Fire Wood

Léon Spilliaert "Trees" 1929

Spilliaert is a Belgian painter whose genius has historically been overlooked. His work is simultaneously oppressive and transcendent, filled with elegiac, alien atmosphere. 

He ceaselessly painted his hometown of Ostend creating an exhilarating sense of estrangement. He expressed the interior of mind and emotion through a haunting, sculpted reality. Angles skew violently, perspectives plunge. Hallucinatory faces stare at us, strange colour water broils and weaves in psychedelic patterns.

In his later years Spilliaert took to painting trees. These display a subtle power filled with imagination and atmosphere.

In relation to Fire Wood's words, we could call Ostend Spilliaert's forest. Through his long night walks and prolific painting of the town, he would ‘lose his mind and find his soul’. He turned Ostend into a liminal space between the outside and his inner world. 

In Spilliaert’s tree paintings we can see the forest replacing Ostend. A subtle, delicate, yet powerful sense of the inner surges quietly through these artworks. 

The reaching fingers of the mostly bare branches have a mesmeric, haunting quality. They are often silhouetted against a coloured sky, conveying a sense of transcendence - the beautifully twisted, gnarled shapes contrasting and brought into relief by the glowing expanse beyond. 

These tree-spectres are like writing on the universe or like man. They are beautiful, either in their dramatic frenzy or rising in stately circular columns. Through the woods, Spilliaert fires the imagination and the soul.

Attributed to John Muir / Unknown

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”

Possibly John Muir’s words, but certainly John Muir’s sentiments.

Known as "John of the Mountains", his letters, essays, and books describing his adventures in nature have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park and served as an inspiration for the preservation of countless other wilderness areas. 

Muir's biographer, Steven J. Holmes, believes that Muir has become "one of the patron saints of 20th Century American environmental activity".

Muir’s writing and philosophy sprang from his belief that human beings and nature are profoundly connected. He saw that too often we were neglecting, avoiding and fighting nature - whereas for own sake we need to be embracing it.

He wrote:

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity

For Muir it’s a human necessity to go into the forest, lose your civilized mind and find your natural soul there. 

He also wrote:

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

This quote could easily describe Spilliaert walking out into Ostend or the woods and deep into his psyche. The self cast into the world around us and that in turn, creating us.   

Details

Perfect for city days and country aways our Everywhere Tote bag is made for many lives.

⦁ Double handle poppers for security

⦁ Large, easy-access internal drop-pocket

⦁ Exploration label shows art and words info

⦁ Comes in a reusable cotton bag, pictured

⦁ Vegan 

Dimensions: 34 x 43 x 9cm 

Handle drop: 30cm

People & planet positive

We do it properly, respectfully.

⦁ We use recycled nylon for stitch and bond strength. The rest is plastic-free.

⦁ Everyone involved in making an ART WRD is paid properly for their skill and expertise.

⦁ Our fabric comes through the leading ethical purchasing policy of Manchester's oldest textile supplier.

Our pioneering printing lasts a lifetime

In Nottingham, England we work with printing pioneers. Utilizing their specialist procedures, they are able to recreate artworks on novel materials with unparalleled colour vibrancy, image quality and colour durability.

Our bags are crafted by highly skilled, passionate people

Just across the Nottinghamshire Wolds in Melton Mowbray, our tote bags are handcrafted in small batches using traditional methods. This, along with the natural variation in these artisan products, means each one is unique. 

Each bag is triple-stitched at pressure points. Combine this with our triple-bonded shower proof twill and high-quality webbing handles and the result is a bag that, as well as looking remarkable, is immensely strong and durable.

In short, ART WRD bags are made to inspire you and be loved for a lifetime.