SPOKES & ENVELOPES
As manifested visually through art and design, the corporeal experience of riding a bicycle, or in the alchemy of brewing a beer, it is storytelling that defines my creative practice.
Over the past two decades working as a graphic designer in the beer industry, I’ve fed that practice by riding to and from the studio as training for amateur racing, while gardening, brewing, making tiny books, and dabbling in home renovation in the margins. I take pride in managing fifteen things at once and learning to do one thing fifteen different ways. This holistic creative dynamic is where my mind, body, and spirit find tranquility.
What permeates it all is a passion for their aesthetics both seen and told. The bicycle as a mechanical, sculptural object is beautiful. The pursuit of cycling, while incredibly demanding, has endlessly romantic narratives and history. And the complex, wild, and spicy character of Farmhouse ales is equally rooted in tradition. However, when I brewed my first batch, exemplifying a flavor profile was secondary. Though I strove to make a good beer, the real endeavor was to create a liquid narrative in harmony with the impressionistic illustrations and nouveau letterforms I imagined for its label. It was an exercise in building a brand backwards. A brew that embodied a story of fieldhands harvesting, fermenting, and carousing at a cobbled roadside café as bicycles raced past.
I believe following tributaries is what breathes color into experience and provides texture to life. I derive value in doing things in long form even if it’s more difficult, or potentially less precise or time-consuming because it’s the process that interests me. And if I do so with sincerity and a little sense of humor, I’ll find my way back, with experience learned, and a story to tell.