Creative Exploration:
Rebel Yuth X Talon Ghost
To celebrate the new and limited edition white Talon Ghost, we teamed up UK illustrator Rebel Yuth, aka John Speed, to explore the connection between art and nature, using the Talon Ghost as a canvas.
“During lockdowns there seemed to be a surge in the make-do and mend mentality, which I love. It ties into the sustainable fashion movement, reducing waste. For myself during lockdown I began making personal pieces alongside my normal illustration work. I started tie-dying and sewing old pieces I don’t wear anymore, re-inventing and re-loving.
When seeing the Talon Ghost crisp white colour way, I wondered how that will change and look with wear. It really reminded me of people posing their raw denim for the first time, to years of wear creating a visual journey in the worn denim and bleeding out. Showing the outline of the wallet for instance. With the Talon Ghost, I imagined how hiking in the hills and the 9 till 5 everyday use in the daily commute, getting marked and grass stained, would create a unique piece just by being used.
This made me think how I could marry the two ideas; I have always had a love for nature, bushcraft and running, and during lockdowns I feel that people have been embracing the outdoors more, finding nature to be healing during hard times.
Where I am based, I’m lucky to be in nature more than city streets and be able to hike beautiful areas in Sussex. I wanted to tell the story of the adventures on the white Talon Ghost, tie-dying my journey through nature using the tones I see on my every day hikes and runs, from the flowers to the views.
As I created the pack, I realised the dying, washing, drying and re-dying process never had a concrete plan, I just went with it. It was an exploration, much like when I run or hike with no clear planned route. Just to discover. Just to be present. It is this same mindset that created beautiful randomised patterns over the pack. Nothing was rigid or certain, which also feels much like the times now. Like everything in life it’s sometimes healthy to agree it’s out of your hands and it doesn’t really matter where the destination lies.
Life doesn’t have a finishing line, so just enjoy the journey.”
foraging for solace with idle hands and a sense of clarity I work
to keep the mind clear sketching unfinished ideas with unfinished lines
sewing up worn cotton skins crafting coloured dye to echo archaic landscapes
In emeralds tones I ruminate with uncertain endings
while focus on my breathing one day to the next
solitude and fortitude in vast empty pockets of the earth
the woods gently hold out their gnarled hands invite my muddled mind and feet to
wonder how I find myself calmer in bark and morning dew
finding certainty in my heavy breath as I hike up steep passageways
wooden behemoths watch me navigate against the golden haze of a retiring mother sun
no maps no routes wading in mud smudges of red and purple litter the floor
floral wings sway the nature has a never-ending conversation with me
no matter how I feel being present looking for true solace in the adventure
it matters not where I finish
the journey is the true story death and life and all in between the cycle continues
Narrated by all the beings that breath their first and last breath
Adventure Queens: Empowering Women
Julia’s House
Trek X Osprey – Official pack sponsor
Project Vertical
Out on the Slopes with our Athletes
