Around Town

About an Artist

Chicano Commentator

    “For me, it’s important to represent my culture and to shed light on something that is a reality for a lot of people,” says Alameda-based glass artist Jaime Guerrero. Through his work, Guerrero, 32, continually draws upon his experiences growing up in East L.A., where violence was an everyday occurrence. In his Homies series, Guerrero’s detailed glass sculptures portray Chicano men and women holding guns, leaning against kegs, riding motorcycles and sporting tattoos. He has encased some of the sculptures in 40-ounce glass bottles.
    Guerrero started making his glass “homies,” which are about 15 to 18 inches high, about three years ago. Similar to the plastic figurines found in gumball machines outside supermarkets, Guerrero’s glass sculptures play on stereotypes of Chicano culture. “Television is full of stereotypes, but at least now we’re dictating it—we are stereotyping ourselves,” he says. Through his work, Guerrero hopes a dialogue can be initiated. “There are so many people that die from gang-related violence,” he says. “We need to figure out a way to create resources for these communities to give people other options.” Guerrero says he first fell in love with glass while studying at the California College of Arts, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1997. “When it’s hot, it has a beautiful glow,” Guerrero says. “It’s very seductive, the way that it moves.”
    Last year, Guerrero received a Saxe Fellowship for outstanding artistic achievement from the Bay Area Glass Institute, which has allowed him to focus more on his sculptural work, although he continues to make a line of decorative and functional pieces, which include bowls, plates and vases in a variety of bold colors. His work ranges in price from $200 to $3,000. After working for a variety of studios around the Bay Area, Guerrero bought his own glass studio in Alameda about three years ago. It is open by appointment. Call (510) 428-2707 to set up a visit. His work can also be viewed online at www.guerreroglass.com.                                                          

Alameda Made

Call of the Wild

    while growing up, Hall Newbegin spent countless hours shouldering a backpack, exploring the wooded paths and meadow trails of the Pacific Northwest near his childhood home in Portland, Ore., inhaling the fragrances of nature deep into his lungs—and life. These aromatic memories led Newbegin, a Vassar philosophy major, to launch Juniper Ridge from his kitchen laboratory four years ago. Demand for his company’s Western Wild Goods products soon overwhelmed Newbegin’s home space, and, for more than three years, Juniper Ridge has operated at Alameda Point, in a light, airy facility redolent with the perfume of forest and field.
    Juniper Ridge’s soaps, sachets, incenses and teas capture “the essence of wild” right from the start, thanks to a practice Newbegin refers to as “wildcrafting”—gathering plant trimmings from Northern California’s hills and vales. Wildcrafting is a form of sustainable harvesting and, Newbegin notes, it reduces fire hazards. The practice is the heartbeat of Juniper Ridge. “Everyone in the company does it,” Newbegin says, “including accountants.”
    Once the fresh materials arrive in Alameda, a unique process transforms them into luscious soaps, with a twist. Unlike soap manufacturing that utilizes perfumed essential oils, Juniper Ridge soaks raw materials, such as sage, pine, laurel and cedar, in oil, creating direct infusions that concentrate the spirit—the earthy soul—of the plants. These infusions are added to a rich coconut-oil base to create a product that delivers a bathing experience that literally brings the outdoors in.
    Newbegin also calls forth scent memories with his incense products. The 100 percent wood-resin-based sticks are “for people who don’t like incense because it smells too sweet,” he says. Burning Juniper Ridge incense is like “sitting around a campfire” and evokes nights spent beneath twinkling stars.
For Juniper Ridge, green is good, a philosophy manifested in the product line; in the goal of using 100 percent recycled packaging; and in the practice of giving back—10 percent of the company’s net profits are donated to organizations that defend western wilderness.
    Juniper Ridge products can be found at Bay Area farmers markets, Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl and the Alameda Marketplace. They are also available through the L.L. Bean, Woolrich and Isabella catalogs. Get more information at www.juniperridge.com or by calling (800) 205-9499.