The Wizards of Time’s Band Cave

Urban legend has it that The Wizards of Time current jam pad in Tempe has been used by at least four other bands and that one of those bands, Princess Ladyfriend, used to rock out on the roof, much to the delight of their neighbors. The truth may never out,…

44: Ted Decker

44: Ted DeckerTed Decker will be the first to tell you: “I have been called a good guy and an asshole, generous, self-focused, a non-conformist, an innovator, an entrepreneur, a team leader, someone who doesn’t work or play well with others, smart, a dumb-ass, a potentially perfect board member if…

45: Julie Hampton

FYI, Julie Hampton is currently on a pogo stick. During the day, she can be found teaching literature and creative writing at the Art Institute of Phoenix, or making a variety of things including (but not limited to) dryer balls out of wool yarn, restaurant-quality Thai tea, and homemade pasta…

Summer Softball Splash: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Cactus City Softball League’s Spartans celebrated their upcoming appearance at the Gay Softball World Series with a party on Saturday at the Wyndham Hotel’s rooftop pool. We hung around to check out some swimsuits and, um, lack thereof. The good is above, but who made the bad and ugly?…

46: Andrea Hanley

46: Andrea Hanley Andrea Hanley’s work is guided by and focused on the work of contemporary American Indian artists and the American Indian fine arts. She’s currently the Manager of the Berlin Gallery at the Heard Museum. “All of my projects are guided by a mantra: A never-ending quest to…

Downtown’s First Friday (August 6)

Art walks are more often about people watching and shenanigans and less about the actual art. We’re here to guide you through both. Presenting our very own Field Guide — an evolving guide to art walks around town. From time to time, we’ll introduce some of our favorite spots and…

Beverly Burch’s Willows Home and Garden

Beverly Burch’s Willows Home and Garden blog is pure eye candy for the home-design mind. She shares images of her shabby-chic home décor shop’s newest merchandise and occasional peeks inside her own residence.Burch and her daughter-in-law take most of the blog’s photography, usually within the shop. “I just know that…

47: Matt Moore

47: Matt Moore Matt Moore grew up in Waddell, Ariz. on his family’s farm that has been around since the ’20s. He started college as a economics major and a Spanish minor in anticipation of running the family business. He couldn’t stay awake in his first macro-economics class, and got…

phx SHARE: The Downtown Gifting Community

Ok, so it’s more facebook page and less blog, but free is good — not even too good to be true this time — and good, free, local stuff makes us happy.The “gifting” facebook group is a collection of downtowners who have things to give away. Given: you have to…

48: Jenny Poon

48: Jenny Poon Jenny Poon is the creator and owner of eeko studio, an eco-friendly design and branding boutique, and the brainchild behind CO+HOOTS, a coworking space in Phoenix. She has built her career around solving problems. Jenny’s passion is in hearing and understanding the unique perspectives everyone has and…

Rachael Ward of Mixology Makeup

Who’s not a sucker for a good makeover, especially one by a local makeup business? (Yes, those exist.) We stumbled upon, Mixology Makeup, an independently-owned makeup company out of Anthem, that’ll do just the trick. And while they’ve received some recent national press, they’ve gone virtually uncovered in their own…

Cream ‘n Sugar Makes An Etsy Debut

Looks tasty, doesn’t it?Sorry, everybody. It’s not for eating. It’s for your skin, which is actually tremendous news because it means this is the one candy box in which you can indulge 100 percent guilt-free.Local creator, Kathy Monkman, just kicked off her Etsy.com site, Cream ‘n Sugar, where she’s selling…

49: Stefan Shepherd

49: Stefan ShepherdStefan Shepherd started out writing music reviews of family music in his spare time for his wife’s parenting group newsletter. (More about that here.) Now he writes music reviews of family music in his spare time for his website, Zooglobble, and NPR’s All Things Considered and has brought…

Abelardo Gil, What Are You Wearing?

Abelardo Gil is the dude behind the one-man local music/art/motivational speaker project called Treasure Mammal.One of our favorite things about T-Mammal is the get-up. Gil has no fear when it comes to his on-stage fashion. Spandex is the cornerstone of his wardrobe, sequins are his best friend (or, BFF, rather),…

50: Monica Aissa Martinez

50: Monica Aissa Martinez Monica Aissa Martinez paints, draws, print-makes, and on occasion, mask-makes. She has a blog where she writes about her creative stuff — her stuff, his/her stuff, maybe even your stuff.  And you may be able to catch her (and her work) at at the Modified’s Converging…

Letterpress Print with Raquel Raney of SeeSaw Designs

In the age of digital presses where anything can be printed on demand at high speed, it’s only natural there’s a renewed interest in an old-school technique like Letterpress printing. The design team at SeeSaw Designs in Scottsdale are not immune to the love of vintage printing, and they’ve taken…

51: Chris Todd

51: Chris Todd Chris Todd is a transplant from the Pacific Northwest and a self-described multi-disciplinary artist; he’s currently a professor of Media Arts at Mesa Community College. “Ranging from darkly humorous to contemplative, my art draws from personal experiences and an interest in how technology, consumerism, and media affect…

Ted Baker Fashion Show at the W Hotel is Like a Disappointing Quickie

​It was a sparse evening at the W Scottsdale last night, where fashion-savvy locals gathered to see Ted Baker London’s Spring/Summer collection and get a preview of their fall offerings. We were left disappointed — though the fashions weren’t the problem. The theme of Ted Baker’s upscale casual line seemed to be “funky and wearable.” All of the outfits were…

POOL Collaborative Marketplace Opens in Mesa

On the northeast corner of Main Street and Stapley Drive in Mesa, a Mervyn’s department store took a bankruptcy dive and re-emerged this morning as POOL Together, a self-described collaborative marketplace for small businesses, artisans and craftspeople. The $3 million brainchild of a team in California celebrated its soft opening at…

52: Mike Maas

52: Mike Maas​Mike Maas is the byproduct of monster movies, punk rock, the Catholic Church, comic books, sugary cereal, toys and Saturday morning cartoons. Wearing these influences on his sleeve, the Tempe-based artist creates art that is dark and humorous, relying on his few surviving brain cells to remember the…

Christoph Kaiser’s Idea Incubator

Christoph Kaiser dreams of his home being a hive of creative activity, kind of a bauhaus of downtown Phoenix. As co-founder (with Hayes McNeil) of plus minus studio and with the help of project manager Anson Chen, Christoph has made an outlet for his creative energy in terms of architecture…