Matthew Lew

• Artist and home accessories designer for CB2
• Age: 32
• From: Reno, Nevada
• Lives in: Uptown

This artist believes calculated risk fuels his creativity, so he recently cut his hair into a pompadour and signed up for the Fear Experiment, which encourages people to do some-thing that scares them. For his part, Lew rehearsed three months for a dance show at Park West. He didn’t have dance experience, but that didn’t stop him from lighting up the stage. “I’m an introvert,” he admits, “but somehow I turn it on in front of an audience.”

In the market for: A masculine guy with a spiritual soul—if he looks like Hugh Jackman, that’s a plus. “I like men who are charismatic and on the beefier side,” he says.

Conversation starter: His Chicago-themed paintings. He sold two of them to President Obama.