Introducing Oregon Makers, occasional posts about creators, makers + artists across Oregon who not only create but contribute to the built environment of Oregon’s cities in creative and impactful ways.

I first learned about artist and illustrator Becky Dawson and One Lane Road on (shocking) Instagram. I was intrigued by her colorful, whimsical space that existed on the outskirts of downtown Oregon City. Was it a shop? Could anyone show up? And why there? 

Becky was gracious enough to answer some questions I had on how she took a generic shack and turned it into a thriving art studio, the Bigfoot mural, and the giant Bigfoot sculpture in her home’s front yard. Here’s the edited interview.

Tell me about your design background.
My background is in product design and illustration, and in my former life, I was a hairstylist. I’ve expressed myself as an artist most of my life, so no creative endeavor has ever really been off the table. The last 13 years I’ve designed and manufactured my own line of gift products called One Lane Road, carried in hundreds of independent retail shops worldwide. I’ve been painting off and on for years, but I started doing it more seriously in 2020. In early 2022, I started working with ceramics.

What’s the story behind your space in downtown Oregon City?
My best friend of 25+ years, her dad owns the property and has run his plumbing company, Eagle Plumbing, out of it since the early ’90s. I had visited the property many times over the years long before my gallery + gift shop + studio was even a thought. I knew that the owner sometimes rented out office and storage space. I also remember having many conversations with my best friend about the potential this place had, and the amazing location of it right off the freeway.

Fast forward to 2021. The pandemic really threw me for a loop personally and professionally and the isolation and the pandemic really kicked my dream into high gear. At the end of 2021, I started seriously looking around at potential spaces to rent. I knew that I didn’t want to be in a traditional retail storefront because of the time commitment that would require. Running and managing and making all the art for my business alone is already a full-time job! I envisioned a warehouse-type space that I could use as storage, a showroom, and a studio that I could open up a few times a month to the public. Then came the idea of asking my best friend’s dad what he thought about me renting a section of his property and converting one of his garage spaces at his plumbing shop into my vision. I remember calling him a couple of days before New Year’s Eve 2022 and pitching my idea. He thought about it for a little while, and needless to say, he came back with a “YES, sounds like a plan”.

My husband and I spent the next 3-4 months walling off my section of the garage and creating a functional space. The giant outside wall was screaming to have a mural painted on it, so one weekend when the weather finally cooperated, just a few short weeks before my scheduled opening, the giant blue Bigfoot mural on the outside wall of my studio was born. In June 2022, I opened One Lane Road gallery and gift shop to the public, and almost right out of the gate, it was a bigger success than I could have ever imagined. I honestly thought it would be pretty quiet there most of the time.

What kinds of visitors do you get?
Most of my customers are people who follow me on Instagram or sign up for my email newsletter and travel from all over the Portland Metro area to visit. The location of my studio is tucked back off the main road, so when I’m open I put a sandwich board out on the main road which brings in curious local people too. It’s pretty fun to see people’s faces who just saw the sign and stumbled on in. It’s not what most people expect to see in an industrial area plumbing shop garage.

The space functions as my painting studio, and two weekends a month I do an Open Studio where you can visit my little gallery and gift shop and see my newest original creations (ceramics and paintings) as well as shop my current line of gift products. I switched things up this year by adding my painting studio inside. Before this year it was just a gift shop and gallery I opened twice a month, as well as storage. 

Tell me more about the Bigfoot theme – and the one in your front yard?!
Bigfoot came about because years ago we had a giant cedar tree that needed to be cut down because it was dying. We asked the arborist to please leave as tall of a stump as possible so we could do something fun with it. We found a chainsaw artist on Craigslist who carved a 14 ft tall Bigfoot into the stump in exchange for the big cedar chunks remaining and $400.  Bigfoot has been our home mascot ever since. When I was trying to come up with the perfect idea for the mural out front of my studio in Oregon City, Bigfoot came to mind. He’s watched over our home all these years, now my studio too.

One Lane Road gallery & gift shop is located at 13801 s. Forsythe Rd. Oregon City, just over the railroad tracks.