Studio Visit: Another Feather
We reliably stock Another Feather’s jewelry year-round at the shop. Jeweler Hannah Ferrara handcrafts pieces at her Portland studio, making sweet adornments that can only be described as “modern heirlooms,” timeless and simple, but never lacking in personality. Using a range of metals, Hannah forms smooth & effortless bracelet cuffs, pendant necklaces, and textural rings and earrings, often taking inspiration from coiled or knotted rope.
We got to chat with Hannah earlier this month and hear all about her art-filled, peripatetic lifestyle and creative process…
SB: We know that you consistently travel between Portland, Los Angeles, and Livingston, Montana. In brief, what creative inspiration do you draw from each place?
AF: Portland is so lush. I might whine about the rain in winter, but I never take for granted landing in Portland with the blanket of green forests around (and in!) every direction. That access to nature juxtaposed with a creative city is my favorite thing, I can be in the woods or river in 20 minutes, eating the most perfect seasonal dishes on a neighborhood sidewalk cafe following.
There are also so many talented creatives living here who truly value quality of life and creating for the sake of creating, which feels harder to find these days.
LA is so culturally rich. I love seeing the influence of the 60s/70s and art deco moments throughout the city. Neutra, Schindler, Wright, Joni Mitchell. Both the Marine layer sky in the mornings and the golden hour in the evenings.
Montana feels like the last truly wild frontier. It's inspiring to see so many types of people live together in a place with a common thread of caring about the land. So many amazing creatives who seek solitude find themselves (and each other) there.
SB: Tell us about your Portland studio. How do you make your space your own?
AF: My studio is full of light with big industrial steel windows and multiple workbench spaces so that I can roll between the areas when deep in making. I always keep stacks of art books to thumb through when I'm stuck creatively and need instant visual inspiration. I also keep a board of photographs, clippings and exhibit postcards from museums I've visited all over the world above my bench. I moved studios this past year after being in our last space over 8 years, so still settling in and figuring out what works in this space. I have a pair of anvil stumps I use for hammering on that my husband made me many moons ago. We were driving through Montana and saw a man chopping the most beautiful spalted maple I had ever seen, we pulled over to inquire and he gifted us those two logs. My husband dry cured them until the bark came off and smooth finished and leveled them for me to use for hammering on. I have moved these between four or five studios at this point, and they continue to be my favorite corner of the studio in each space, a grounding piece of the forest in my work space.
SB: Do you travel with any keepsakes to bring a little comfort and keep you grounded while you’re bopping around the West?
AF: I am a ritual traveler, meaning I bring my daily rituals with me wherever I go so I can feel balanced and at home in those spaces. Scent, tea, hand cream, lambskin house slippers, etc. I also always travel with a photo of my grandmother, my muse, which I use as a bookmark in whatever book I'm reading at the time, a turquoise necklace that was my mother's as a teenager, and a family ring.
SB: Can you describe a day in your life in each of the three spots you spend time?
AF: Portland - Wake up to the scent of a cup of coffee on my bedside table (get a partner who does this, what a gift), begin the morning sitting on my grape vine wrapped porch, tend to my garden, then head to the studio. If it's warm, I try to wrap earlier in the day and head straight to the river to swim and read before heading home to have dinner, followed by a walk or a glass of wine with friends. If it's winter I'm sitting by the fire for the majority of the evening.
Los Angeles- Wake up to my alarm, go for a walk to get a coffee or matcha, pilates, and I am often in town working so head to meetings or am on set all day typically. End the day with a sunset martini, dinner with friends, and seeing the LA Philharmonic play if I'm lucky. If I have more free time I love going for a city hike, visiting a gallery, museum or architectural foundation, or getting out of the city and heading to Ojai for the weekend to visit friends and to sit meditating in nature.
Montana- Wake up with the sun, make an espresso, watch wildlife from the window, read, yoga on the deck, visit the horses, ride to town, gather provisions at the co-op, design & work session followed by swimming in the river (nature's cold plunge), catch a rodeo, watch the sun set behind the mountains. heaven.
SB: What are some places you frequent while in Portland, L.A., and Montana?
AF:
Portland:
- Bar Martina - the apero neighborhood wine bar we all want.
- Someday - Oyster Sundays! Perfect small plates. Love the patio in the summer, cozy inside in the winter.
- Sauvie Island - Find me here most any beautiful day over 70, swimming and picking wild blackberries. It's the closest thing I have nearby for driving country roads, vast river swims, organic farms, and beaches.
- Providore - pantry epicure. All the lovely imported Italian specialty items I miss from the east coast. At Christmas specifically, they bring in the most beautiful and nostalgic offerings from my childhood.
- Farmers' market - we have so many incredible ones! I frequent the Hollywood one for my weekly produce haul, as most of my favorite farms are there.
- Mt. Tabor - morning walks here, love to grab a sourdough croissant at Tabor Bread or a chai at Coquine Market beside, before.
- Forest Park - where I go when I need to be enveloped in the woods but don't have time to drive out for a long hike in the Columbia Gorge. Will never get over how lucky we are to have this forest right in the city.
LA:
- Musso & Frank always
- Found Oyster is my other go-to (and their sister spot Queen St.!)
- Scout
- Betsy's
- Botanica
- I hate to admit it, but Erewhon.
Yellowstone Country, Montana:
- Murray's (iconic watering hole)
- My friend's secret shop Lu-Dale (below the Italian spot Campione)
- Placed Gallery
- Mischa's
- Yellowstone
- Bozeman Vintage
- Blackbird
- Lucchese for the best boots, of course!
SB: Lastly, you made a custom engagement ring for one of us on the Boswell team. Can you speak a little about your experience with and/or interest in custom designs?
AF: Custom pieces are my favorite thing I get to do as a jeweler. Working on something bespoke to a specific person and their story lights me up creatively in a very particular way. Often, I am using a client's family stones or melting down past pieces of gold that don't get much wear to make something one-of-a-kind for them. It's an incredible honor to be trusted in this way. It's often quite intimate work as I get to know the client on a relational level as we work together on these pieces, their story, their family's story, their inspirations, and what speaks to them emotionally. It also ignites the art school kid in me, where I get to dedicate a certain amount of time to one project and piece obsessively, and know it will be the only one like it.
Find Another Feather on our website & in-store.