SydneySix

I am an artist, designer, and native to Portland, OR. I graduated from art school with a BFA in Communication Design focusing on graphic design and printmaking. I am a huge font nerd and if given the chance will talk your ear off about anything from typeface history to the documentary on Helvetica (I'd highly recommend it if you haven't seen it). I love printmaking and have worked in printshops across the US doing letterpress printing and bookbinding. Although I unfortunately do not currently have a full studio, I do what I can on a small scale at the moment.

In addition to design and printmaking, a few other artistic practices of mine are calligraphy and hand lettering, film photography, drawing, and bookmaking.

Dachshunds are my favorite animal. My sweet miniature dachshund sadly passed, but I look forward to the day that I can live somewhere to house a herd of them that will follow me around as I create and travel.

I love old things. An interest in typewriters slowly turned into a superfluous hobby of hunting for them at garage sales, repairing them, and ending up with far more than anyone really needs. I was also gifted an analog film camera a few years ago and have since launched into the world of film photography experimenting with light and lenses.

I need to be careful not to go overboard here. I really enjoy music and come from a very musical family. I love going to concerts in town, both seeing big bands that are touring and small local bands. To be extremely general, I like just about everything except country. To be more specific, I love learning about music as a culture and the individuals and bands that shaped a scene and create genres.

Growing up in the PNW, I was close to the grunge scene of Seattle in the 90s and like everything from Temple of the Dog and Green River to Nirvana. A little closer to current day, I like the indie music that this region has brought up like Elliott Smith and Death Cab for Cutie. Although I don't listen to much of the pioneering punk bands now, I am fascinated by their history of DIY culture making things like zines and patches and their attitude of community creating things for a cause like Revolution Summer. I still enjoy pop punk and emo bands of the early 2000s like Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Blink 182, Good Charlotte (this list could go on a while, I'll stop there).

Both of my parents raised their kids on classic rock with variances into rap rock and synthesizer rock respectively. This developed as I got older into a taste for rock bands like the White Stripes, Raconteurs, Foo Fighters, and others.

I also enjoy contemporary indie and folk music like Gragory Alan Isakov, Bon Iver, Florence + the Machine, and Shakey Graves. A current favorite is boygenius, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus.

You can't ever go wrong with 90s alternative music.

This has already gone too long. Anything music related I'm sure I'd love.

Classic literature is my go-to read. Partially because they are by definition outstanding and have held up as so over time, but also because investing in reading a new book that I know nothing about is unnerving since the possibility of wasting so much time reading a mediocre book is not something that I want to risk. So if you have read a really good book that was written recently please tell me, I’d be open to read something other than Steinbeck.

Harry Potter is also a favorite. I’m a Hufflepuff.

I also read a ton of music history books. I love music and learning about the bands and individuals that shaped different scenes and genres. Inevitably reading these books leads to getting a millions CDs from the library for research, watching documentaries, and trying to create mind maps and charts akin to Jack Black’s chalkboard in School of Rock.

Anything with Tom Hanks, bonus if Meg Ryan is also in it. If asked, I would say that Joe Versus the Volcano is my favorite movie, but the movie that I have watched the most and is my go-to when I am home sick is You've Got Mail. If you can incorporate a movie quote in a swap, that'd make my day.