Greetings 2015! Yes, we know it is already November but we haven't posted in over a year! So Hello!  We hope you are doing well!

Stay tuned for a new series being launched through Ghostly of Matt's work in mid November.

https://www.facebook.com/MattShlian

We will also have some new work up on our website just in time for the holiday season--- wood items and limited edition prints. And a new subscription series is in the works for 2016 - 2017. Stay tuned for more info and images!

New fall 2014 8E Quarterly piece

Well, we've been pretty absent from updating our blog. As you can see.... But that doesn't mean we haven't been busy in the studio.

We just launched the Fall 2014 8E Quarterly subscription piece!

5th meridian is made from Michigan maple, and has geometric mountains and valleys. It measures 4.5" x 4.5" with its highest peak at 1.5".

 It can free stand on a shelf or hung on a wall as a decorative tile.

Winter 8E Quarterly Subscription Piece: Burrow

There are reasons why people tell you not to make major decisions or take on additional projects when pregnant with your first baby! Fjora Magnolia (pronounced F-Yora) was born in May + we bought our first house in June + did some traveling. It's been a whirlwind 6 months! Our Eight Emperor studio hours were cut way back. Matt took the helm in designing and making the Winter 8E Subscription piece this year. And Thea is now returning to the wood studio,  creating new pieces that will launch in January! Stay tuned. Onward and Upward!

This Winter's 8E Quarterly Subscription Piece is titled 'Burrow' and is a great little flipbook that measures 4 1/2" x 1 3/8" x 3/4". It is made from acid free archival paper and aluminum screwposts.

It comes with a cover to protect it when not in use.

Those already signed up for the subscription will receive it starting December 1. Matt has made a bunch of flipbooks along the way and each has always been well received. Check out this one on vimeo--- Cutout Flipbook

We missed posting about the Fall Subscription series piece! 'Dorsal' will be available as part of our regular collection in January 2014 at a premium price.

The 8E Quarterly Subscription offers you four seasonal art & design pieces. You can sign up any time during the year. If you sign up to receive 'Burrow' for Winter 2013, you will then receive a piece in the Spring (March 1, 2014), Summer (June 1) and Fall (September 1). Each is a surprise, with an image of the piece leaked 1 month before it ships!

Summer 8E Subscription Launch

Chrysalis, made from maple and stained white, Summer 2013

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, spring is a little slow to progress. We see robbins and birds migrating back but the trees are still holding onto their winter coats. It snowed last week! But at Eight Emperors, things are trucking right along! To play catch up, we had a great sale on Fab.com in February followed by the launch of the inaugural piece, We are Building, in the 8E Quarterly Subscription on March 1.

March and April were spent fulfilling orders, prototyping new pieces, and preparing the summer piece in the subscription series. And in the midst of this, we are expecting our first baby any day now and just bought a new home! So though spring is slow in Michigan, our lives have been on fast forward!

Chrysalis

Speaking of the subscription series, the Summer piece launches TODAY! We'd like to introduce you to Chrysalis. Made from locally sourced maple, its shape is pulled from blueprints of a flattened icosahedron and then rotated back into space. It fits nicely in your hand.

Chrysalis

Chrysalis is stained white, which allows the wood's history to come through. Sign up May 1 through July 30 to receive it plus the following 3 other seasonal pieces. If you are already signed up, fantastic! Chrysalis ships starting June 1.

Chrysalis

Also added to our collection this Spring are three different shelving units: Blomst Single, Blomst Double and Lille Blomst. Each comes in either maple or walnut. The Blomst series, meaning flower in Danish, adds a little nature above your office workspace.

Lille Blomst in maple and walnut

As always, we'd be happy to add a personal message when you give pieces in our collection as wedding, anniversary or birthday gifts. And if you are interested in keeping up with our announcements, sign up for our e-newsletter. We promise we won't bombard you! Happy Spring everyone!

Final days to receive Spring Subscription paper piece!

Do you know what traditionally is the 1st year wedding anniversary gift? It's paper! And did you know that we are in our final week of promoting the Spring 8E Quarterly Subscription piece?

We are Building, paper, 2013

We are Building is cut-scored curve folded paper and is the inaugural piece in the series! It is available until April 30 and then won't be available again on our website until August and at a premium rate. When you sign up for 8E Quarterly Subscription ($200 + shipping), you receive 4 art & design objects for each season. Sign up anytime during the year.

We are Building on Blomst Double maple shelf, 2013

We see these pieces as either building onto your art & design collection or the start of your very own curated collection. The 8E Quarterly Subscription makes an excellent wedding or birthday gift!

First round of 8E Quarterly Subscription is shipped!

Matt and I boxed up and shipped out the first round of the 8E Quarterly Subscription series today! We want to thank all those who signed up over the past month! They should arrive on Monday.

Never fear if you just learned about the subscription option. You can sign up anytime during the year! Learn more here.

Spring features a cut-score paper piece. Summer will feature a wood piece and will be leaked May 1 (or perhaps a little sooner, hint, hint)! Fall will be a ceramic piece and Winter a paper/wood collaboration.

You won't be able to purchase this paper piece on our website until the end of the summer and at a premium rate. So hurry and sign up before April 30!

