March Artist of the Month: Berkley Illustration!
They say March goes in like a Lion and out like a Lamb (though in rainy Portland it’s possible they’d both come in and go out with dripping wet fur!) However, if you’d like a portrait of both a lion and a lamb looking dry and debonair, check out the work of our incredible Artists of the Month, Ryan and Lucy Berkley of Berkley Illustration!
Best known for his sophisticated animal portraits which have gained fans all over the globe, Ryan is self-taught and influenced by pop culture and comic book art, and has been the fantastic artist behind our eye-catching promotional posters and business cards since the beginning of Crafty Wonderland! Lucy manages the business aspect of their operation, as well as all the photography and writing the stories that accompany their stylish animal characters.
Along with raising two adorable small children, Ramona and Linus, the Berkleys have also written and illustrated a book, Social Animals, added temporary tattoos and colorful enamel pins featuring some of your favorite creatures to the mix! Stop by the shop to rummage through our selection of portraits in search of your spirit animal, and be sure check out two super cool original drawings done on coasters by Ryan at Nucleus Portland - close ups of black panthers slinking through the grass.
Somehow the busy Berkleys still found the time to answer some questions we thought it would be fun to ask. Read on to see what Ryan and Lucy had to say!
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What do you predict for your business in the future? We would like to branch out a bit from the portrait series and do a lot more general nature art. I have a show coming up at Land Gallery in Portland in May with a whole lot of new material. And we always have children's book ideas floating around in our heads. Who is your current celebrity crush? Ryan - Bryce Dallas Howard. But only at the end of her Black Mirror episode when she is dirty and crazy. Lucy- Kate McKinnon Who is your current political crush? Ryan- Alec Baldwin's Trump Lucy- Kate Brown What art and craft fairs and events are you looking forward to in the coming year? (Besides ours, of course!) Renegade Chicago and the Urban Craft Uprising winter show, with an eyebrow raised at DesignerCon. Favorite new local artist? It's tough to think of someone as "new", so I’ll go with someone we recently discovered. I really like Nicole Gustafsson's stuff (Nima Sprout). But if we are talking new and up and coming, we really like this artist named Ramona Berkley and we recommend watching out for her in the future.  Favorite word and/or swear word? Ever since high school I've enjoyed using "poopbutt". What are you reading or what podcast are you listening to? I've done a few episodes of the "About to Review" podcast and even if I wasn't a friend or participant, I would say you can do a lot worse in finding a great pop culture podcast. Favorite beer, wine or cocktail? Ryan- Fuzzy Navel Lucy- Hopworks IPA What is your stance on umbrellas in Portland? I don't care what my fellow citizens think, but if I'm out for a while in the rain, I'm taking an umbrella. Wet glasses are the worst. |
By Joanna Kurimsky
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