Next month is Leaf’s annual Glass Issue, so we thought we’d get a jump on it by visiting an artist whose work runs hand in hand with heady glass pieces.
Using upcycled, modern, vintage and custom fabrics, Michelle Gallagher tailors custom pouches and bags for the fashionable stoner. Her brand Wook Wear creates cozy homes for those expensive marbles, dab tools and glass pendants. She also sews custom bags and has collaborated with names like Trevy Metal, trulyredpanda, Mike Gong and Bubba’s Face.
Although Gallagher said she made art for most of her life, it wasn’t until the pandemic — when she lost her job, and her boyfriend bought her a sewing machine — that she started Wook Wear and took it full time.
Since then, she’s created 1/1 couture out of everything from vintage Pendleton to fabrics imported from Africa. Gallagher’s main inspiration comes from both the textile feel of something and its rarity. She said that lately she’s been loving the challenge of working with rare and hard-to-find fabrics, finding that having less to work with means more focus on what she can make.
Gallagher isn’t just one of Portland’s many incredible artists; she’s also a part of Main Circle Studios, a collection of creative heavy hitters in the glass scene. Over in her personal studio, you’ll find organized piles of colorful trim and stacks of fabrics.
“I try to keep everything organized, but I get stoned and start pulling out everything I want to use, and it piles up pretty quickly,” she said.
When asked how Cannabis interacts with her work, Gallagher said, “I, for sure, take a few goodbye dabs before I hit the studio to get creative, then I use it as a reward for getting parts of a project done. I don’t smoke inside my studio, but I can hear all my studio mates through the wall, so I know when a sesh is starting. I’ll make that my reason to finish what I was working on so I can go take a dab break.”
When the break is over, and she gets back behind her sewing machine, Gallagher said she listens to a ton of Notion — calling it “the best music ever” — as well as the “Are You Garbage?” podcast. “It’s two comedians asking other comedians questions about how they grew up to see if you’re trashy or classy,” she said.
