Creative Humans - The Fitzgerald's

There are certain people in this wide world that you just happen to stumble upon. You think that one day, it would be so lovely to meet them. But you don't plan it. And then, they just happen to be there. And then you happen to be in their home photographing their beautiful little family. The Fitzgerald's just happened to be these people. 

It was a fun story. I had been dragged to Portland a day early to be with two silly, very talented humans. We had only just met, but it seemed that we HAD to spend the week together. I had a hotel booked, but cancelled it to stay with my new friends. One night, we had a little tortilla soup party. Before I could turn around and drink my Mexican coke, James Fitzgerald walked through the door. I knew him. Of course I knew him. Any film photographer worth their Hasselblad knows who he is. So you can imagine my reaction when he walked through the door for dinner. Shortly after a quick trip to the grocery for wine, Jame's beautiful wife Joy - the very talented calligrapher/illustrator of MADE BY SOHN - walked through the door with their brand new little baby, James Fitzgerald (the IV). To be surrounded by such company, such talent, made me a little giddy. One week earlier I had been staring at their faces in the Kinfolk Table cookbook and thinking of attempting Joy's Hwe Dup Bap recipe. These people were magic. And now, here we all were, sharing soup in the same living room.

When it came time to visit the Fitzgerald's in their lovely little apartment just off Division, I knew that I would have trouble taking their photos. Not because they didn't make me feel welcome or that they weren't the worlds most beautiful looking family to photograph - but because I was so ridiculously excitable to be in their company, yet again. I had to breathe. Remember to keep checking my images. Not to get too worked up worrying about Jay checking in on my photography skills...  The trouble I felt earlier quite quickly disappeared. Instead I was humbled by feelings of utter admiration towards their remarkable kindness, their love for each other and their entire life situation. Here they were, two exceptionally talented and creative freelancers and their one month old baby, living a sweet little life in Portland as a happy little family. I left feeling so very inspired, so very happy to have been in their company, and so very grateful to have stumbled upon them. 

What projects are you currently working on?
JAMES - This is a slower time of year for client work, which means I'm taking advantage of the down time to focus on refining myself personally.  This includes improving my photography skill/eye, tuning up the vision for my work and of course always drumming up new ideas for Ransom Ltd., the business my brother Parker and I run together.
JOY - In all honesty, my illustration and calligraphy work has temporarily paused as my biggest "project" is being a mother to my dear 2 month old son.  But most recently, I've been tying up illustration work I did with San Francisco based children's clothing company, Leitmotif.

Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
JAMES - I draw inspiration from a mix of classic photographers including Bresson and Capa, as well as newer platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr.  

JOY - I love studying old handwritten letters, back when letters were the only form of communication.  I also get inspiration from other art forms - ceramics, florals, fashion.  

Why a photographer (James) and a calligrapher/illustrator (Joy)?
JAMES - I've always enjoyed creating, but never thought I'd found my 'outlet.' A few years ago, after dabbling a bit in photography, my brother bought me an old Canon F-1 with the specific instruction that I actually use it. Something about the rhythm using film camera fascinated me and I've felt called to the craft ever since.

JOY - In my early 20s, I had the realization there wasn't much I could offer that someone else couldn't offer better.  But there is something very specific and special about what each person produces with their hands.  I spent my whole life unintentionally studying the handwriting of everyone around me and found it astounding that everyone had a different mark.  This realization combined with my natural enjoyment of both drawing and penmanship led to MADE BY SOHN ("Sohn" in Korean means "hand.")

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, would you be so kind to share some of your favourite artists?
With so many things demanding out attention these days, we both, oddly enough, prefer to work in silence.  

Do you have a morning ritual?
Our morning starts when our son decides it's time to wake up, which can range anywhere from 5am to 9am. We spend a bit of time just enjoying each other's company in our warm sheets.  We try to have a simple breakfast together at home with coffee or tea before we officially get ready for the day.  If we're lucky, we'll get some reading in (these days it's C.S Lewis). 

What's your idea of a perfect Friday night?
Dinner either at home or at our favorite Portland date spot (Navarre), some wine, good conversation and relaxation.  It doesn't take much for us to have a good time.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Currently, South Korea is on our list for the next place we really want to go.  We would love to spend time in the countryside and also very much want to visit Joy's grandmother. Also, Middle Earth.

Best piece of advice you've ever given or been given?
JAMES - My Dad always used to say, "Better to let everyone think you're an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." It sounds rather harsh but it instilled in me the importance of intentionality with words. Intentionality is something I strive for in everything, including my relationships with others as well as my art. I suppose I would say to my son - be intentional in everything you do. 

What's for dinner?
Rice bowl with roasted & pickled vegetables, a fried egg, arugula, topped with avocado slices.

The best part about being a creative?
We would be lying if we didn't mention the fact that we love not living most of our days under fluorescent lights in a cubicle (the environment we were both in prior to becoming freelancers).  
The best and worst part of being creative is being stretched and challenged to think beyond what's in front of us. There isn't an instruction manual on what it means to be creative and produce something worthy. 

The worst part?
See above.

Day or night? Day
Old or new? Old and New
City or Country? City, but country for vacation and respite
Coffee or Tea? Coffee

What do you enjoy most about living in Portland, OR?
The city has so much of what we're looking for. There's breathtaking nature in all directions, amazing food, and great people. The city can be as small or large as you want it to be.

Thoughts for the future:
We're intimidated and excited to experience being freelancers as well as parents. We're not sure what the future holds, but it's definitely not going to be boring!

A Campfire Breakfast

We felt it arrive. Like a draft that brushed over us. The leaves began to fall and winter, it came early. We know we don't have long now. Two years go by way too fast. But that arrival that we felt, not only winter, was our welcomed want to go home. 

Our weekends left here in this country are now countable on our hands. We aren't so happy about that. But for the very first time, we don't fight it. The urge to stay longer, an urge we've had since our arrival, has suddenly and rather gently been overturned by the acceptance - and dare I say excitement - to move on. We dream of home. Where will we live? Where will we explore on our weekends? We anticipate. Familiar beaches and hang outs, colourful money and eucalyptus leaves. Triple J, at any hour. Bounding marsupials, the cake store, afternoon drives past dairy farms and hours spent on cliffs in the back yard. 

We don't wish our time here away, however. Instead, we make it mean so much more. We turn the time and weekends that we do have left wandering as many of our favourite corners of this country as possible. This past week has seen us on the road, driving interstate 10 and 95. We have visited Tennessee cities, Floridian coast lines and one of our most favourite corners of all, the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

We spend days ascending routes and evenings by the campfire here. We spin in layers of leaves and relish the colours of Autumn. We explore the little villages and return to our tents at night. It's the rocks, the rivers and the reflection of seasons in the bush here that we love most. It is a place that has settled dear in our wandering, foreign blood.

During one morning in the mountains, we huddled into the warmth of the campfire and away from the early onset of winter. We took the time to make a slower breakfast. To breath in the autumn air and listen to the frigid mountain stream flow by. As far as places go, it's here, it's this that we will miss most. But we didn't linger in angst to be leaving this place. Instead, we made damper. An Australian bush-bread, once a staple to the stockmen and the drovers and other wandering type. Fitting for our current situation really. We know that as wanderers we leave things behind. And we can choose to fight it, or we can choose to welcome what lies ahead. At the time, the damper was purely there for a morning breakfast treat. Now, looking back it seems as though we made this breakfast as a subtle gesture towards our welcomed want to be returning to Australia. We are so grateful for this time, all of it, but something has shifted. We felt it. And we've accepted the change.

Soon, we will be home.

Campfire Damper on a Stick

Traditionally damper uses only flour, water and salt, is shaped into a round loaf and cooked in a cast iron pot over hot coals. Instead, we chose to use butter and milk and to make the more fun option - damper on a stick. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make more.

prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes 
total time: 25 minutes
yields: 2 servings

1 1/2 cups (200g) self raising flour
40g melted, salted butter
1/2 cup milk
extra butter for serving
golden syrup ( for USA peeps - this can be found in the UK international foods section of the supermarket and is so very worth it!)
2 long foraged sticks

In a large bowl place the flour, melted butter and the milk. Using a strong butter knife, cut through the mixture until it is mostly combined. The cutting action will ensure that the mixture isn't overworked and remains as light and airy as possible. Using your hands, gently massage the dough to combine any left over flour and to form a smooth round ball. No kneading is necessary here. 

Break the dough into four even pieces. Roll each piece into a long snake about 30cm (12 inches) long. Starting at the top of the stick, firmly wrap the dough around moving in one direction down the stick to form a twist. Gently push the top and the bottom of the dough to the stick to make sure that it stays on.

Roast the damper over campfire coals, turning continuously until cooked - approx 15 minutes. Once cooked, the damper should sound hollow when tapped. Remove the damper from the stick and smother in butter and plenty of golden syrup. 

