Welcome to the Oregon Crafted blogsite where you can accompany me on some Oregon art adventure trips. These trips are outlined in the award-winning Oregon Crafted Guidebook© currently available for free, while supplies last. The Guidebook offers detailed tours in the Willamette Valley and Central Coast that combine visits to artist studios and cultural sites with outdoor adventure. With its luscious pictures and easy-to-read maps, The Oregon Crafted Guidebook© leads you to the places where art lives – the working studios of over 100 of Oregon’s finest artists and handcrafters. The minute I first flipped through my Guidebook, I knew I wanted to do some of these tours.

Though I felt somewhat intimidated contacting strangers and inviting myself to visit their studios, my anxieties washed away as I encountered nothing but warm, welcoming friendliness. I started on the first section of the Guidebook which features artists living in or near Philomath. I’d never been to Philomath except passing through on the way to Newport. I picked a day convenient for me to travel and sent an email to the Philomath artists asking their availability. Three available artists returned my email by the next day so my itinerary was easily set. The other Philomath artists had scheduling conflicts for that day, but with a couple more emails and phone confirmations, I had another day of studio tours scheduled for the next week.

I live in Eugene and decided to drive the back roads up Willamette Valley. Just before reaching Junction City on 99N, I turned west on 36 towards Cheshire and enjoyed the commanding morning view of the Coast Range for six straight miles. At Territorial Highway, I turned north towards Monroe and drove through rural wonderland. The road itself was fun to drive with slight curves and undulating hills past corn fields, vineyards and Christmas Tree farms. Once past Monroe, the road straightened out and cut north through golden fields of grain stretching from the Coast Range to the Cascades.

Not familiar with Philomath, I had Mapquested the routes to the three studios and a lunch spot and easily found my first stop - a mere 40 minutes from Eugene - at the studio of Carolee Clark. Nestled in a nice edge-of-town neighborhood and down a meandering path alongside the main home, the hexagonal studio with its abundant windows optimizes a tremendous view of the Willamette Valley complete with cows in the pasture. In between the huge windows hang bright, bold, fun, colorful paintings of landscapes, cows and fanciful figures. Being a golfer, I am drawn to a particular piece featuring a plump costumed lady swinging her golf club. Clark has something for everyone. A full-time artist, her creativity is always flowing, taking her in many directions. This is evident in her dozens of “dailies” in one corner of her studio. To keep on top of her game, she paints a new 10x10 piece every day and offers them for sale for only $49. Check out her “dailies” and other bold beautiful paintings at www.caroleeclark.com.

After a pleasant visit and tour with Carolee Clark, I head to the next studio on my list. Leslie Green is a sculptor and potter who focuses on the Japanese-inspired firing process called Raku. The driveway to Green’s studio is a narrow curving path up through forested hills. It reminds me of the approach to Cascade Raptor Center in Eugene. The studio itself is a big shop with high windows showcasing the forest outside. Intense finished and unfinished pieces of pottery line the studio’s shelves and walls. Green is currently creating pieces with big cat facial images in stone. The pieces are complicated and exquisite and achieve a “cave art” image. When I ask Green if she has a message regarding the studio tours she shares this, “People benefit from visiting art studios, to see where, why and how the artists are inspired. Enjoy the journey and experience and feel the artist’s energy in the studio…instead of just focusing on how much the end product will cost.” Indeed, the personalized tour of an artist’s studio alone is worth the trip.

After the studio tour and a quick tour of Green’s outdoor garden art, it is time for me to head to my third and last studio. At the end of a gravel road and down a long country driveway lies Sage Art Studio, a quaint cottage at the edge of a meadow with great views of Mary’s Peak. In this fun studio, chock full of bins stuffed with doodads, gadgets, buttons and fabric, Judith Sander creates unique dolls adorned with a variety of fabrics and jewelry giving each doll its own character. Sander also creates complicated intricate collages. Starting with a fun eclectic painting of a human figure, Sander adds layers of papers and fabrics (often stationery she’s written on), various adornments, and other fine details to complete an exquisite multi-layered, multi-textured scene surrounding the human figure. She has been doing collages for the last six years and confesses her collages are intense work. The tranquil valley view from the studio windows helps counter the intensity. Working on the dolls also counters the intensity. Having created dolls for many years before she even started collages, Sander finds the dolls “fun, easy and a breath of fresh air.” Indeed they are fun and every woman who sees one will want one. I am not surprised she creates such lovely works of art. She surrounds herself in an inspirational studio in a gorgeous setting that feeds her creativity. Check out Sander’s collages, dolls and other artwork at www.judithsander.com.

As it is now lunchtime, my hunger motivates me to leave. Gathering Together Farms is the only eating establishment in Philomath to advertise in the Guidebook so I head there for lunch. Fruit trees, flowers, and vegetable gardens surround the restaurant. Alpacas and llamas graze across the road. I am momentarily dumbstruck at the never-ending rural paradise that seems to be Philomath. Big City folks have no idea. This restaurant seems to be a popular place. All tables are full on the dining porch. To pass the time waiting for an open table, I wander inside past a display of the farm’s fresh organic vegetables and coolers of fresh locally grown organic meat and poultry. A few minutes later, I find myself sitting at a rustic table next to a huge outdoor wood-fired oven and overlooking a tranquil koi pond resplendent with water lilies. I have a front row seat of the alpacas and llamas wandering in the aspen grove across the road. I order the From the Field pizza with lamb sausage, apple, arugula and beets and a Deschutes Brewery Mirror Pond Pale Ale. Waiting for my order, I reflect on the morning tours. Organizing the trip had been much easier than I thought. Driving the back roads through the Willamette Valley had been refreshing and uplifting. Touring the studios and meeting the artists had been fun and educational. Now sitting in rural utopia I understand why so many artists have made Philomath their home. For “icing on the cake” though, with my first bite of the pizza I know I have just tasted the best pizza I have ever had in this state. It’s an amazing, simple, delectable pizza with an absolutely to-die-for crust! The Gathering Together Farms’ motto ought to be “World’s Best Pizza in Exotic Rural Setting.”

Leaving Philomath begrudgingly, I plan to finish out my trip with a stop at Tyee Wine Cellars. Unfortunately as I drive past the entrance, a “Closed” sign hangs across the driveway. I guess I should have called first. Now I find myself with enough time to stop into Fiddlers Green in Eugene, a pro shop wonderland for golfers, and an excellent end to an exciting and fulfilling day of self-guided Oregon Crafted studio tours. This trip has been surprisingly easy to plan, coordinate and execute and makes me even more excited to continue touring the studios listed in the Oregon Crafted Guidebook.

Next trip: Back to Philomath.