Hi! I’m Angela Riggs, the artist behind Dandy Gal 🙂 Welcome to my corner of the internet!

Bio

Angela Riggs is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Portland, Oregon. A creative explorer, she loves experimenting with different mediums and techniques. Her aphantasia - a limited ability to visualize - encourages happy coincidence in her art, as well as an organic and unplanned approach to creating. 

Statement

The foundation of my art is happiness. I feel grounded, joyful, more centered in myself and the world when I am making art. With my aphantasia - a limited ability to visualize - everything I create is a collaborative journey with my materials, and the destination is always a bit of a surprise.

My art is rooted in spontaneity, curiosity, and exploration, with a strong sense of movement and flow. I love trying out different types of art, but have found myself especially drawn to the crafts of fiber art and pottery. The common thread between these mediums is the ability to play with textures and depth - incorporating a variety of weaving techniques, building unique shapes, using textured glazes to invite closer viewing and discovery of detail.

Where to find my art

Artist CV

  • June 2025: Artist residency | Weaving intensive, Sou’wester Historic Lodge, Seaview, WA

  • April 2025: Ceramics | Noun as in a Tiny Thing, While on Earth, Portland, OR

  • November 2024: Solo watercolor exhibition | Leisure Public House, Portland, OR

  • April 2024: Fiber art | Expressions West, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR

  • March 2024: Fiber art, watercolor, & ceramics | CONTENT 2024, The Society Hotel, Portland, OR

  • February 2024: Fiber art | Best of Black & White Showcase, Nuwave Gallery, Ellensburg, WA

View fullsize First weaving done, 15 to go! 🙀 I’m using round wedding arches to create looms and then make weavings for an upcoming wedding event at the end of the month 🏳️‍🌈💕 🪩 I’m really happy with this textured cream and gold palette - ea
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View fullsize I got some beautiful dried flowers from @sunblossomfarms this weekend - I had some left over after making a bunch of mini bouquets around the house, so I decided to make a little weaving with them! The grassy green burlap ribbon from @artsupplycenter
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View fullsize Today was install day at @keenportland! I’m exhibiting mixed media fiber arts, and I’m really excited and proud of how it all came together 💖
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View fullsize 8/10 Weaving | I finished this weaving that I started a few days ago, and mounted it on a @blank.inspiration canvas! I want to make a similar weaving style to this one, but experiment with more negative space and have a painting on the canvas behin
View fullsize 8/4 Weaving | This was as much as I got done today, because today’s weaving focus was a lil’ weaving party with my friend and niblings 🥰 The youngest made his first weaving and loved it (you can see it in my stories!), and we had a love
View fullsize 8/3 Weaving | Repurposed abstract watercolors, woven and mounted on canvas! . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
View fullsize Here’s the finished weaving from last night! I used more of the gorgeous dyed roving from @atomicfiberstudio and some brass beads I had hanging around. The dreamy colors, the fluff, the mixed media - I absolutely LOVE how this lil’ weav
View fullsize Sneak peak of today’s weaving ✨ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
View fullsize Making a weaving out of some old paintings! These small watercolors were a series I did for myself based on my relationship with my sister, using increasing amounts of pink in each painting to represent stepping out of the shadow of our history and
View fullsize It’s hard to capture this lovely purplish-brown alpaca blend yarn from @crescentmoonranch, but it’s such a lovely, rich color. And I love how it pulls out the bits of purple in the knitting needle 🤩 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
View fullsize Planning some fun little weird weavings 😄 I picked up these circular knitting needles at the @qfamuseum sale up in La Conner a couple of weeks ago - I loved the different colors and metals that I saw in the bins, and immediately thought it would be
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View fullsize I really love how the colors turned out in this weaving - the palette is based around the gorgeous multi-colored roving from @atomicfiberstudio 🤩 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .