I spotted this MECA student with Ashley a couple weeks ago, who graciously stopped for a photo while schlepping a box back into school. Not only did I love his style (hello pattern mixing and peach cords!) but he told us that he was a jewelry designer. So look out for him on First Friday where he’ll most likely be selling his goods. 

And I’ll see you on the streets tonight…! 

What is it about the icon of our great state that looks so good? The rocky coastline? The unique shape? Either way, it looks even better in plaid. Bethany Hayes-Chute, the artist behind By Bethany, has been screen printing her own designs for two years. Her Maine tee’s have a rustic, sketched out feel and her New England tees are the newest hybrid (not on her site yet - but they’ll be at The Big Thaw!) All her shirt designs are hand-printed on apparel made in the U.S. So is her plaid state of Maine trying to get at something? “I wasn’t trying to say that everyone in Maine wears plaid - but I guess it is kinda true!” she says. 

This art school aficionado (she’s gone to MECA, Pratt and Mass Art) doesn’t just stick to Maine garb. There’s also her creature shirts, jewelry, floral designs and New England tote bags (just $12) that round out her array of goods. You can buy her goods online or visit her table at The Big Thaw. You can bet her table of t’s will be perfectly folded thanks to Nate - he taught her to fold them the “Martha Stewart” way during our visit. 

When I caught my first glimpse of designer Ashley Tyler through the windows of her home in the West End, I noticed we were wearing matching vintage Woolrich shirts and Sorel boots. Sometimes you just know you’re going to like (nay, love) someone’s style. 

Ashley is new to Portland, though she’s been a frequent Maine visitor for the past four years. She left her prominent New York fashion career behind her (she worked as Senior Design Director for Ralph Lauren, interned with Jean-Paul Gaultier in Paris and had her own boutique - no big deal) to head North full-time.

Ashley’s new spring and summer designs were laid out for us to oooh and aaah over. Highlights included a bikini with printed prose, stretch modal Ninja Shirts, a draped and sexy Cobra Dress and organic cotton t-shirts. She’s also created handmade leather medicine bags from skins she’s been collecting for over 15 years. 

The Native American aesthetic behind most of her designs stem from her family’s Cherokee background. Her beautiful silk “Aviva” scarves came from a sketch inspired by her cat as well as a piece of Native American art belonging to her Grandparents. 

Ashley’s home, which she shares with her artist boyfriend, gets the creative juices flowing. Up their winding staircase are two adjoining bedroom/studios. Her boyfriend works on his sculptures in one room while Ashley works on her bags and stores her collections of medicine bags, plaid shirts and vintage whites.

Their basement houses a silk screen that Ashley uses to create her t-shirts. We notice one screen with the image of a phoenix - the symbol of Portland. “I’ve loved phoenixes before I moved to Portland, I even have a tattoo of one that I got years ago,” says Ashley. “It’s a sign I’m supposed to be here.”





 

What do you get one you take one part oceanic rock musician and bag-jewelry-maker extraordinaire and pair it with a female hip-hop artist? Ponomo Style…naturally. We were graciously welcomed into Hannah Tarkinson’s studio last week where we discussed ebay, World War II bracelets and the Maine rap scene. 

Hannah Tarkinson made her first bag nine years ago when she couldn’t afford the quality she’d see in high-fashion lines. “That was it really. I made one and they started to sell,” she says. Her leather bags are made from salvaged hides that she hand tools, dyes and sews to make custom bags - no bag is exactly like another. Unlike lots of designers, Hannah didn’t seek out the craft, it found her. “I never thought I’d end up being good at this, let alone be doing it full-time,” says the lead singer for Portland based band Isobell. (That’s right. She’s a lead singer in a band, owns her own company and she’s a Mom. She is seriously my “I-can-do-everything-and-still-look-put-together-and-be-witty hero”) 

As demand for her bags and jewelry grew, Hannah started to think about taking on a business partner. She finally found a good match in Sonya Tomlinson a.k.a Sontiago. “I wasn’t good at PR so one way I tried to get exposure with my jewelry was by giving it to musicians to wear. That’s how I met Sonya,” explains Hannah. “There is no better match for me. She is the most genuine person to be in this business with.” 

