Experiment with Nature » oregon

Shwood Eyewear Sea Collection

Shwood Shop — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 13:00:06 +0000

The jagged coastlines of the Pacific Northwest are a juxtaposition of strength and grace. Peppered with tide pools, plant life, and rock formations, the environment is teeming with life, both above and below the surface.

A close look into the nooks and crannies of the landscape reveals a hidden world of colors and textures. To harness the spirit of these coastal environments we’ve gathered and transformed an assortment of seashells into eyewear that exhibits a collage of the ocean floor.

SEE THE COLLECTION

Journey 026 – Brothers

Shwood Shop — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 18:26:46 +0000

Join brothers Matthew and Dakota Thornton as they travel through Oregon and the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Journey No. 26.

You can view the entire story on the Shwood Journeys site here.

Agenda Emerge Shop Visit

Steve Ebert — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 22:05:02 +0000

Our founder and designer, Eric Singer, welcomes you into the shop in this video by Agenda Show – Emerge.

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 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 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.

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.

Journey 007 – The Road to Glacier

Steve Ebert — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 00:50:15 +0000

One of our in-house designers, Steve Ebert, recently went on a 2,600 mile roadtrip in a loop around the Northwest and brought some of our shades along. The trip began from our hometown of Portland, OR and snaked through Idaho, into Yellowstone and finally up through Glacier National Park. Just after the 4th of July, the trip coincided with some of the busiest times of the year at the two National Parks, but also provided some amazing weather and views.

Check out some of Steve’s photos below and see his entire photo essay HERE.

See Steve’s full photo essay HERE and see more of his work on Instagram: @usefulinformation

Journey 006 – Without Purpose

Steve Ebert — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 16:57:19 +0000

Journey 006 features Jesse Morrow and crew as they travel the American Southwest, head up the California coast, and return to their home base of Seattle. Originally their trip was planned to support a coffee roaster initiative, interviewing individual roasters, shooting photos and compiling it all into a book of sorts. After several roasters pulled out of the project last minute Jesse was left with a decision to make– call off the trip or continue as planned, without a true purpose for the trip.

See the full photo essay here.

See the rest of our Journeys series on: journeys.shwoodshop.com

You can find more of Jesse’s on Exposure: photo.mrrw.co or on instagram @jessemorrow