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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2003)
august LS. 2001* Photo-philology Lighting up the ru n w a y Charming jewelry designer pictures big business by Timothy Krause 'm just enraptured by the myth of photographs," exclaims Heather Pittcnger. “You hear all these stories about how these people were, but when you see them in photographs, it tells you a dif ferent story." Pittenger’s obsession with old photos, espe cially those that speak to feminism or sexual minorities, once led her to discover a rare cache at a Portland antique store. “1 had tears running down my face,” she recalls. “Here was this picture from the late ’40s of these two women kissing at a party.... The woman has a child, and it seems to me the father is this nelly gentleman who has all these wonderful other [male] friends. Then there are all these portraits of just him, her and this child with grandparents that look totally Victorian and have no idea what’s going on around them.” These moments captured in time spoke to Pittenger. As her collection grew, she knew she had to find a way to share “these crazy people doing crazy things.” So this 33-year-old queer jewelry designer borrowed a friend’s idea for placing tiny photos into charms and launched a business, Charming Zelda, a play on the name her father always wanted to give her. Working from a studio in the inner Southeast Portland home she shares with her partner, Katie, Pittenger carefully cuts out color reductions of her prized photos. Then she pulls out her dictio nary— one of her favorite books, she confesses— to collect words she’ll place on the reverse side. Words such as Icing, tramp and buckaroo. I Future fashion designer Cameron Hamilton models clubwear at a recent P D X Fashion Incubator show DX Fashion Incubator— a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping design- ers and entrepreneurs succeed creatively and monetarily— played host to one of a hand ful of runway fund-raisers July 27 at the Blue Monk in preparation for September’s Fashion Week. Executive director Stella Farina wel comed about 100 guests to this fashion-show teaser featuring recent works of local designers that ranged from swanky swimwear to summer evening dresses to dance-fever club couture. T he evening’s highlight was the oh-so-cute Cameron Hamilton, the token guy strutting his stuff in hot club duds befitted with red lines of patent leather, fishnet accents and cargo- style pockets by Kaplanova. Though we wish he’d stay on the runway where we can see him, look for this gay hottie to join Portland’s fash ion ranks as a designer when he moves out of his University of Oregon dorm room and into the Fashion Incubator sometime next year. PDX Fashion Incubator will play host to Portlands first-ever Fashion Week from Sept. 15 to 19 at Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park Ave. A “People’s Choice” awards ceremony will accompany a fashion finale featuring the spring 2004 collections from local designers. For details visit www.pdxfashionincubator.org. — M EB P PEACE CHURCH By juxtaposing antique photos with words of endearment that hold a surprisingly modem sensibility, Heather Pittenger reinterprets myths of days gone by We are an o p e n C h ris tia n c h u rc h that w e lc o m e s p e o p le of all races, ge n de rs, sexual o rie n ta tio n s, a b ilitie s , e th n ic itie s an d ages. • W e b e lie v e the B ib le has p re se rved an d su p p o rts d iffe re n t p e rsp e c tiv e s of C h ris tia n fa ith . 1 2727 SE M a r k e t St. P o rtla n d , O reg o n C h a r m i n g Z e l d a jewelry can he found at Greg's, 3707 S.E . Hawthcjme Blvd. ; Retread Threads, 931 S.W . O ak St.; and Stella's, 1108 N .W . 21st A ve. Contact Pittenger at charmmgzelda&yafvx). com . Features Editor T lM tTFH Y K r a u s e can be reached at thn@justout.com . “I’m , A V A ILA B LE, „ of THE BRETHREN Justice • R econciliation • Simplicity • Welcoming • “From that point on, 1 pretty much work on the juxtapositions. A lot of times I have ideas in my mind about what the image is going to do, but sometimes it floats around until it finds a match,” Pittenger says. “Probably most of my time goes into that part of the charm, deciding which pictures goes with which words." For example, one bauble reveals a shapely woman dressed in hold horizontal stripes. On the reverse appears the word revolution. Anoth er shows the picture of a baby chicken opposite the word mighty. Although the words and pictures range from naughty to nice, sex is what sells. “People really go for the sexy charms because a lot of times people can’t say what they want,” says Pittenger, explaining how charms encourage intimacy. "You have to invite someone into your space. And that’s one thing that can go terribly wrong with the charms, too. You defi nitely don’t want to wear the nun-with-the- boohs out to the grocery store unless you’re willing to deal with people and their issues.” Pittenger sandwiches the image and its lit erary twin between glass, wraps copper foil around the edges and solders the piece togeth er. Each charm comes strung on simple chain that she procures from the neighborhmxJ hard ware store, but the lcx>p also is large enough to attach to a bracelet or necklace. While working at Bagdad Theater, Pit- tenger began to sell her one-of-a-kind jewelry to employees and friends. But her passion soon became public when she took a batch of 10 charms to the owner of Greg’s, a retail shop across the street on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard that began carrying the Charming Zelda line six years ago. She since has recruited two additional retail outlets in downtown and Northwest Portland. “T h at’s the hardest part— represent ing yourself,” says Pit tenger. “Just fol lowing through and learning how to get to the next step. I’ve failed miserably at that— until these past two years." That’s when things began to change. Instead of juggling her creative entrepreneurship with working at a flower shop, offering child care or selling antiques, Pittenger now focuses exclusively on mixing art and busi ness. She’s still a one-woman operation, hut instead of making a dozen unique charms, Pit tenger is churning exit hundreds. Many are trav eling with her to the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, but others are for the launch of her commercial line carried by Holden and Co., a wholesale representative of hand-crafted jewelry.. “I have lived on the edge for so king. That used to be really important to me. 1 didn’t want to give in and play this game that I was repulsed by. But, ultimately, it’s only going to benefit me to succeed and take care of myself so that 1 can help take care of the rest of the people in my life,” she says. Making her creativity pay doesn’t mean she’s giving up the charm’s emotion. Amid mass production, Pittenger still sneaks in a few unique amulets for the added element of sur prise and a nod to fate. “Sometimes I’ll make 20 of one kind I know will sell, hut I’ll make one just by itself that has nothing to do with anything— other than it’s something I’m trying to say. Maybe it will never sell. Maybe I’ll give it away. But maybe some body will come along and say, ‘Oh my goodness, this is so meaningful to me,’ ’’ says Pittenger. “This is my little way of speaking my mind. 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