Saturday, August 20, 2016

Oregon Country Fair: An Awesome Trade

[Another post in the "catching up" series. This one is from about July 11th.]

One of the amazing things about doing events with lots of artists is that we can sometimes acquire each others' work even if the show isn't otherwise financially successful. I call it an occupational hazard. Oregon Country Fair fell into that category for me this year. The booth space where I was didn't have much traffic compared to other spots in the fair so my sales were not what I know that they could have been.

And then this guy and his girlfriend came into the booth. The piece of art he was wearing was gorgeous, but not my style at all. Recognizing the technique, I asked if he had any other work with him. It turns out that he did, that one of the pieces was exactly what I have been seeking for decades, and that he liked my work enough to trade.

 
[Three Happy People]

 
[One Amazing Piece]

 
[In situ]

His name is Brendan Stiles, and he has a solid future ahead of him designing and creating this labor-intensive wire wrap jewelry. His sense of form and style is breathtaking, and his execution is flawless. You can see more of his work on his Etsy site: BstilesDesign. If you like his work, I wouldn't wait to acquire a piece. He's pretty new at it, and his prices are just going to go up as he finds his market niche and runs out of time to produce this amazing work.