Simple Spiritiles at Santa Fe Shop

Spiritiles by Houson Llew.

Santa Fe Shop welcomes artist Houston Llew to show his work for the 2016 season.

It is not a simple task to branch out from an established medium and create something new. Late hours, artist wages and ramen noodles join the blood, sweat and tears of growing a new art concept from a classic medium. All of the hard work and long hours can pay off when combined with a vision for telling stories in enameled wall art. Llew started his venture inside a hot garage in Atlanta in the summer of 2008 – at the depths of the Great Recession.

A combined vision for art and an eternal optimism turned a dreary economic situation into an opportunity as Spiritiles deliver a beautifully handmade art product to a market looking for affordable pieces to show their fine art collectors. Today, Llew no longer makes Spiritiles out of a garage – “Llewtopia,” as he calls it, is an expanding art studio near downtown Atlanta employing 10 full-time artists and artisans as of October 2013.

Each Spiritile is carefully handmade using a series of intricate stencil techniques. From the beginning, Llew’s vision for his enameled artworks drew from the beauty of simplicity. The image is just the beginning – each piece is paired with a quote sgraffitoed around the sides to create an inspiring story through words and images in glass.

Santa Fe Shop is located at 4147 Main Street in Fish Creek.