I am extremely excited to welcome Bryan Nash Gill and to announce that we are offering his work at Ashes & Milk. As a lover of natural textures and literal translations of beauty, I am completely embraced by the above print. Through relief printing and a laborious rubbing technique Byran created the above piece Hemlock 82 (Bryan literally scratched his fingernails over every surface of the tree). At the grand size of 52″ long x 38.5″ wide the actual diameter, texture and pattern of this tree section is gorgeously translated onto paper.

Living next to an old mill, Bryan is able to procure beautiful specimens to his studio. The above image shows Bryan preparing the surface of a Hemlock tree cross section into a print block.

Ink is rolled out and a piece of handcrafted washi paper is placed over the print block. Pressing little by little with his fingertips, Bryan imprints the texture of the wood on the surface of the paper. I love the idea that Bryan had to literally touch each tree-growth-ring in order to deposit its mark.

When meeting and writing about the artists whose work we represent on Ashes & Milk I enjoy the opportunity to learn new things and to engage in a sort of personal self reflection. In respect of Bryan Nash Gill, I am especially pleased to say how much his prints reminds me of a collection of my own, which I will share with you one day in detail. For now here is a peek.

I also like to compare similar themes running through some of my favorite pieces of artwork and the artists who create them. Bryan’s work makes me think of the science of dendrochronology, as well as this etching by Claudi Casanova and Kia Neill’s Graphite Drawings.

Bryan Nash Gill created Hemlock 82 exclusively for Ashes & Milk.

[ You can see more here. ]

I am happy to announce a few honorable mentions from two amazing Chicago publications: Timeout Chicago and The Daily Candy Chicago.

Thank you Jessica Herman for a beautifully written article in the special Holiday Gift Guide issue of Time Out Chicago. When Jessica contacted me to tell me that she loved our website and that she wanted do a little feature in the magazine, I was absolutely delighted and honestly a bit nervous given that this was my first interview regarding Ashes & Milk. As it turns out Jessica is really likable (wink) and I really enjoyed talking to her about my background and how Ashes & Milk got started. You can read the write up right here and here.

Many thank you’s to Lauren Berger for the fabulous post in The Daily Candy!

I love learning about and sharing with you the artists represented at Ashes & Milk. In a previous post I introduced the work of the lovely ceramicist Helen Beard and covered a little bit about what inspires her. Now I want to show you Helen’s unique method of constructing these ceramics. The above photos are of Helen in her London studio. On the left Helen wheel-throws a simple white vessel from a Limoges porcelain and on the right she is hand painting this piece from the Bird Cup Collection that she created for Ashes & Milk.

Below left is a sneak peak of the Swimmers Cup Collection that will be offered at Ashes & Milk in 2009.

Above the Woodpecker Cup is completed and ready for its final firing in the kiln. You can see more images of it here.

The photo above is of a lichen plant growing on a rocky surface which reminds me of this…

In the first post of this series I discussed the muse behind the beautiful work of Yoran Morvant and now, in turn, I’d like share with you the way I am inspired by this collection. I love it when art is a reflection of nature and believe Yoran’s work a great example of this. When I first saw his Pierres Graphiques, I was immediately reminded of the gorgeous patterns that lichen plants organically create based on the the surface of the rocks they inhabit. This parallel led me to an interest in learning more about lichen and coincided with me meeting a new neighbor who is actually making a career out of lichen. In fact, Todd Widhelm is working on his doctorate in Lichenology and is currently doing research at the Field Museum in Chicago. He was kind enough to share a collection of photographs from his fieldwork in Thailand and a recent visit to the Big Thicket National Preserve in southeast Texas.

To my surprise, lichens are very species-rich. In fact there 15,000 recorded species of lichen found throughout the world which grow in all shapes and forms.

They also grow on the bark of trees like the above photo shows.

And can be fluffy and flower like.

Or form patterns that look like coral.

And are often mistaken as moss.

This post is part of a two part series. You can view the first post [ here ].

I was honored to experience and photograph the work of jeweler Iris Eichenberg. She is well known for her bold, organic forms and melding of diverse materials including copper, silver, leather, Bakelite, wood, tweed and brass. She has that no nonsense earthy quality similar to the Mid-Century Modernists, where form follows simplicity, democratic design and natural shapes.

The left image shows the work of Iris Eichenberg displayed on the far wall while the right image is a detail of a necklace. Thank you Gallery Ornamentum for bringing the work of Iris Echenberg to Chicago!

This year’s SOFA exhibit included some outstanding jewelry including the work of Suzanne Loew.

There’s a certain delicateness and organic quality to this necklace that excites me. Thin sweeps of warmly colored metal remind me of some type of plant matter while the texture follows the natural quality of the material. You can see more of Susanne’s jewelry here and here.

I have to thank Charon Kransen Arts for bringing the work of Susanne Loew to Chicago.

I have a personal fascination with wool and am always excited to see how other artists are using the material. Above is a detail from a wall piece by textile artist Brigitta Varadi. Originally from Hungary, Brigitta now resides in Ireland and is very inspired by the natural landscapes around her. She mixes fibers like wool and linen with nontraditional materials including moss and lichen.

One of the advantages of having a press pass at SOFA is being able to photograph art within a dangerously close proximity and I am delighted to be able to show you a few examples of why I am a big fan of texture and neutral hues.

Above is an etching by Claudi Casanovas called “Arbol – Inmovilidad en el paisaje (Tree – Stillness in the Landscape).” From a series of delicate hatch marks, Claudi creates an impression of bark from a giant tree onto a rather large piece of handmade paper. At sixty inches wide, this print is absolutely soothing to look at and bursting with texture.

Below is the work of ceramicist Annie Turner, who created these handsome organic Eddy Spoons and Mussel bowls. The gray finish reminds of a glaze which is literally made from Quick Crete.

The above pieces were shown by Galerie Besson a fantastic gallery from London, whom I have to thank for coming to Chicago.

Each year a few hundred famous galleries come together to curate the fantastic International Exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Arts also known as SOFA. I braved up the courage to blog about this year’s show held in Chicago, got myself a press pass (Thanks, Ann Host!) and photographed some of my favorite galleries and artists. This entire week I will be sharing my experiences at SOFA Chicago 2008 with you, including an exclusive interview with Suzanne Carlsen.

The pieces shown above are from the Ireland National Craft Gallery who won my attention with artists like Mark Hanvey, Brigitta Varadi, Frances Lambe, Liam Flynn and Joe Hogan.

Photo from Men’s Vogue and here.

Last night I, along with 200,000+ Chicagoans congregated Downtown to welcome our 44th President of the United States. It was the most inspirational and transcending experience I’ve had in long time. The crowd was peaceful and calming considering how many of us were in one place.

Everywhere everyone celebrates here here here here here and here…

Congratulations to you all.