Houston Llew started enameling in a poorly constructed leaning garage in Atlanta. At the time he was unemployed and in the middle of the great recession during a record breaking hot summer. Through fortuitous circumstances, Houston befriended the master enamelist Zingaro, he shadowed the artist around his studio until he gave him the keys to enameling that would later evolve into Houston’s first works - Spiritiles.
For months Houston spent every waking hour over a kiln, experimenting, sketching, living on only "ramen and beer". The only reason his art exists today is because he had no other option - no job to fall back on, no security other than what he could create himself. Tenacity is what keeps him going. When one thing doesn’t work, step back, retool, and try a new path.
Houston love spitballing ideas and trying seemingly crazy things just to see if they work. By harnessing that constant experimentation, art evolves. That’s how it’s possible to create a dueling form of enameled imagery and with bending stories and quotes out of context into something entirely new… Houston calls it “design” but it’s something unnamed.
What pushes him forward is the uplifting thoughts and musings. This is the cornerstone of his work- creating art that uplifts, and brings a hopeful connection to life.
What is a Spiritile? Houston believes that meaningful art is about emotion. Thus, every Spiritile created reflects a piece of our story. These icons stretch our memory and bring to mind the people we love, the things we cherish, and the passions we pursue. When collected, Spiritiles become a montage of moments that make us smile, laugh, remember, and dare to dream.
