After 490 days of operating solely on curbside pickups and deliveries, we have reopened our Art Supply Center for in-store shopping. We are dedicated to keeping our shops safe for both staff and customers. We have many Covid safety protocols you can learn more about here. We also have safety measures we will be taking for in-store shopping that will help us maintain our goals and do our part keeping Portland healthy. Find more details about in-store shopping here.
​
Some important things to note:
👉🏼Limit to 10 people at a time in the shop
👉🏼Masks are required inside, regardless of vaccination status.
​👉🏼 Sidewalk Sale outside, weather permitting.
👉🏼 Order ahead pickups & deliveries still available.
👉🏼ALL custom framing is By Appointment at our Laurelhurst location on Ash st. DIY frame kits, hardware, and pre-cut mats are still available at Foster but all framing staff is at the frame shop.

We have worked so hard these past months on a major remodel of the shop. We have deep cleaned the whole place, moved almost everything around, built new things, fixed old things, and really opened up the space. I'm excited to show off all of the things we've been working on behind the scenes while we did the shopping for you. I have lots of exciting news to share soon, so stay tuned for more details in my upcoming posts. Many things in our remodel have been carefully thought out for future ideas and dreams as well as mindfully setting things up in a manner to keep all staff working through the pandemic and make the shop more safe for shoppers.

Are you not sure about in-store shopping yet or playing it extra safe in the pandemic? We totally understand and can appreciate that!! Let us do the shopping for you. We will be keeping all of our online order options and still doing curbside pickups & deliveries within 5 miles of the shop. I am excited about the creative use of our new ordering systems making in-store shopping easier and quicker. It is a great way to order ahead the things that you really need and stay in your budget. If you order a pickup and want to peek around when you get here, it is an easy way to do that and​ still be able to grab-n-go at anytime, knowing that your art supply list is already taken care of. We are always happy to do the shopping for you, just like we have been for the last year+! Feel free to do a combo of online orders and in-store shopping anytime you want. Please do leave us enough time to shop for you and process your order before you arrive. Calling or texting in orders are another way to shop ahead when you know you are coming in soon.

It feels so great to finish up our remodel and have y'all back in to visit. It's been fun seeing familiar faces and catching up the last few weeks, it feels pretty epic. If we weren't still in a pandemic, I'd throw a big party, but we can still celebrate in small mini ways. We have survived an insane year+ and we truly would not be here without every single one of you. Thank you for keeping us around!

If you have ordered from us this past year and a half- THANK YOU!! You have no idea how deeply thankful we are for your loyal support! Your amazing orders and encouragement have literally kept us working and moving forward through the hardest of days. We simply would not have made it without every single one of you. Please be sure to connect with me and let us know when you stop by. I'm in awe that we have not laid any staff off and have been able to keep serving our community in creative new ways. I look forward to doing many more years of that!

We are still in a pandemic, unfortunately. So please bring your masks for inside the store. We are dedicated to keeping our stores safe for everyone. Thank you for respecting other people's space and practicing social distancing while in our shop. Our remodel will hopefully make this easier. Some items are now "order at the Bar" and we have creative menus and ways to easily see the options available for the products behind the bar. This keeps my entire staff working safely and makes the flow of the store more open to shop.

As always- - - Stay healthy, be safe, and keep making lots of art!!
We love y'all!!

Want to Order Ahead?
Catalog Shop
Bulk Deals & Gifts
Curbside Order Form
Call 503-775-2651
Text 503-757-4862
Email ibf.art@gmail.com

Need our Frame Shop services?
Book An Appointment

Stay Tuned for some more details on remodel and other cool projects here.
Here is a fun Before & After glimpse in one specific spot:

I'm a huge sucker for videos and pictures of factories. It must be the production worker in me that just loves looking at the process and creativity used by both machines and people to create things in mass quantity. Someday I will tour General Pencil's factory but for now I will swoon over the pics and videos I can see on it from far away. There is a NY Times article from a few years ago that has incredibly beautiful pictures from the factory. I'll admit, I have had the tab on my computer open with it for far too long. If I am having a hard day or just need a cheerful pickup I will go gaze at the scrumptious pictures in that article. The button at the end of this links to the NYT article. It will likely inspire you to scroll through the pics over and over again yourself.

There is something I have always loved about factories in general, but factories of art supplies are even more exciting to me. Be still my heart! I love machines, tools, and factory floors full of products being created. It's fascinating to watch the people making the products, and see how they each bring them to life using all the tools and machines. Of course, being the production girl that I am, I also sometimes wonder how fun (or not) it is to fix those machines when something goes wrong. What kind of maintenance does the pencil point sharpening machine require? Am I the only one that wonders these weird things? haha. The mechanics of it all are as beautiful to me as the final product. 

​General Pencil is one of the first pencil factories in the USA and has been operating since the late 1800's. They still make drawing pencils, charcoal pencils, erasers, sharpeners, masters brush soap cleaners, and many other "classic" art supplies you likely already own. General Pencil is now one of the last pencil factories in the USA. They are celebrating Artists, Art Teachers, & Artisan Pencil Makers as General Pencil Company looks ahead another 125 years. See Portrait Artist David Kassan sketch a live charcoal portrait at the General Pencil Factory in Jersey City, NJ with Dickinson High School Art Students several years ago in the video below.

​We stock most all of General Pencil's product line and the ones we do not stock you can special order in our Catalog Shop Online Here.

Watch the video of the factory below or click the button link to the NYT article below if you want to check out more amazing pencil factory love. 

General Pencil's Website: https://www.generalpencil.com/​
​David Kassan https://www.davidkassan.com/

Golden Paints has a great video library! Have you ever checked it out? If you're interested in tips, techniques, and technical info I would highly suggest their videos. Their "Just Paint" article newsletter is one of my favorite things to read too. Each issue is full of great info on all sorts of topics that cover all mediums. You can check out the Just Paint Button below to find their most recent one. 
Here Is a great video sample and something we get asked about a lot when people wonder what can be used like Mod Podge that may be more archival. 

Gels & Mediums as a collage adhesive video

Check out more of their video fun by using the button below:

They also host great video events on Social Media. If you're looking for something fun to inspire you, check them out!
Here is their social media video schedule for August 2021