OREGON S GAY/LESBIAN/Bl/TRANS NEWSMAGAZINE
AUGUST 21 2009
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BRIAN MARKI FINE ART AND FRAMING
O wner: B rian M arki
Years in Business: 15
Address: 2236 NE B ro a d w a y St.
W eb : w w w .b rian m arki.co m
MARTY DAVIS
At Brian Marki Fine Art and Framing, art aficionados
can still catch the monotypes o f lesbian artist Annie Meyer
and the fused materials o f gay artist Chuck Sites, part of
August’s Gallery Artists Celebrate Summer show.
As owner Brian Marki describes Sites’ process o f apply
ing encaustic to glass and mounting it on metal, he adds, “A
lot o f macho stuff was involved in this, so the gay stereotype
o f being light and fluffy just doesn’t exist. That’s one thing
I love about Portland— over and over the gay stereotype is
blown out o f the water.”
In Marki’s opinion, Portland’s art scene is like a pyra
mid, the base layer a “frothy alternative space” teeming with
amateur artists. He says his gallery fits “just below the blue
chip and above the alternative space.”This approach trans
lates into a variety of art from G L B T and straight profes
sional artists based locally, nationally and internationally.
Brian
Marki sa/s
the local
re ce ptio n
to art
"speaks
well a b o u t
the soul of
P ortland ''
“Being gay, o f course I love representing gay artists;
there’s a fair amount o f very accomplished ones in town,
but I can’t say that I actually go out seeking gay artists,”
Marki says.
H e’s noticed a shift among young G L B T professional
artists. “It’s not the same; they don’t identity as closely as
they did before,” he observes. “They identify professionally
first and then sexually: ‘I’m a writer, an artist, a musician
and I’m gay.’”
Marki considers his gallery— situated on N E Broadway
among pubs and cafes— an inviting, neighborhood space
with a down-to-earth, European flavor.
Part o f the shop is dedicated to framing. Framing
helped put Marki through art college, and it’s also helped
get his business through the recession, as art sales have suf
fered. But July brought an uptick in business that keeps
him hopeful. Portland’s love o f art is ond o f the reasons
Marki and his partner moved north from the San Fran
cisco Bay area.
“When we came to Portland, we couldn’t believe it,” he
says. “Everybody had an original piece o f art. It speaks well
- J en ny F ur n iss
about the soul o f Portland.”
CAFÉ NELL
Owners: V o n a n d D arren C r e e l/
Years in Business: I
Address: 1987 NW K e a r n e / St.
W eb : w w w .G a fen ell.c o m
Nestled in the bustling, college-town hustle of
Northwest Portland, where buses dare to roam, and
everybody knows your name, Café Nell hums with an
afternoon lunch rush as owner Darren Creely darts in
and out o f the kitchen and dining area. Creely tends to
customers, opens doors for patrons and appears confi
dent and collected.
Creely has good reason to be chipper. He, along with
his husband Van (the couple wed in Canada), opened
Café Nell in August 2008, and together have generated
a healthy modicum o f business in less than a year.
The theme o f the café is definitely freshness. Creely
explains that the ambiance o f an American version of
a French brasserie has helped cultivate a customer base
that expects fresh foods at any time o f day.
“Nothing is frozen,” says Creely. “Everything is fresh.
We have a freezer that holds ice cream, and it only holds
a couple gallons o f ice cream. Even our French Fries are
done fresh two or three times a day.”
While Creely doesn’t admit to a signature dish for
the café just yet, the pommes frites must be high on
the side-dish scale, as bowls overflow with the stringy
starch goodies on almost every table. However, the
fare focuses on fresh Northwestern cuisine, presented
in a laid-back French atmosphere. Want eggs any time
o f the day? You got it.
“Our menu’s very price-conscious as well,” says
Creely. “We have a $10 entrée along with a $29 entrée.
We have a little something for everybody... That way you
can still have this experience at any price point.”
Café Nell also produces a savory, fresh ground turkey
burger, and the café holds the distinction o f grinding all
o f their meats in-house— an impressive feat given the
size of the operation.
“With restaurants this small, usually 50 percent o f the
food would be frozen coming out o f here, but it’s not,”
says Creely. “We work closely with all our purveyors to
make sure we’re always getting fresh product delivered
daily. That way we can really produce a fresh menu. The
bad side is that sometimes we do run out o f things.”
One bad side in a sea o f good sides? Pass me the
pommes frites!
- R yan J. P rado
S ’ ? V . ~ v*
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r
(I to r) C afe Nell s new kids on the b lo ck Van a n d Darren
C re e l/ serve up fresh cuisine with a smile
BUSINESS PROFILES CONTINUE. ON 18
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v S j .
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Wine Retail
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LIVE M U SIC
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L in e P ia n o by
W k s ih m «* ip ia n is t i
T u n is ., F ri .,S a T. at 5 rsi to m i p n k h i
503 . 777.2092
322 St 82nd Ave . Portland. OR 97218
At the 82nd Street Plaza (Between Stark & Burnside)