New 8E Quarterly Subscription Series

We, at Eight Emperors, are excited to tell you about our new 8E Quarterly Subscription Series, which launches TODAY! We all know about music and magazine subscriptions and how they work. Well, our art & design subscription series is a great way to curate some art into your home!

Spring's paper piece is We are building and measures 4"x3.5"x2.5"

The 8E Quarterly Subscription features 4 art & design pieces, Spring (March 1), Summer (June 1), Fall (September 1) and Winter (December 1), sent directly to your door. It rotates between paper, wood, ceramic and then a collaborative piece in paper and wood. Each piece is a surprise: It is announced 1 month before the ship date. (TODAY is the Spring paper piece's announcement and ships starting March 1!) It is then available for a 3-month window. You can sign up any time during those 3-months, but after that time period, the piece is then not available until 2 months later in our general collection and at a premium rate.

We are building shown on Blomst Single shelf, found in the Eight Emperors Collection.

For example, if you sign up anytime between February 1 - April 30, you will receive Spring's paper piece, then a wood piece in early June, a ceramic piece in early September and a collaborative piece in early December. If you sign up anytime between May 1 - July 30, you will receive June's wood piece, then September, December and finally March 2014's piece. The 1-year subscription cycles into 2014.

We are building utilizes a curved cut-score technique on a single sheet of acid-free archival paper.

For $200 plus shipping, you receive 4 pieces, handmade in our studios in Ann Arbor, Michigan from archival and sustainable materials. The 8E Quarterly Subscription is a simple way to begin an art & design collection and a great gift for any art & design lover! You can sign up here.

Summer features a wood piece

To get updates about Eight Emperors and to learn about Summer's wood piece on May 1, sign up for our e-newsletter. We don't hound you with emails and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at hello(at)eightemperors(dot)com. We'd love to hear from you!

xo,
Thea & Matt

At Home: A few wooden objects

Matt and I just started this blog, so it has been a slow start. The first monthly feature we are rolling out is called At Home and showcases objects in our random collections.

Some are bought, some are given, some are found. Some are art objects, some are tools and some we have no clue their original use. They just are curious little beings.

For the past few years, I have collected antique wooden pulleys. I have 7 in my mini collection: 'Mini' because they can become quite expensive. Barn pulleys, factories pulleys and a few I'm not sure of their specifics. I love their exhausted look, their carved wooden centers, their purposefulness that is now retired.

This little guy I purchased in an antique store in Cazenovia, NY, though it is not an antique. The mystery object was in a bowl with others, all different and definitely hand carved. A wooden seed pod? A hand massager? A ...?

Another mini collection I have is old hand tools. My grandfather had a farm and this curiosity may stem from snooping around in the old buildings that were full of so much stuff, nothing was ever thrown out. This tool feels great in one's hand. It is heavy and dense. It yearns to steam roll overtop of something.

Lastly is a wooden spoon, carved by our friend and artist, Cullen Stephenson, during grad school. Cullen's work is contemplative and is always more than what is seen at first glance. It is hard to tell, but the spoon's handle is curvy and sort of wiggles in one's hand.

Where are these things situated within our lives? Our mini collections. We place them on bookshelves, coffee tables, windowsills, tabletops. These objects may not be family heirlooms but that doesn't mean that we don't feel attached to them, that we don't have some response to them. I tend to like things that are in retirement, that posses a story. They've lead a good life, they've seen a lot. And have found a way to nestle themselves into into my home.

xo,
Thea

Ghostly International presents Eight Emperors: Tower Series

We've been anxiously anticipating this for the past week but Ghostly International just released the Tower Series in its online store! Both the Oscillating and Spiral towers are available in black and white.

Ghostly International, one of the best designed and curated record labels in our opinion, has represented Matt for about 2 years. Though this is the first piece that is part of our Eight Emperors Collection that they've supported.

Ghostly was started in Ann Arbor more than a decade ago, and is also the mastermind behind Drip.FM . They go way beyond curating only music.  Michael Cina, who designed the 8E logo, is also represented by them along with a few other amazing designers and artists.

If you are in NYC between now and January, stop past Ghostly's pop-up shop sponsored by Odin on 330 East 11th Street (between 1st and 2nd Ave.) in the East Village. You can buy the Tower Series in person.

http://www.theghostlystore.com/collections/matthew-shlian/products/matthew-shlian-tower-series

xo,
Thea

The Launch

When things are set to launch, all must come together: People, things, weather, temperaments. To launch anticipates movement, transport, and an inward stirring that is finally turned outward.

Matthew and I have been preparing Eight Emperors for about 10 years. The past year accelerated the cumulative pieces that lead up to today. Today, the launch is happening.

As we move through the next year, our collection will grow and include more pieces, additional materials such as ceramic, and a quarterly art subscription series.

This blog will feature our studio practice and more. We are thrilled to highlight other artists and designers doing exactly what we are doing: Making things they love to make for others, the tangible aftermaths of creative sparks. One never knows where their art may end up. This blog will also zoom in on the hand held pieces in our home that were like smoke signals, initiating the origins of Eight Emperors.

We hope you stay along for the voyage! http://www.eightemperors.com

Eight Emperors Website Coming Soon

Be prepared for the Eight Emperors' website, which will be launching for the holiday season. Keep your browsers pointed at www.eightemperors.com