Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island is a very, very special place to me for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that it’s a perfect distillation of the life I want for my kids and my family, and why I love the Pacific Northwest so very much. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall the farm overflows with an abundance of joyful events and hands-on activities, nurturing love and respect for the land, food systems, wildlife, and a multitude of different cultures.
But the other reason the farm is so special to me is that Farmer Kat Topaz (the farm’s proprietor, alongside Farmer Jim Abeles) was actually my very first graphic design professor, hiring me out of design school and subsequently becoming my very first art director—for the next 8 years! Kat and I have worked on hundreds of projects together, and while the Topaz collaboration is the last thing I would have predicted back then it has become my favorite, by far, of everything we’ve created. Together we’ve dreamt up illustrations for tote bags, apparel, special events, maps, and kids’ activity books. Kat had me create portraits of all the most beloved animals on the farm—like Trooper the donkey, Blue the goat, and Sophie the pig—and you can find them on everything from billboards to birthday cards. There are life-size milking cows on the farm, drawn by me and then lovingly hand-painted by Kat and her farm crew. Not to mention the giant swallowtail butterfly gracing the flower-filled butterfly maze (along with 8 or 9 other local species).
Many more projects are surely on the way, and you can check them out yourself at Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island. I think you will agree how special it is!