Talented Local Artist Zoe Bacon Passes Away
By Miles Merwin*
The Skyline community lost a long-time resident with the passing of Zoe Bacon of Rock Creek Road in November, 2020, following a short illness. Her career as a creative and talented artist included works in glass and metal. She left behind many close friends on the Hill and will be sorely missed.
Born in Portland 53 years ago to local residents Dexter and Linny Bacon, Zoe grew up in the Skyline area and attended the Metropolitan Learning Center along with her older sister Shawn. One of her early jobs was working at the Portland Art Museum installing exhibits, which was the impetus for her moving to NYC to learn more about the art world and where she worked in an art gallery.
Her work with glass started when she lived in Bellingham, WA, and was an apprentice to glass blowers there. Returning to Portland, she did kiln glass work at Savoy Studios, helping to install giant pieces around the country. More recently, she demonstrated glass blowing techniques
weekly at McMenamin’s Edgefield Manor, as well as at the Oregon State Fair. She did her own metal and glass work in her studio where she had built a 6 ft. kiln for forming glass.
Her other artistic pursuit, custom metal work, began with visits to Dexter’s studios at the former Oregon College of Arts and Crafts where he taught for many years. There she learned the lost wax method of making metal figures, used frequently for jewelry making. She learned welding and other metal working techniques while at Omega Nutrition in Bellingham. Her work often combined both metal and glass, and Portland area residents, including some in the Skyline area, have unique gates made by Zoe. Her work has appeared in several publications, including Sunset magazine.
Zoe loved the natural world, knew the names of native plants and wildflowers and was a serious cultivator in the garden and greenhouse. She knew where the trilliums and other flowers would be blooming, and used the patterns and colors of nature around her in her artwork. She believed in food for healing and was a constant student of holistic medicine and nutrition.
You can find photos of some of her works in glass and metal on Instagram @zoetbacon and Facebook.
*Dexter Bacon, Shawn Bacon, Dan Dreyer, and Linny Stovall contributed to this story.
(RR 01/20)
The Skyline community lost a long-time resident with the passing of Zoe Bacon of Rock Creek Road in November, 2020, following a short illness. Her career as a creative and talented artist included works in glass and metal. She left behind many close friends on the Hill and will be sorely missed.
Born in Portland 53 years ago to local residents Dexter and Linny Bacon, Zoe grew up in the Skyline area and attended the Metropolitan Learning Center along with her older sister Shawn. One of her early jobs was working at the Portland Art Museum installing exhibits, which was the impetus for her moving to NYC to learn more about the art world and where she worked in an art gallery.
Her work with glass started when she lived in Bellingham, WA, and was an apprentice to glass blowers there. Returning to Portland, she did kiln glass work at Savoy Studios, helping to install giant pieces around the country. More recently, she demonstrated glass blowing techniques
weekly at McMenamin’s Edgefield Manor, as well as at the Oregon State Fair. She did her own metal and glass work in her studio where she had built a 6 ft. kiln for forming glass.
Her other artistic pursuit, custom metal work, began with visits to Dexter’s studios at the former Oregon College of Arts and Crafts where he taught for many years. There she learned the lost wax method of making metal figures, used frequently for jewelry making. She learned welding and other metal working techniques while at Omega Nutrition in Bellingham. Her work often combined both metal and glass, and Portland area residents, including some in the Skyline area, have unique gates made by Zoe. Her work has appeared in several publications, including Sunset magazine.
Zoe loved the natural world, knew the names of native plants and wildflowers and was a serious cultivator in the garden and greenhouse. She knew where the trilliums and other flowers would be blooming, and used the patterns and colors of nature around her in her artwork. She believed in food for healing and was a constant student of holistic medicine and nutrition.
You can find photos of some of her works in glass and metal on Instagram @zoetbacon and Facebook.
*Dexter Bacon, Shawn Bacon, Dan Dreyer, and Linny Stovall contributed to this story.
(RR 01/20)