A Chat with the Make. Do. Collective

Posted by Madison Erlandson on 27th Feb 2015

This week Makers Market welcomes two new makers into our community, woodworker Hannah Quinn and potter Rachel Steiner. Hannah and Rachel are both recent graduates of San Francisco’s California College of the Arts. Along with two others (fiber worker Laurin and painter Sophie), they formed the Make. Do. Collective. We recently got the chance to ask them a few questions.

Even though you work in different mediums what drew the four of you together? Does working in different mediums help your creative process as a group?
The four of us just work well together. Our aesthetic choices are very honest and considered in similar manner. We all have a respect for each other’s work and work ethic. Throughout our years in school we knew each other and supported each other’s practices but starting the collective was a step that brought us all closer and has continued to push us.

How did you decide on your name?
Honestly, we were sitting in Arbor Cafe tossing around ideas. Laurin had come across a British World War 2 poster that was about repairing and mending. On the poster it said “ Mend and Make Do” we all liked the way it sounded and represented a timelessness.

As young makers do you feel like you are returning to a traditional way of doing things or forging a new path?
I would say we’re doing a bit of both. We each have a practice with a long history and that informs how we work, but we’re each trying to find contemporary ways to engage that history through our practice.

Has your relationship with your craft changed now that you are no longer taking classes?
It is both frightening and exhilarating. It really hasn’t been that long. But its frightening because we don’t have any cushion for our risk taking. Check back with us in a year or two when we are in the flow of things, milking our connections and applying for everything that comes our way. Receiving the scholarship booth at the Winter 2014 West Coast Craft was an honor and a great success and we’re excited to be part of West Coast Craft this summer.

The maker community is flourishing in the Bay Area, do you find that helpful or does that competition make things harder?
Personally I think it’s better to be in an environment where there are many influences coming from all angles. In terms of getting your work acknowledged in such a saturated creative community it forces artists and makers to get out there and meet each other to work collaboratively and support one another.

Do you ever experiment with each other’s mediums?
Not really. We had a great time working together building the booth for West Coast Craft. We are also beginning to collaborate on products, and are hoping to combine our talents, knowing that it takes lots of practice to become a painter, potter, woodworker or fiber artist.

Any advice to young makers still in college?
College is your most productive time- take advantage of all the opportunities, networking and the freedom to experiment. You have access to facilities, professors and like minded people that is hard to find elsewhere. All four of us still sneak in for advice from current students and faculty.

Who is a living artist that inspires you?
Sophie:I’ve just discovered Rose Wylie, an 81 year old British painter who makes work on large unprimed canvases about Quentin Tarentino movies and border control politics in Africa.
Rachel: Jun Kaneko.
Hannah: Gord Peteran and Martino Gamper.
Laurin: My dear friend Sarah Esme Harrison.

What have you been reading and/or watching?
Sophie: Various academic essays such as “The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World” by Laura Hoptman and most recently watched Once Upon A Time in the West by Sergio Leone as I’ve been on a massive spaghetti western kick!
Rachel: A collection of short stories by Miranda July
Hannah: Listening to Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. and re-watching Rectify.
Laurin: Re-reading David Pye’s The Nature and Art of Workmanship and PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves in the Offing.

What’s your favorite spot in the Bay to meet with your other maker friends and grab a coffee or a beer?
Sophie: I’ve been having work related meetings at Arbor Cafe in Temescal most recently but some of my favorite bars are in the Mission.
Rachel: Stable Cafe in the mission
Hannah: Precita Park Cafe – cause its a beer or coffee kinda place.
Laurin: The Blue Bottle in the WC Morse building. That space is amazing, and it helps that it’s only two blocks from my apartment.

What is a creative skill you wish you had?
Sophie: Woodworking and basic construction skills so I could work on larger more sculptural pieces.
Rachel: To be even better at woodworking
Hannah: Learn to blow glass
Laurin: I wish I were more musical. Music has always been very important to me, but I’m absolutely inept at making it.