A few lines from William Morris

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From We Are Teachers

From Jason G. Sturgill

The well-loved line about items in our homes was the first William Morris quote we came across. Both as people with objects and as makers of objects, we feel passionate about this idea. But freeing our lives of clutter by surrounding ourselves with beauty and usefulness is just part of it. Useful items themselves can and even should be beautiful. And beauty, with its ability to raise our spirits and our expectations, should be an every day part of everyone's life.

It's remarkable how relevant and contemporary the writings of Morris, a 19th century textile designer and a founder of the English Arts & Crafts Movement, remain today. Many of the lines we love touch on our deepest values as artists and members of the broader community. Beauty, art, happiness, personhood, even the environment and the natural world. Nearly 150 years later, despite all the changes of the intervening years, these things remain at the heart of our lives. 

Inspiration: Antoni Gaudí

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Benches at Park Güell

Rooftop at Casa Battló

To kick off our Inspiration series of posts about artists we admire and other sources of inspiration in our work, it only made sense to start with Catalan artist and architect Antoni Gaudí. There is so much that we admire about Gaudí. Of course his beautiful work, among the most loved in the world. Seven of his works are Unesco World Heritage sites, including all the work pictured here. He shared our love of nature and allowed that inspiration to speak through his work. His masterpiece, the as-yet-incomplete Sagrada Familia, is a fascinating and stunning study in the architecture of nature. Most personally, we are drawn to Gaudí as a craftsperson trained in many fields, including those closest to our hearts, blacksmithing, ceramics, and stained glass.