I attended Kelly's Summer Solstice Workshop in Portland. It was amazing. It was a small group with…read morefantastic in depth instruction, amazing food and new friendships. Kelly is very good at connecting the art experience to the earth and to your personal experience. Each piece of art that I worked on used different techniques that were new to me. I learned so much in 3.5 days that I can't wait to return in the spring.

I'm a relative newcomer to encaustic artwork. After practicing in my studio for a few months I…read morerealized I needed instruction in materials use and technique. I just finished four days instruction with Kelly in her Portland studio and walked away with an incredible wealth of information and skills. Her knowledge of color, encaustic materials and techniques is incredible and her teaching style is hands on and energetic. She made me feel right at home from the moment we met at her studio. I highly recommend Kelly as an instructor and look forward to another workshop with her in the future.

Our mural is the central one pictured, labeled, "This ocean oasis goes around the entire room and…read morethe full ceiling. It is an island retreat bedroom in dry hot Austin, TX." Bingo. Only you'll never know how much so. I've now woken up in that room for four years, and not one single day did I ever feel like I was coming to in a structure with walls. I sleep under a palm tree, with a bridge to my right, clear ocean straight ahead, and a bamboo structure panning left across windows now also framed in bamboo thanks to the artist. The ceiling blazes with a sunset in one corner, palm trees writhing almost as if on fire, and above us you can see the moon and stars. I marvel every day that some guy painted this - erased our walls and painted us our desert island. As an editor of two-plus decades at the Austin Chronicle, I walked through production one day and glanced at a designer prepping a cartoon of Bob Dylan and was immediately struck by both its whimsy and dead-on caricature. Soon, I was commissioning all kinds of music cartoons from this guy. (Google Nathan Jensen, Austin Chronicle and a whole page of them comes up). Even so, in the local art community - as a native Austinite - he was a much, much bigger deal because of all his murals around town, including a 3-D one on a water tower. He ended up on the paper's cover just like that. When I bought my house in 1998, one of the first things I did was point him to the largest wall in the music room and instruct him to, "Paint me Max's room out of 'Where the Wild Things Are' - the walls turning into forest." That sucker is ALIVE. Our 2-year-old Lazlo's crib rests against it and he sticks his feet up on the wall and stares at it wondrously. Next, I had Nathan paint a media closet as being undersea. The ceiling is the surface of the water. The creatures and treasures on its deep sea floor vibrate will all the colors of Mother Ocean. Our water closet was a BIG hit at that one Christmas party. Couples would go in there and close the door, the inside of which seals the piece and makes the illusion complete. Our master bedroom, then, was Nathan and myself taking that idea as far as it would go. (Less my real fantasy of him doing the whole house!) I will never, ever sell this house because of Nathan's mural(s). It lives and breathes with the elements, and I could never bear the thought of someone not treating it like the artistic feat it proves itself day in and day out. The day we upgrade to a bigger house - keeping this one as a rental and hopefully having Lazlo back in it one day - Nathan again will be one of the first calls we make, and he'll naturally begin on our room, then move to Lazlo's, followed by the music room. Once you have one, you'll likely want another, and visitors will marvel every time they see it. Investment in one's home isn't all bathroom remodels, backyard gazebos, and weed pulling. Allowing a wall or two inside to become a unique canvas of your design might be the ultimate nesting. Those are the places you imbue with love and art. I promise THAT is what Nathan Jensen can bring to your home.

From the owner: I've been a successful freelance artist for over 25 years. I do quality work, on time at a fair…read moreprice. This work ethic and my natural and developed talent has led me to painting on buildings as high as 3 stories tall, kids' rooms, bedrooms, offices, studies, businesses, patios, restaurants, bars and even a limousine! I love what I get to do and really enjoy working with my clients to create the environment they dream of.

The painting Nathan made of my dog is my favorite thing to look at it. With just a few photos, and…read morein just a few weeks, he captured her sweet, goofy spirit perfectly. If you're reading this, you're at least considering it, thinking a pet portrait might be cool to have. It is so cool. You should do it.

From the owner: I specialize in creating beautiful, one-of-a-kind portraits of your furry family members. Each…read morepainting captures the likeness and unique spirit of your pet. Save 10% off any pet portrait. Check website for details.

What a fun place in downtown Portland if you are an anime lover! It has a lot of curated, cute,…read moreand fun merchandise and still has the fun Portland vibe because there were 3 of the sweetest dogs that come up to greet you. Lots of interesting finds here, more heavy on the Pokemon side - as they even have special curated cards. Also it's really nice that they have an upstairs lounge area where they have a spot with some free snacks and just is nice place to chill. Also the service was very friendly and informative, especially on some of their high end curated Pokemon cards.

A cute store to shop at especially if you love Pokémon!…read more When I first visited this store, the first thing that caught my eye was the huge and inflatable Eevee outside the store. It was super cute and fun to take pictures with. The store staff locks the door from the outside, so you have to flag down a staff member to let you in. I thought that was strange, but I realized they are probably doing that for anti-theft purposes since they do carry a lot of expensive items. Walking-in, I was amazed with the décor and selection. It was like I was walking through a store from Japan itself. There was a good variety of items with stuff from the Pokémon company to stuff created by small business owners. I ended up getting 4 Pokémon prints to hang in my room that were created by a small business owner. They had a deal for buy 3 get 1 free, so I could not refuse especially since the prints were so cute. I liked how they had deals like that for a lot of things. When I checked out, they even gave me a free custom sticker. My only critique is the prices. The prices are generally on the higher side for both the imported and custom made goods and this is coming from someone from LA. The 3 prints I bought totaled to around $45 which a bit high. Overall, a good experience here. I would come back if I had some extra money to spend.

Had an appointment to have my first earlobes repierced and new piercings for second lobes. Two…read morepeople helped me select jewelry (huge amount of options, I got there 15 minutes early and could have spent even more time looking at what was available). Xia was my piercer and determined the first lobe piercings were still open and could get a ring through on each side, which was awesome. We discussed placement of the second piercings and whole procedure was done quickly and efficiently. Really appreciate front desk staff and Xia for all their help. It's only been a few days but piercings are all healing nicely. Looking forward to working with them again if I decide to add more!

I went in for a piercing and was not disappointed. Alex was my piercer anf did an amazing job. He…read morewas professional, kept me informed of what would occur before and after the piercing, and helped me relax (I was really nervous). I will definitely be back in the future if I decide to get further work done.

All the frames they have made for me are wonderful and have withstood numerous moves.read more

Although the personnel is friendly and clearly care about what and how they do, they are not very…read moreefficient in getting things done and neglect to communicate about complications and problems that cause delays. My framing project has been dragging on for almost a month for reasons that could have been addressed in a more timely manner.

Courtney was so sweet and her signs were gorgeous! We wanted some unique signs with table names…read more(different concert venues my husband and I had been to leading up to our wedding) instead of numbers and she was able to create the most beautiful art with the signage and everything was so pretty and classy. She was so sweet and I really feel like she stepped up our wedding with her delicate detail on the signage. Thank you so much Courtney!!

From the owner: Custom wedding stationery and sign studio. Including invitation suites, wedding signage and day-of…read morepaper goods.