Eriksen · August 30, 2019

"I love to accentuate what is naturally there."

Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

This week’s featured artist is local artist Carley Thayer! Between her origins in the Aleutian Islands, her career in commercial fishing, and her home in Southeast Alaska, Carley has grown up on the ocean. At once glamorous and elegant, her work is a fresh combination of her heritage and the sea. P.s. Otter fur is the softest in the world; we encourage you to come in and feel them!

Who are you?

Carley Thayer currently living in Juneau, Alaska. I am an artist, a fisherman, a wife and a mother! I love every part of my life and am blessed to have a hard working husband so I can create and be a mom full time.

What do you do?

My business Bering Sea Designs is inspired by the Aleutian Islands where my ancestors harvested Sea Otters for many generations. With the use of a tradition material and metals I create modern Sea Otter Fur Jewelry. I love the combination of Fur and Metal!

Who/what inspires you?

With my current designs the variation in the Sea Otter Fur is what inspires me. Often times we only see what is on the outside, but the layers underneath are so beautiful. I love to accentuate what is naturally there.

What’s your favorite moment in the process?

When I come up with a new design I am usually just messing around and after several hours of tinkering out comes a piece. When a new piece is birthed out of my studio and I see what I created with my own two hands; thats the most exciting part.

I also love when people are picking out a piece. I brings me joy to help in this process of finding the perfect one; to encourage them to be bold with their choice. When they put that piece on and their face lights up, you just know its the one. Thats a pretty special moment.

What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

With fur I feel like there is so much to explore so have fun with it and go for it!

What’s next?

I will be at Juneau Public Market again and hopefully I will be releasing some new designs!

See more of Carley's work here!

Artist of the Week: Al Laudert

Posted by Christy Eriksen · August 23, 2019

"I catch and photograph shrimp participating in activities that most shrimp only dream of."

Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

This week’s featured artist is Al Laudert who introduced himself to me as The Shrimp Whisperer and has not lost my attention since! His photographs capture shrimp in all their hidden glory, with playfulness and precision. We're here for it!

Who are you?

Al Laudert, aka "ShrimpWhispererAK"

What do you do?

I catch and photograph shrimp participating in activities that most shrimp only dream of

Who/what inspires you?

The person who probably had the most influence on me as my art evolved to whimsical shrimp photography was Southeast artist Ray Troll. What really inspires me is showing people who have only seen shrimp battered or butterflied how cool they are!

What’s your favorite moment in the process?

My favorite moment in the process is the constant search for shrimp-scale props for the next photo shoot. But nothing tickles me more than the reactions I get from folks viewing my art for the first time...

What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

Photography can be so interesting, and there is no substitute for good equipment. I have to plan my shots in advance, with my camera and props in hand because I only have about two hours before my models start to get tired... My advice is to be creative and believe in yourself!

What’s next?

I am driven to keep raising the creative bar with the photos I plan for the coming year! Next year I plan to add some new products. When Ray Troll is wearing a ShrimpWhispererAK tee shirt, I will feel I have succeeded!

See more of Al's work here!

Artist of the Week: Krista Tranquila

Posted by Christy Eriksen · August 09, 2019

"If it seems hard, you are probably using the wrong tool."

Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

This week’s featured artist is Krista Tranquila, whose mixture of illustration and metalsmith we instantly fell in love with. It's been a joy seeing her bring some Juneau images into her work for us and learn more about her process!

Who are you?

Krista Tranquila

What do you do?

I make jewelry.

Who/what inspires you?

At the moment, the idea of nature therapy.

What’s your favorite moment in the process?

Working out new problems or ideas.

What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

If it seems hard, you are probably using the wrong tool.

What’s next?

My daughters will go back to school and I will have a little more time to work out some new ideas.

See more of Krista's work here!