Sonya shares that same affection for her partner. “You can give someone all the parts we work with, but they won’t construct anything like what Hannah will come up with,” she says. Hannah doesn’t seek out trends or create what she knows will sell. Instead, she’ll read a fashion magazine to look at what not to make.  

The beauty of Ponomo (po’ no’ mo’ - poor no more - in case you were wondering) comes largely from the discarded pieces that get a new life - from bullet shells to leather scraps to zippers, all repurposed and reconstructed materials.  ”I’ll actually hold a piece and have an emotional attachment to it,” says Hannah as she shows us bracelets that soldiers would send their sweethearts during World War II. 

And if the duo isn’t busy enough, they also run Frock N’ Roll - a charity event that raises money for The Portland Music Foundation. 

You can buy their pieces at Bliss, Jill McGowan’s pop-up shop in Freeport and at Flock in Boston. Or shoot the ladies an email if you have an old bauble that needs some freshening up. (And if anyone out there wants to buy me a Christmas present, one of the cut steel and suede bracelets will suit me just fine. Thanks.)

If you’ve ever visited Running With Scissors Gallery and walked through the front door, taken a sharp left, wound your way around a few studio spaces and gone up some wooden stairs in a back corner, you’d be sure to find Jennifer Nielsen. But if that seems a bit daunting, you can always visit her site, Jennifer Nielsen Handcrafted Jewelry.

When you walk into Jen’s small yet supremely organized studio, you’ll see rows and rows of sand stones and found pebbles from Portland beaches, many from right near her home by Willard Beach. Her found rocks and minerals are not treated or even tumbled. She looks for stones “with a flat bottom so there’s a natural seat” and prefers to use them in their found state - smooth from being tossed in the ocean. 

Jen has always been a jeweler. As a former MECA student, she took metalsmithing classes and began to apprentice with jewelers and picked up techniques along the way. By chance, she made herself a bracelet from stones she found at the beach. That’s all it took. Everybody wanted one.

Jen accepts visitors to her studio by appointment. She oozes an appreciation for Maine’s natural landscapes - from the driftwood stool that holds her tools to her thousands of rows of near perfectly matched rocks. She leaves you inspired to keep your head to the ground, on a constant quest for something unique.

She creates everything from pendants to bracelets and engagement rings. She also creates custom pieces for people that are fellow “rock picker uppers”. Shop her pieces online here and if anyone is headed to the Common Grounds Fair this weekend - look for her booth!

Ditching her day job as a loan officer was a very smart move for Charlotte Leavitt. Her new gig involves creating beautiful jewelry in a studio above the Porthole. Now she gets to spend her hours creating handmade pieces and watching cruise ships come in and out of the harbor. Not a bad career move.

Charlotte’s idea for Chart Metal Works, which she co-owns with her partner John, came after she noticed how cool the charts she had hanging up in her home would look as jewelry. Once people started asking her where she sold her baubles, she knew she was on to something.

Every piece is custom made in their Portland studio. Now the company has five full-time employees and Charlotte’s pieces are sold in over 75 stores across the country. She gets orders from lobsterman that want a keychain of their “sweet spot” to magazine editors that order them as gifts.  She and John do it all. They print the charts, take orders, pour the resin and polish the pieces. If you get a piece from Chart Metalworks, you can guarantee it’s been touched by the founder herself. So what is it about nautical charts? Charlotte says, “Well, they’re beautiful as a whole but when you zero in on someone’s specific point of interest, they become special.”  

Visit their online shop here.

This gorgeous gal was walking back to MECA, artist portfolio in hand, where she’s enrolled in the pre-college program. She’s a great example of how to wear a form-fitting mini dress. If you’re able to pull off a bandage skirt (first made popular by Herve Leger) pairing it with a looser top is an easy way to keep the look casual. Her slouchy teal shoulder bag is a hip alternative for carrying her drawing, 2D, 3D and art history books.

How do you like living in Portland?

Well, I’ve been here for a month but tomorrow is my last day.  I’ve loved it and I love Maine. It’s a lot less humid than where I’m from in Northern Virginia.