People You Must Meet, Places You Shouldn't Miss, Shows That Will Blow Your Minds: ALL OF WHICH ARE IN EUGENE, OREGON
By Tina Martinson

Eugene has one of the most diverse groups of talented artists, no bullshit Larry. Eugene is home to local artist, Sabrina Ridge, owner of The WAVE Gallery and Poppy & Moe clothing. Matt Dye, is the owner of Blunt Graffix who is hosting his own show in February of 2012.

Sabrina Ridge is young,beautiful, fierce and very intelligent. Both of her parentsare artists and Sabrina’s talents were recognized at the ripe oldage of five. Sabrina’s kindergarten teacher immediately recognized her talents and told her parents that she must be encouraged. Sabrina continued to create during her middle school years primarily in pen and ink and her forte was bald, nude women. At one point her artistic taste would prove to be a bone of contention but this was not to daunt a young Sabrina and she continued to move forward with her art.

Sabrina is a bit of wanderlust, moving eleven times in seven years. Part of her travels took her to Wisconsin where she literally lived in the woods for a year without creating art. When I asked her about this she stated that she did not miss the creating process but that it was a very cathartic experience which helped her to move her art forward with her return to Eugene in 2006. Sabrina is a burner who has attended burning man and found it to be a very liberating experience.

In 2008, Sabrina was working at Gervais Coffee in Eugene, where she met Kelsie McGee, a co-worker who saw some of Sabrina’s drawings. This was the beginning of Poppy & Moe, whose name is derived from Sabrina’s poppy tattoo sleeve and Kelsie’s maiden name which is Moe. They started buying equipment in 2009 and began selling t-shirts in 2010. McGee is a very talented woman who has a background in apparel, designing children’s wear for Nordstrom. Together they make beautiful clothing that is in high demand in Eugene, Seattle, California and Japan. The line is nature and vintage inspired apparel for women. The use of sustainable products and garments is of the utmost importance. All artwork is original and printed by hand.

Sabrina started The WAVE artist collective to fill a need. Initially she wanted to start a monthly arts magazine for Eugene called The WAVE. When she realized how
expensive it would be to run a magazine she decided against it but still felt like there needed to be some kind of glue in the arts scene in Eugene to keep people inspired and connected. “We all want to be more involved but there hadn't been a way to really stay connected” she said. The WAVE artist collective was an idea she had adopted after experiencing how efficiently people communicated on Facebook for Burning Man.

Sabrina wanted to, "...create a place to trade info, tools and knowledge and to create a place for them to communicate...[anything]...art related". Sabrina was a huge fan of Mo Bowen and her gallery, the Voyeur, in Eugene. Sabrina purchased the Voyeur from Mo in October 1, 2011 and The WAVE Gallery was born.