THE ART OF/

Brush & Reed curates experiences in image & word, offering creative individuals, inspired leaders, & community-centered organizations a refined lens for self-awareness, cultivated daring, & shared collusion with wonder.

We specialize in love letters & flow states that generate human alchemies—giving particular attention to how we talk to each other, ourselves, & our histories. In love, we think & communicate differently.

In many parts of the world, calligraphy is the highest art. Forms pass hand to hand for generations; cultivating not just beauty, but beautiful behavior. They are love letters in the broadest sense—invitations into “flow.”

In the face of atrophy, constriction & isolation, flow-states are subtle, bold & receptively generative. They are openings for cross-cultural dialogue, personal elasticity, & authentic connection in a world increasing bent on the opposite. 

We live in a sea of translation—messages, meanings, & omissions. Disciplined attention helps to read the lines, but presence of heart & openness to meanings beyond one’s own guide readings between them. At Brush & Reed, we’re at home where translation is obvious, her efforts mutual. Where connection isn’t assured, is obscured maybe & vulnerable often. Where the most beautiful thing highlights what isn’t linguistic at all— is as simple & profound as a glimmer of recognition. This isn’t necessarily a smile or an easy affirmation, or even, “no, I didn’t catch any fish today”. It’s earth-bound & ephemeral in the asking & the answering, the sitting & the passing by—where The Beautiful discloses herself, split second:

We call these verses each other.

You think that because you understand “one” that you therefore understand “two” because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand “and.”—Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer.