Experiment with Nature » nature

The Oxidized Collection

Steve Ebert — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 17:40:20 +0000

Earlier this week we debuted our latest material experiment, The Oxidized Collection. To complete this project, our product design team harnessed the power of oxidization to bring brilliant turquoise, blues, and golds from genuine brass. These brass inlays are then applied to two versions of our classic Canby silhouette for a look that has truly stood against the tests of time. To accomplish the oxidizing process that normally can take months to years, we apply a calculated mixture of ammonia & salt to raw brass in a controlled container. When cleaned and polished after a day-long resting period, the results are quite stunning.

Check out the photos below, watch the video of the process, and visit our WEBSITE to see more.

Journey 020 – Those Simple Days

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 22:36:06 +0000

For the 20th installment of our Journeys series, we get reminded by Sarah Cabalka that adventures don’t necessarily need to be a long way from home. Sarah organized a camping excursion just outside of Portland along the Columbia River in an attempt to remind herself and her friends of simpler days.

See some sample photos below and check out Sarah’s full photo essay HERE.

Journey 019 – High Sierras :: Hot Springs

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 22:12:55 +0000

For the 19th installment of our Journeys series, we follow along with Kelly Shea & Brendan Banks of Vancrafted on a stop in the High Sierras during their cross country road trip. In their own words: “This account takes places on week 15, day 105, of 5 months spent living on the road :: We are 2 people who traded our city apartments for one 30-year-old Volkswagen van and 15,000 miles of fresh air. At this point in the journey, our nerves have become as accustomed to gleaming mountain lion eyes at night as they were to taking the subway every day to work. This part of our journey finds us at a point where we have gained ease in the unknown of each coming day and love for camping with only nature surrounding us.”

See some sample photos below and check out Kelly & Brendan’s full photo essay HERE.

Journey 018 – Western

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 21:48:42 +0000

For the 18th installment of our Journeys series, we follow along with Carey Quinton Haider on a trip exploring the Western USA. In Carey’s words “The route I would take and the things I planned on seeing were a mystery card. I packed my bags on Wednesday May 28th, 2014 and met my cousin on Mt. Hood. The journey would be taken with his truck and trailer.”

See some sample photos below and check out Carey’s full photo essay HERE.

Journey 017 – South America

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 21:37:01 +0000

For the 17th installment of our Journeys series, we follow along with Amanda Leigh Smith on a motorcycle trip across South America. In her own words: “In November of 2013, my boyfriend and his best friend left on the journey of a lifetime riding two custom Honda XR600s from Whistler, Canada to the southern most town of South America: Ushuaia, Argentina. On James’ way back north I met him in Pucón, Chile in April, and from there we would ride together on his motorcycle as far north as we could make it. In the end we rode over 8,500 miles on both pavement and dirt though 6 countries until we reached Bogotá, Colombia three months later.”

See some sample photos below and check out Amanda’s full photo essay HERE.

Journey 016 – Mountains to Mars

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 20:56:48 +0000

For the 16th installment of our Journeys series, we follow along with Tally Gunstone on three trips from an adventure filled summer of 2014. From the summit of Mount Adams, to Eastern Oregon and the Wallowas, Tally basically made the Pacific Northwest her playground.

See some sample photos below and check out Tally’s full photo essay HERE.

Journey 015 – Pacific Wonderland

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 20:43:50 +0000

For the 15th installment of our Journeys series, we follow along with Vic Garcia on a weekend trip down the Oregon Coast. In his own words: “12 o’clock noon on Friday couldn’t come fast enough. Of course it happened to be an especially busy day at work, making an early departure that much harder. Ryan and I met at my place. We tossed our stuff in the back of my truck and were headed south down I-5. The Southern Oregon Coast gave us hopes of some big tall sandstone cliffs and long empty beaches.”

See some sample photos below and check out Vic’s full photo essay HERE.

Journey 014 – Balloon Bonanza

Steve Ebert — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 20:36:18 +0000

For the 14th installment of our Journeys series, we follow along with Jason Siegel and friends to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The original plan was to head straight down to the festival, however, the adventure quickly changed once the vehicle rolled out of the Denver city grid.… 8 hours later, they found themselves watching the sunrise over Fewkes Canyon at Mesa Verde National Park in Southern Colorado.

See some sample photos below and check out Jason’s full photo essay HERE.

The Diatomist

Steve Ebert — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 18:07:37 +0000

Nature is seldom matched in its beauty & simplicity. A prime example of this simple form & function are diatoms. Located in nearly every place that there is standing water, diatoms are single celled algae that encase themselves in beautiful glass shells. There are hundreds of thousands of varieties of diatoms all that build their own unique forms. They range in size from 5 microns to 200 microns – for a sense of scale, one micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. Diatom arrangement first began in the early 1800’s after the advent of the microscope, and was initially practiced by microscopists and works were sold to amateur naturalists for display at small gatherings. Nearly invisible to the naked eye, each arrangement could fit within a period of an average font size.

Fast-forward to today, diatom arrangement is virtually a lost art form, with the only living practitioner being Klaus Kemp. Watch the video above for a profile of the artist and how he researched and mastered this once lost art form, and see more examples of his work below. The dexterity and dedication required in finding and arranging these tiny forms is truly an Experiment with Nature. To find out more about Klaus and his work, visit his website here.

Material Spotlight – Acetate

Steve Ebert — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 21:37:28 +0000

Early last year we launched our Acetate collection introducing a brand new material, cellulose acetate, into our product offerings. This was a big step forward for us and we wanted to offer a little bit more information about acetate itself, how it’s made, and why we chose to use world-renowned Mazzucchelli cellulose acetate for our products.

Keep reading below to see how we select and process our acetate and to check out the finished product.

Above: A cotton plant from which acetate is made.

Acetate is a time-tested material (developed in 1865!) that is used to this day in things like photographic film and eyewear. Cellulose acetate is a natural and renewable material, providing an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastics typically used in inexpensive eyewear. It is also possible to create richer and more unique colors with acetate than with traditional plastic.

Cellulose acetate is made by extracting cellulose fibers from cotton and wood pulp to create a transparent paste. This paste can then be colored, processed, and molded for a variety of industrial applications. For eyewear, it is cut from a large block into thin sheets, and then cut again into small rectangular “blanks”.

Above: Acetate eyewear blanks.

For an in-depth look at how Mazzucchelli crafts their acetate, watch a great video on the process HERE.

Mazzucchelli offers a nearly infinite variety of colors and transparencies of cellulose acetate. To find the perfect pattern and color, our in-house research and development team first creates digital acetate color renderings to narrow down the millions of Mazzucchelli options. They then select samples and carefully choose what will work best in a given frame shape. Sometimes, custom combinations are requested and developed for a one-of-a-kind look. Our research team then hand-polishes the acetate to gain a better understanding of how it will look as a finished pair of frames.

Above: Our “Pearl Grey” acetate in various stages of polishing.

Once a colorway and frame shape has been selected, the process is actually very similar to how we craft our wooden eyewear. Each piece is hand routed into a rough shape, with the other auxiliary frame details added and shaped next. Further hand tooling refines the shape until it is ready to be heat molded to proper curvature, based on approved drawings. The raw frames are then submitted to a multi-stage tumble polishing process over a series of days. Lastly, we hand-select real wood inlays to find the perfect combination of materials. These inlays are fitted by hand and the frames are sent to be fitted with lenses. This whole process is labor-intensive and requires a high-level of expertise to execute consistently.

Above: Each frame is fitted with hand-picked wooden inlays, guaranteeing that each pair is unique.

The final product is a beautiful and unique pair of frames with a natural and solid feel, simultaneously lightweight, sturdy, and comfortable. We recently introduced our Prescott shape in acetate, and have added new colorways to all of the existing silhouettes in our Acetate Collection in both Sun & Rx. To see them all visit our website!

Above: Prescott Acetate in Pearl Grey

Above: Govy 2 Acetate in Whiskey Soda.

Above: Canby Acetate in Sweet Tea.