10/16/2024
Scribbles. Sketches. Notes. The smallest of musings may very well lead to some of the greatest work of our lives.
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Over the last few months, we had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with Field Notes, founded in 2007 by Jim Coudal and Aaron Draplin. The talented team of designers at Field Notes has carefully selected and reproduced six of Rex Brasherâs paintings for this quarterâs limited edition.
At the age of eight, Rex decided he would one day paint every bird in North America, from life, in their natural habitat. And he did.
While other notable artists painted birds from taxidermy, Rexâs portraits render these beloved creatures with the vitality and clarity one can only observe in the wild. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Rex Brasher did what many others dare not: he traveled North America on foot and by ship to observe birds in their natural habitats, sending notes and sketches back to New York, ready to begin painting when he returned home.
âBirds and Trees of North Americaâ is Rex Brasherâs seminal work, comprised of 874 watercolor paintings bound in an encyclopedic set of twelve volumes. It is an astounding body of work for one person to set their mind to â and to achieve in a single lifetime. Rex was born with an inherent gift for capturing the beauty of birds in the wild, rendering these creatures in all of their whim and wonder and with exacting detail, just as one might go about describing a close friend.
Rex Brasher relied heavily on his notes in the field. What began as detailed sketches and detailed notes eventually became the definitive âBirds and Trees of North Americaâ. You never know what your notebook may bring.
We couldnât have imagined a more perfect collaboration. Field Notes is known for integrity, craftsmanship, and thoughtful design, revered the world over by designers, writers, and people who understand the magic of using oneâs own hands to write, to draw, to think, to create.
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Get out there and make something.
