Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael and Emily Endo / High Desert Observatory. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michael and Emily , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
We have some exciting projects and events happening at our studio this season.
In December we’re offering a month long series of workshops focusing on scent – including “Natural Perfumery”, “Mixed Media Fragrance”, and “Incense-making”. Plus past and current students are invited to our Open Studio Perfume Lab, which is a brand new open session where students have full access to the perfume lab materials and equipment. The workshops in this series can be taken individually or as a set to create a foundation in perfume formulation and aromatic materials.
We have also been working to expand by building a new studio extension and just installed a rain collection roof over our studio!
Michael and Emily , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi, we’re Michael and Emily Endo and we run High Desert Observatory, an art and education studio in Yucca Valley, California (about 20 minutes away from Joshua Tree National Park).
We offer workshops at our desert studio that focus on craft, nature, textiles, glass, aromatics, and permaculture. We are passionate about hands on learning and sharing skills.
Michael is an artist and curator originally from Portland, Oregon. He earned an MFA in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan, in 2009 and a BA from Portland State University, Oregon, in 2005. His studio work has been included in national and international exhibitions at venues such as The National Glass Centre (Sunderland, UK), Disjecta (Portland, Oregon), Yuan Yuan Art Center (Jinan, China), and Bullseye Projects (Portland, Oregon and Mamaroneck, New York). In addition to Co-directing High Desert Observatory, Michael is the Artistic Director of Pilchuck Glass School (Stanwood, Washington) and the curatorial consultant at Bullseye Projects, organizing exhibitions at The Byre and assisting with traveling exhibitions and art fairs. He is a frequent lecturer and teaches classes at all levels. Recent course venues include Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC), Bild-Werk Frauenau Academy (Frauenau, DE), Pilchuck Glass School (Standwood, WA), Urban Glass (Brooklyn, NY), Northlands Creative (Lybster, UK), Portland Community College (Portland, OR), and Oregon College of Art and Craft (Portland, OR).
Emily was born and raised in San Diego, California. They received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006 and a MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2010. Emily served as a faculty member at the Oregon College of Art and Craft from 2010-2018 and as the Chair of the OCAC Fibers Department from 2013-2018. Emily has worked with students of all ages and backgrounds – from 2010 – 2012 they taught visual arts classes at PHAME Academy for adults with developmental disabilities and children’s wilderness survival and craft classes at Trackers NW. Recent workshop venues include Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, ME), Pilchuck Glass School (Standwood, WA), Museum of Craft + Design (San Francisco, CA), Northlands Creative (Lybster, UK), WildCraft Studio School (Portland, OR), and Caldera Arts Center (Sisters, OR).
Emily has exhibited and lectured internationally at institutions including Bullseye Projects (Portland, OR/Latheronwheel, UK), Neutra VDL House (Los Angeles, CA), Harkawik (Los Angeles, CA), LVL3 (Chicago, IL), Bellevue Museum of Art (Bellevue, WA), the Scottish Glass Art Society (Glasgow, UK), the Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland, OR), the American Craft Council (Minneapolis, MN), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). Their work has been featured in American Craft Magazine, Architectural Digest, Interior Design Magazine, Art Ltd. Magazine and Frontrunner Magazine.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For us, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist, creative, and educator is constantly learning. We both love experimenting with new materials, researching, and thinking through how to share ideas and techniques with others. Because of this, we both work with multiple mediums and enjoy combining them and finding relationships between seemingly unconnected processes and histories. For example, Emily combines fiber/textile processes, glass casting, and fragrance in their art work.a
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
One of the main goals of High Desert Observatory is to foster sustainable relationships between art, craft and the natural world. To do this we offer classes that respond to local ecology and incorporate materials considered waste into class themes.
We are also working towards making our lifestyle as integrated as possible. We compost and collect rainwater. The water from our home and studio is reused to water the trees and our garden. Additionally, we grow multiple desert plants on the property that can be used for classes, food, medicine, textile dyeing and perfume. Our aim is to create more habitat for wildlife while also providing our home and studio with food and materials.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.highdesertobservatory.com
- Instagram: @highdesertobservatory
- Facebook: @highdesertobservatory
- Other: @Emily__endo www.emilyendo.com @Michael.endo www.michaelendo.com
Image Credits
Kim-lien Le, Dana Senge, Crafter, Jackie Wonders