b'Lauren Eulau and Paul SchneiderA Weaver and a Potterto make things and sell them in a little store.Walk Into a Co-Op From that point, the pair were romantic partners as well as Just as Twist is an atypical jewelry store, so was Eulau and Schneidersbusiness partners. path to creating their business.Operating under the moniker Clay Trade, Eulau and Schneider Both native Californians, Eulaualso sold friends work on consign-and Schneider studied at the Univer- ment. But their focus was their art. sity of Oregon in Eugene, a collegeWe were really committed to our town about two hours down I-5 Southcrafts. It was our religion.from Portland. It was the late 1960s. The coun- Combining Artterculture movement was ampingwith Commerceup; the Vietnam War was going on.As purists dedicated to their Everybody was looking for an alterna- respective mediums, Eulau and tive lifestyle, Schneider explains. Schneider had no grand plan to open The two were involved in themultiple jewelry stores in their future. American Crafts movement. EulauOur business and our personal was a weaver and Schneider, a potter.lives have always been linear. Were Both belonged to artist co-opsnot the kind of people who set big where each artist would work one daygoals. Were not big planners; we just a week at a shared store.do what comes next, says Schneider. At the time Lauren and I gotNext at that point for Clay Trade together we consolidated two co-opswas stocking more artists and prod-into one, says Schneider. As with allucts beyond their network of artist co-ops, eventually it fell apart. It wasLights incorporating Harley Davidson components by artist and former Nike friends in Eugene. just the two of us left. We continuedproduct designer Brian Elliott mark the entrance of Twists Portland, OregonTheir first foray into jewelry came storefront on NW 23rd Avenue.Twist retains some of its original DNA as an artisan crafts store with a selection of items for the home.NATIONAL JEWELER 27'