A place where design matters

Backyard cottage
Originally uploaded by paintchipdiaries.

When I moved to San Jose back in 2003, I was surprised at how difficult it was to find good design (and I don't mean the computer programming kind) in this relatively affluent, third largest city in California. Having worked at various design and architecture firms in San Francisco, it seemed like the South Bay was geographically too fragmented and lacked the established art and design institutions to really fuel a vibrant, creative community. So I started my own design business to provide the access to design products and services that I was not seeing around me. Since then, I realize that there are many other designers and artists in San Jose who share variations on this story. (Thank you, Lisa and Alison, for taking the initiative!) I enjoyed meeting many of you at the first ADF meeting last month and look forward to the growth of this creative business forum!

connecting the dots...

because we (designers, artists, and all other creative small biz folks out there) are sprinkled all over the san jose area and need someplace to meet, get inspiration or motivation, and be able to create something bigger than just ourselves doing our own things in a huge city!

mural on fountain alley, through phantom galleries - now long gone, more projects in the works!

the first meeting of the founding ADF san jose'ers was great - let's keep it up and invite more to join in. this blog is a great place to let everyone know what you're working on and what you would like to be involved in - even if it seems out of reach right now. maybe it's not so far off.

i'm currently on year 4 of my mural painting business, mural studio and last year created devon industry and my shop at etsy to be the umbrella for all my other creations. i design and sew unique stuffed plushes made with new, reclaimed, vintage or sometimes my own fabric designs and my own wool felts. and i love to paint of course - murals on the big scale, but also little paintings of scenes reminiscent of my own childhood nostalgia, with animal characters, and lush flora and fauna. i also dig creating life size art in the form of installation. i've worked with some amazing artists on these kinds of projects, including the lovely cheryl isaacson and also other fantastic artists through phantom galleries (produced by two fish design and anno domini gallery) and now the new kaleid gallery on 4th st (check it out!).


thanks for reading the post! feel free to let us know what you'd like to see on here, or what your feelings are on how we can bring about more creative community in san jose.

Creation of Blog

This blog has been created for artists and designers in the San Jose, California area to communicate and offer support to each other.