EVERWHIM

Everwhim is Elin and Kenneth Hogan’s emporium of creative endeavors. Everwhim started in 2010 as a rebrand of my photography business and slowly transformed into more of a pen name per se, an umbrella for the all creative work Kenny and I do.

We live in Portland Oregon with our two eccentric kids and little dog who may or may not be more like a cat. Kenny and I have been married for about 16 years (when writing this) and still like each other quite a bit, We moved from lovely Santa Cruz, California in 2013 after dreaming of living in the PNW for what seemed like ages. I  love the rain and I’m not a fan of sandy beaches, so we find ourselves quite happy with the change.

Until recently I went by my first name, Jennifer. After years and years of wanting to switch to using my middle name, I have finally has made the change. So for those of you who may be confused—its still me!

We always seem to have a list of projects we are making, changing, or improving. We impulsively collect creative interests, and are miserable when we don’t have an outlet. We believe art and craft is an essential part of society and feel privileged to be a part of creating everything from the thought provoking, to utilitarian, to things that simply exist for beauty sake. I realize were biased, but we believe everyone needs some form of creativity in their lives, and we hope that our work will not just be commodity, but a source of joy and inspiration to the people we engage with and invite us and our work into their lives.

Like many artists, we are both neurodivergent. Kenny has ADHD, and I am autistic, ADHD, and dyslexic. It makes it difficult to maintain a clean, organized home. It might be embarrassing, but I wouldn’t trade my bizarre brain for a clean apartment. Both would be nice though. Among the collections of used glasses, mugs and plates, and piles of laundry; our space is filled with all sorts of books, beloved nick-knacks, piles of notebooks for writing and drawing, space for painting, baskets overflowing with yarn and sewing supplies, drawers of colored pencils, pens, and markers; bins of watercolor, acrylic, and oil paint, stacks of canvases, and lots of in-process projects. Our walls are covered with other peoples art and some vintage oddities. I can’t leave out one of my long standing vices of collecting blankets. Our home is perfect for cuddling in the fall, winter and spring. Our little Pacific Northwest vampire family would probably die without AC in the summer time. Our kids tell people proudly that we are inside people. Which hasn’t always been true for me, so I am trying to get them outside more and attempting to expose them to the beauty of nature.

My background is full of art from a young age. One of the few things I was confident about as a kid was that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I was lucky to attend a high school program centered on the arts, as well as a youth art studio at the same time. I went to a trade school called Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbra—but was unable to complete my last year of studies due to circumstances outside my control. I worked at a custom frame shop for a few years (which was actually quite fun) while building up my photography business. After I went full time as a photographer, I primarily focused on portraits, engagements, and weddings; but also some advertising, fashion, and food work. Kenny often assisted me and was my second shooter. After about 7 years working as a photographer, my introvert heart caught up with me and I burned out. About the same time we had our first kid and our focus shifted to taking care of the little ones. As the kids have gotten older, I have returned to an assortment of creative arts and medium and enjoying the process of learning and mastering new forms.

Kenny is an Associate Manager of Retail Visuals at Rejuvenation’s corporate office in Portland Oregon. He has been with the company for almost a year now, and its been wonderful seeing Kennys creativity stretch in new directions. He works with a team curating the stores furniture, lighting, hardware and home accessories to create welcoming spaces for the Rejuvanation customers. He also works with the store staff implementing the company’s plans. He is quite talented and very humbled and shy when I brag about him.

Kenneth worked full time at Athropologie in downtown Portland as their display artist for over 17 years. He went to a small collage in the Santa Cruz mountains of California, and graduated with a liberal arts major and music minor. When he moved to the Monterey area to be closer to where I lived at the time, he transferred from Urban Outfitters to Anthropologie. He is naturally creative and artistically talented, so when the stores display artist quit right before Christmas he was able to convince them to give him a trial run. He worked at three stores during his time there, making beautiful windows and interior displays in their stores. Throughout the years we have also had the opportunity to work on some lovely freelance art installations together. I thrive with crafting repetitive small scale work, and Kenny is exceptional at large scale installations, so we tend to make a good team.