Tufted fiber art, weaving, pottery, and handmade objects by Jake Goldsborough in the Pacific Northwest.
Two decks for a show, tufted instead of painted. These went into a group skateboard deck show at ADX Portland , the maker studio I'm a member of. The brief is the deck shape - that long rounded pill everyone knows - and what you do inside it is yours. I did what I always do: I reached for yarn instead of paint. Deck 001, on the left, is monochrome and hard-edged - cream, grays, and black cut…
The oldest random number generator, rebuilt as an object with opinions. A die at many times scale, tufted in deep cream pile with black pips over a dense foam core. Six up top, five on the face. The form could not be simpler - a cube and some circles - and that's what makes it work: dice are pure geometry with rules attached, and scaling one up in fiber keeps the geometry, the rules, and the…
The wing is carved. That changes everything. Most tufted work earns its depth through pile alone; here the drake's wing rides over the body in sculpted relief, so the bird actually stands off the wall. Cream shoulder, brown coverts, the blue speculum flashing between black and white bars - the one part of a mallard that looks designed gets the most dimensional treatment. Behind him the scene…
An impossible object, made real. The Penrose triangle only exists as a drawing - three beams that meet at right angles no physical object could hold. Tufting it is a small act of defiance: taking a shape that cannot exist and giving it high-pile texture, weight, and a place to hang on a wall. The whole illusion rides on value. There's no trick geometry here, just three faces in light gray,…
Stop. Slow down. Go! A tufted traffic light.
A study in form, balance, and bold reduction. This Bauhaus-inspired owl distills the subject down to its essential geometry - circles, arcs, and color blocks arranged with intention. The symmetry is almost mechanical, but the oversized eyes and softened edges keep it firmly in the realm of character. Primary colors anchor the composition against a deep black field, giving it that classic Bauhaus…
A tufted textile recreation of a computer RAM stick, crafted with surprising technical accuracy. The piece features a green circuit board base with yellow contact pins running along the bottom edge. The memory chips are represented by alternating rectangles in cream, navy blue, and light mint colors, arranged in the characteristic symmetric pattern of RAM modules. Yellow dots above the chips mimic…
A study in movement and restraint, this tufted piece uses a sequence of flowing, offset waves to create depth without relying on hard contrast. The palette moves from deep cobalt through pale mint into soft seafoam and gray, evoking water, erosion, and layered natural forms. Its irregular silhouette breaks away from the traditional rectangular rug, allowing the composition to expand outward and…
A geometric study in wool inspired by the textile compositions of David Nott . Blocks, arcs, and circles interlock like architectural elements, forming a small landscape of structure and balance. Not a Nott is a geometric tufted composition built from circles, arcs, and modular blocks arranged within a heavy black grid. Bold outlines divide color and texture into architectural shapes. Rust, sand,…
This hand-tufted rug explores organic movement through layered green tones and sculpted pile. Deep forest green "drips" cascade over lighter mint and cream shapes, creating a fluid, melting effect that feels both natural and surreal. The carved texture enhances the dimensional look, giving the piece a soft topographic quality where colors appear to flow into one another. Multiple shades of green…
Inspired by more tattoo art, this piece features a colorful bird. It was originally drawn and tattooed by Olive aka Damn Zippy. Check her out here
A hand-tufted rug inspired by traditional tattoo flash. This piece features a bold five-petal flower with a bright yellow center, saturated red petals, and heavy black outlines. The white halo gives the design breathing room, while the deep green leaves ground it with contrast and balance. Built with thick pile and sharp color blocking, it's designed to read clearly from a distance and feel…
Exploring softness as structure. Layered pastel forms drift and overlap, anchored by a dense, warm base that grounds the composition. Rounded protrusions interrupt the surface like half-remembered details, inviting touch as much as inspection. I spent extra time trimming and shearing this one. I wanted the layers to look like they were on top of each other and had "depth".
Between weaving, crocheting, and now tufting, we have a decent collection of yarn going. We had been storing it stacked up in a tight little Ikea shelf but that made it hard to sort and see what we had. I saw this idea online and thought it was great because it both functions and looks good. This doesn't quite cover quite all the fiber supply but it handles a lot of it. We are considering one…
This piece is dedicated to the G train in New York City. The G is an odd line. It does not touch Manhattan. It runs quietly through Brooklyn and Queens, connecting places that feel adjacent but rarely centered. It is often overlooked, often delayed, and deeply relied on by the people who use it every day. Rendered in soft fiber, the familiar green circle becomes tactile and slow. What is usually…
This is now my second batch of glazed pottery. I'm definitely seeing improvements with my shaping and consistency. I was disappointed in a few of the overlapping glaze experiments I tried but that's how you learn. At this point, I think I have enough pots and experience that I can start to get a little pickier with what I send to fire. I have a bunch of pinch pots that got bisque fired…
What started out as an experiment with a random yarn color I found turned into a fiber piece with a blast of color that I love. It gives me 90s psychadelic vibes.
A blue and white capsule inspired by Vyvanse. I was diagnosed later in life and this medicine has improved my life in ways I couldn't imagine. I used to think I was just lazy or apathethic, but turns out my brain just functions differently.
Process I'm a big fan of King Gizz and wanted to create a piece inspired by them. The alligator is available in a simple 2d outline that was perfect for tufting. I decided to mount it on a thin piece of birch that I painted bright purple. I got the paint in the samples section for $2 and I think it provides a perfect backdrop. This is an early piece so there are still some rough edges. The…
Process Started this as a wall hanging. Tufted the top left black square first, then added the center squares. Halfway through I got a new long pile tufting machine and decided to pivot it into a rug instead. You can see the longer pile in the beige corners - that's where I started using the new machine. The rest is shorter pile from the original wall hanging plan. Materials Yarn: Acrylic…
Process Slab built by hand Materials Clay from Georgie's: White Salmon with Speckles Trail Mix Timberline Various glazes
Inspired by a piece seen in a Vulfmon video Process Materials
Gnarly Void is an maker site centered on creating physical objects by hand. The work spans clay, fiber, wood, and mixed materials, with each piece emerging from long stretches of focused, uninterrupted making. I call these works voids because of how they are made. A void is a state of attention where time compresses, external noise falls away, and the act of making becomes the only thing that…
My first rug. I recently got a tufting machine and wanted to start simple. The black square came first, then I decided to add a few rows of purple. After that, I decided a gold border would look good.