Creative Humans - Hannah Ferrara | Another Feather

I was never much of a jewelry wearer. I got my ears pierced late and promptly let them grow out a short while after. The only time you could find me in a necklace and a ring was during my late teen hippy stage - and even then they were most probably made from hemp and some sort of chunky mood stone. When we moved to the states I came across Another Feather. I'd seen Hannah's work floating around the web and had the chance to try some of her designs on at a pop up event in Nashville. I put a gold arc ring on my middle right finger and, despite the times where I find myself baking or climbing, haven't taken it off since. I think it was the simplicity and originality of the designs that struck me most. I became obsessed. They are just so lovely and so damn wearable. 

Meeting Hannah in Portland, back in October, was quite the exciting moment for me. It turns out that we had found ourselves in the very same spot exactly a year earlier at a dinner event over on the East Coast. However, neither of us knew of each other then so we didn't formally meet. This time we did indeed meet and it was oh so lovely. We spent the morning working our way down Division street starting at Stumptown for coffee + tea, Roman Candle for Lunch and ending up at Salt + Straw for some after lunch treats. Hannah seems to always find the best eats (I quite often find myself stalking her instagram looking for the best restaurants in unfamiliar cities). She graciously greeted us with fresh figs from the tree in her garden and happily reshaped my accidentally squished arc ring during our chat over coffee. Of course our time together flew by way too fast. Not at all surprising considering that it felt like I had been waiting a year for this one - to meet the maker who turned me into a jewelery wearer, who's ring I'd been wearing around daily and who has got me adding her bracelets to my Christmas list. Serious obsession. Not only with the jewelry but dear Hannah too. What a lady.

What projects are you currently working on? 

Some exciting collaborations that I can't quite share yet, a few events & pop-ups, my next collection, and a new look book.

Where do you draw your creative inspiration from? 

So many places. Almost always from traveling, unknown and familiar landscapes, the internet, architecture, and the simplest moments or patterns found while going about my day.

Why a Jeweler?

I love the sculptural aspects of working in metal, and I love creating pieces in that medium which interact with the body. From that interest I began making the simplistic and everyday pieces I always wanted to exist but couldn't seem to find.

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, would you be so kind to share some of your favourite artists? 

I'm a little bit crazy when it comes to that, and actually really enjoy working in silence for most of the morning. By the end of the day music is usually turned on at some point to help get through the late afternoon.

Do you have a morning ritual? 

Coffee, yoga, emails. I wish I didn't have to get on my computer so early in the day, but now that I'm on the west coast I constantly feel behind all day due to the time difference if not. Then to work in the studio for the remainder of the morning, or meetings/ errands depending on the day. If it's the weekend then I like to linger over the coffee, make a proper breakfast, and go for a walk. 

What's your idea of a perfect Friday night? 

Friday's always somehow end up being one of my busiest days, so by the end of it I am pretty spent and want to stay in. Fridays around here typically end in a run at the park, thai take out and a movie at home. Saturday and sunday evenings are for going out or for cooking a big dinner and having our friends over.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? 

Right now I've really been wanting to visit Morocco, Greece, Berlin and Copenhagen. Japan is also high on my list. 

Best piece of advice you've ever given or been given? 

It's better to get paid less and do work that inspires yourself and those around you than to spend your life doing something that makes you miserable all for the sake of a paycheck. I was given that advice early on and I still stand by it and give it often.

What's for dinner? 

Cauliflower & lemongrass soup

The best part about being a creative? 

Being able to have my hands in so many inspiring things, being my own boss, working with my hands everyday.

The worst part? 

Learning to reign it in, having my mind in a million places/ projects at once. Never having an off-switch. Getting little sleep.

Day or night? Day

Old or new? Both, I can't decide. I like the aesthetics of new but the history and visual story of old. Or new inspired by old. Or a juxtaposition of both.

City or Country? Also both. Living in the city, and frequently spending time in the country is ideal for me.

Coffee or Tea? Coffee first thing in the morning then tea the remainder of the day, herbal tea in the evening before bed.

What do you enjoy most about living in Portland, OR? 

The community of creatives, the lush plant life, incredible food and being relatively close to so many beautiful parts of Oregon (i.e. the coast, the Columbia gorge, the woods, Mt. Hood)

Thoughts for the future: 

They always involve travel plans. Serious wanderlust over here. 

Kinfolk Dinner Astoria | Part II

Part II of the Kinfolk Astoria dinner series.  

See Part I here.