The above stones were created by French artist Lionel Esteve called Again the Night.

Eight stones (huit pierres) in varying dimensions are delicately embroidered with yarn (pierres, fils à broder). They remind me very much of Ashes & Milk’s artist Yoran Morvant and his Pierres Graphiques.

Photography of Lionel Esteve’s artwork is courtesy of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin.

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 ].

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.