Hello
My name is Luke Dorny
Paint, Ink, and Pixels.
Luke is an artist and designer working in paint, ink, and pixels. He is also a maker, collaborator, husband, dad, and observer of art and design. This handwritten and hand-coded site documents his work, interests, and life around them.
Art & Design
Artist
Luke Dorny (b. 1971, Yokosuka, Japan) is an American artist based on Bainbridge Island, Washington. His work spans painting, objects, and skateboard decks, blending pop-cultural references with craft-driven processes. Dorny’s work has been exhibited throughout the Pacific Northwest and featured in local, national, as well as international charity initiatives.
Designer
Luke Dorny’s background spans studio art, technical design, and collaborative work with agencies, organizations, and local communities.
As a designer, Luke Dorny works across systems, tools, and the web — often blending artwork, interface, design, and artifact.
Dorny is interested in how things are made, how they’re used, and how design decisions shape our shared experiences over time.
This resulting site is both a record of Dorny’s work with others, as well as a place to think about art & design, both in public, and in our own individual lives.
Work with Me
I’ve had the pleaseure of working with world-class organizations, corporations, volunteer efforts, and individuals to create some of my favorite work. These successful projects and partnerships are very rewarding. There is power, strength, and joy in collaboration, so reach out when you’re ready.
So whether it be large canvases, public murals, skateboard decks, catalogs, clothing lines, …or other secret projects, I enjoy a hard challenge. Let’s collaborate, or do you see a board or artwork you like that is sold already? Request something similar, or send me your constraints and desired outcomes.
ABOUT CREAM
Cream Co is the art and design studio; Luke Dorny is me the artist and designer. Work is made under my name and sold under Cream.
Cream Co StudioWorking Philosophy
I’m interested in making things that feel considered, durable, and a little strange, but all in the best way possible.
My work often begins as a design problem through materials, constraints, and/or systems, mixed with a spark of inspiration, so it slowly becomes something more personal. Skateboard decks, paintings, web interfaces, and physical objects all get treated with the same attention: the composition, function, surface, and meaning all matter equally. Some of my art transcends art into design, and vis versa, and can cross industry borders with purpose.
But most of all, I love to solve the problems while instilling a satisfaction and confidence in you, my clients, collaborators, and collectors, as well as myself.
In my practice, I don’t necessarily separate “fine art” from “applied” work either. I’m interested in whether something "holds up" — visually, conceptually, or over time. Exploration is the constant. Sometimes finished work can be just a snapshot of that process.
Finally, community involvement and charitable projects are a natural extension of this approach. Creating shouldn’t necessarily isolate itself from the world where it exists.
Selected History
I was born in 1971 in Yokosuka, Japan, and currently live and work in my studio deep in the Pacific Northwest islands.
My exhibitions and projects have appeared across Washington State, both independently and in group contexts.
Timeline
- 2026-07
- Hand coded an entirely new site for both Art and Design.
- 2026
- Private managerial design engagement for nine months with client requiring constructive solutions.
- 2025-04
- Local mural pursuits, private collection work, and private design work for retail and commercial clients.
- 2025-01
- Copper & Maple (solo show), Bainbridge Island, WA
- 2024-11
- Public fundraising show with famous local artist C.Bennett. Benefit for civic parks. Poulsbo, WA
- 2024-08
- Public fundraising show with famous local artist C.Bennett. Caldwell Banker Bain event sponsor. Bainbridge Island, WA
- 2022-11
- Pop Culture Art (solo show), Bainbridge Island, WA
- 2022-07
- City Skate Park (group charity show), Poulsbo, WA
- 2021-05
- Summer Series (collective show), Bremerton, WA
- 2020-01
- Online shop launched
- 2017 →
- Added custom leatherworking and industrial leather upholstery as artistic practice and service
- 2017 →
- Contract design jobs with collaborators for clients such as the UN, MacArthur Foundation, and other non profits and organizations
- 2017 →
- Began pursuing fine art and collaborative art part time, to prepare for art shows and benefit actions via fine art
- 2016 →
- Formed Cream Co Studio to accept commissions, collaborations, and become full-time artist, occasional designer
- 2011 →
- Speaking engagements at conferences about design and web typography and webfonts
- 2010-2016
- Full time digital designer for Newsvine in Seattle designing and developing the front end for the popular social news group web site
- 2006-2016
- Formed Butter Label LLC as a design and art agency for clients needing physical and digital design services
- 2001-2006
- Digital design for print and web products for Los Angeles-area telephony, aerospace, and entertainment companies, publications such as AT&T, Las Vegas, etc.
Place & Community
Support & Charitable Intent
Giving to humanitarian and charitable causes I care about are important steps in being socially responsible citizens. I previously advertised this on the site, but a percentage number next to a price starts to look like a marketing trick instead of a kindness so I stopped. The giving continues, it’s just mine to do, not yours to be sold on.
Do good. Do good work.
Pacific Northwest
Bainbridge Island, WA USA & Place of the Clear Salt Water
Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people.
Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished
Land Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is within the ancestral territory of the səq̓ʷəbš "People of Clear Salt Water" səq̓ʷəbš (https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/suquamish) People (https://suquamish.nsn.us/). Expert fisherman, canoe builders and basket weavers, the səq̓ʷəbš live in harmony with the lands and waterways along Washington's Central Salish Sea as they have for thousands of years. Here, the səq̓ʷəbš live and protect the land and waters of their ancestors for future generations as promised by The Point Elliott Treaty of 1855 (https://native-land.ca/maps/treaties/point-elliott-treaty).
Here is the welcome pole raised by the tribe and the city near the city’s entrance:
Contact & Signals
Snail Mail
Luke Dorny
Bainbridge Island, WA
North America