The Dolomiti (Dolomite) Mountains
This year I’ve seen some road. Mostly in my home state of Oregon, but sometimes you’ve got to leave home in order to really see it better. Late in summer there was a small window for me to get into some serious overseas hiking, so I jumped at the chance to huff up some alpine paths, based on a photo I’d seen a couple years ago. Lloyd Winter showed it to me one day at work, and it had been haunting me ever since. It was taken in... Read More
Oregonians in Oregon
Over the past few weeks I’ve been traveling Oregon. Getting in deep. Logging 1,400 miles here, 700 miles there, all running around the areas I know, some I don’t, all trying to dig out the feel of what this state really is. It’s hard to say, now. I mean it’s mostly desert, but what I’m getting at besides a physical description is that, I’m not sure if I’m really an Oregonian. Working towards my 32nd winter... Read More
The middle slice of Oregon
It’s been a while since I got out into the deep backwoods. When I heard I’d be staying near Klamath Falls this summer I realized it was the perfect chance to strap into some back country, rather than taking the predictable I-5 on the way back. What I discovered, OF COURSE, was another dimension. One that only tickled my interest. I still had to skip over the majority of the spectacular wonder that is Central Oregon. I mean, I didn’t... Read More
Poler opens a door in PDX
I was hoping to be the first in line. A camper, in an iconic bright orange Poler tent pitched outside the flagship store, which opened today at 10AM, just a few blocks from my studio in NW Portland. I wasn’t the first there, I was actually among many thronging fans of the brand, eager to get my grimy mits on some adventure-inspired hats, tees, and a combination backpack/camera bag. Forgive the photography in this post, it’s my first time... Read More
Building OZ
Inside Oz from Ryan Bush on Vimeo. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This was an incredible project. It’s rare, I think, when we get to work on projects we love from brief to delivery. We must consider ourselves lucky when a client gives us full creative control, and is as professionally supportive as the Ozgener family, whom I’d like to introduce you to. This family came to the United States from Turkey. They raised a family... Read More
How we work
Adam Garcia recently held a workshop at Portland State University and on the whiteboard he wrote several things about how future designers should work. Some choice selects that caught my eye were “Don’t be a dick” and “Be nice” along with others in relation to process, research, and ways of knowing. It inspired me to write this post not only to future designers but anyone working anywhere, in any industry. I defer to... Read More
Armchair travel – North Africa
It is still the dark continent in many ways. Dark not in absence of light, but dark in a positive, mysterious and thrilling way. I’ve wanted to touch African soil my entire life, and some strange sequence of events lead me there this holiday season. Just the upper left corner of it, Saharan Morocco. This is a very image heavy post, and there are stories behind each image. But I can’t tell them here, I’ll let you fill in the rest. This... Read More
40,000-piece textile archive
It was an accident really that led me to Andrea Aranow. I was working in the Goldsmith Building in Chinatown when Caleb Sayan poked his head into the studio. He was looking for Jelly Helm. In his stead I followed Caleb up to to the fourth floor and caught my breath when I walked into what is the largest private textile archive in the world. Caleb mentioned that his mother, Andrea Aranow, was flying in from New York in a few weeks and what started... Read More
Harney County, Oregon
20 years ago I was taught how to birdwatch at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in extreme S.E. Oregon by a lovely couple named Ralph & Sharon. We rounded up the usual suspects of a wetland riparian area in the high scrub country of the Great Basin. Canvasback ducks, White Faced Ibis, Cattle Egrets, White Pelicans, the whole crew. We had special moments spotting a family of Great Horned Owls high up on a rim rock cliff, shaded from the heat of... Read More
Where is Ai Wei Wei?
China’s most influential art figure is missing. Detained, likely, in a state facility, flipping off everyone who walks by him. His fame and accolades can now do little for him. Even a statement by Secretary Clinton is met with silence from the government that has detained Ai Wei Wei. His 100,000,000 porcelain seeds sit as silent as he does in Turbine hall at the Tate. As it stands, there are now 100,000,001 silent porcelain seeds waiting to... Read More