Artisans in Sisters

Sisters is home to some world-class artisans – men and women who design and create pieces offunctional art worthy of being handed down from generation to generation.

From pottery to jewelry to internationally renowned clocks, the three artisans profiled below are part of the reason Sisters has become a center of the arts in the Pacific Northwest.

Ken Merrill

Ken Merrill has been making his living in an ancient craft for the past 18 years — the last eight of them in Sisters with his shop, Canyon Creek Pottery.

He has gained a wide reputation for his beautiful pottery, stoneware, dinnerware and lamps. He works in a variety of styles and mediums, producing a wide range of work.

"It's more interesting than doing the same thing every day," he says.

Much of his work is highly functional art — dinnerware beautiful enough to hang on a wall, but better used to serve a fine meal; colorful lamps that express beauty as they illuminate. His more purely decorative Raku work is elegant and colorful.

Ken handles many custom orders and his customers are extremely loyal. Once someone buys a piece, they come back for more — and Ken Merrill pieces become favored items for gift-giving.

Merrill's work is truly hand-made — starting with making his own clay. He hand-throws all his work on the potter's wheel before firing it in an electric kiln.

Ken's workshop is attached to his showroom — and just across the driveway from his home. The location, tucked away in a residential neighborhood, is a little off the beaten path, but clients who seek him out are well-rewarded — and they beat a path back to his door.

Canyon Creek Pottery is located at 310 Cedar St. at the east end of Adams Ave. (One block north of the new Sisters Library.)

Jan Daggett

Jan Daggett has been an artist and artisan all her life. She started showing unusual aptitude in the arts at age four. By age nine she was doing sculpture and at age 16 she was a professional jewelry designer.

The next year, she wholesaled her first piece on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and her career course was set.

It has been an unconventional career. Instead of formal schooling, Jan sought out mentors and learned not only the craft of goldsmithing but also the intricate art of stonecutting.

It is unusual for a goldsmith to do her own stonecutting, but it gives Daggett a unique depth of involvement with each piece she creates.

Her path led her to retail operations in Sisters in 1991, when she opened The Jewel (on Cascade Avenue next to Barclay Park in the center of downtown Sisters). Now a Sisters institution, the gallery features Daggett's work along with the work of other artists.

"I opened the jewelry store because I like jewelry display," she said. "It was (also) sort of an excuse to work with other talented people."

Jan Daggett's one-of-a-kind work has been sold in Hawaii, Aspen, Pasadena and Beverly Hills, in enclaves of exclusive, artistic jewelry. Now its even more exclusive — available only at The Jewel.

Jan continues to plan for future expansion of her gallery, serving her loyal clientele and her own artistic vision. "I do a lot of custom work," she mused. "But I really like to be designing stuff for the display case."

Ed Beacham

C.E. (Ed) Beacham III made his first clock in 1965 in his high school wood shop.

He has parlayed that early interest into a distinguished 40-year career and molded himself into a classic old-world craftsman.

His magnificent works are on display at Beacham's Clock Co. on the corner of Hood Avenue and Oak Street. Stop by near the top of the hour — the simultaneous chiming of dozens of hand-made clocks is a delightful experience.

Beacham starts with a design concept, computes a gear train for a desired pendulum length and lays out the pivot locations using the latest CAD-CAM technology.

Woodworking is a critical creative element of clockmaking. Beacham uses beautiful walnuts, Brazilian rosewood, fiddle back maple, cherry, mahogany and oak. The cases are lacquered and hand-rubbed to a beautiful shine. Beveled or painted glass usually completes the finished clock.

Beacham may live in a small corner of the Pacific Northwest, but his fame has literally traveled the world.

He has won numerous awards for his clocks, including a Skeletonized Miniature Lantern Vienna, which won a First place trophy in "Authentic Reproductions" in the prestigious Jewelers Associations Competition at the Javits Center in New York.

At the 2003 Convention of the National Association for Watch and Clock Collectors, Ed was presented the prestigious Dana Blackwell Award for Excellence in Clockmaking. This award is given to clockmaking craftsmen, who have distinguished themselves over many years and have sustained an excellence in the clockmaking craft.

He even traveled to Riga, Latvia, on a commission to clean and restore the capital city's cathedral tower clock. Beacham's expertise was necessary to successfully restore the 750-year-old time piece.