The photography is excellent in this calendar. Perfect use of light and shadows.

The type of photography that will interest anyone because it is so unique.

My Celebration of Briar 2007 calendar arrived this afternoon. Packaging was excellent. Very hard card board exterior. Foam to protect the face image. But who cares about the packaging? What about the contents? Unbelievable! Incredible! Far exceeds my expectations! Not only are the photographs superb, the quality of printing makes them my Jan 2008 project. Getting the images cut and framed! I was not expecting the calendar to be so large or heavy. This isn’t your run of the mill; use a few thumb tacks to stick to a wall. This item will need a proper picture hanger! This, my pipe enjoying friends is the briar lovers “swim suit issue” calendar!

Can't wait for the 2008 issue.

Regards
Michael J. Glukler

There seem to be no limits, micro or macro, to Greg Pease's eye for fascinating subjects. In this work Mr. Pease treats us to a world so specific and minute that it would understandably escape notice by nearly all but a small brother-and-sisterhood of devotees of the pipe.

Briar is, quite simply, wood...though not wood found in the New World. Briar is made from the burl of the Heath tree, native to the Mediteranian, a ball of subterranean fibers to absorb the scarce moisture of the region and feed the small, gnarled, nearly leafless shrub above ground.

In Nature, function dictates form. With this masterful collection of images, Greg Pease highlights the pathways Naure decreed of the burl to nourish the tree; the dark lines or spots...depending upon how the briar block is cut...are governed by the soil, the climate, and by the mystery that shall forever be Nature.

Whatever one might think of tobacco, the instruments in which it is smoked can be amazing and timeless reckonings of Nature's dictates and Man's purpose. The masters of this delicate negotiation are paid due homage by Mr. Pease. If the Law is a jealous mistress, Nature is an uncompromising one. The works of those talented few who have reconciled Nature's dictates to their purpose are featured in this work.

There are many manufacturers of smoking pipes, though few masters of the art--those who can take a block of wood, decreed of Nature, and make of it something joyous and unforgetable to Man's eye.

In this collection, one can sense the words of the poet, William Blake:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

I'm so excited- a whole year of Greg's amazing photography. I was horribly outbid on some prints of Greg's earlier this year- but now I have a way to snag a ton of them all at once. :) This is definitely going to be in a prominent place above my pipes and tobacco.

The wonderful texture of these fantastic pipes are caught so well by these pictures; the lighting is fantastic. P&T was right to include your photography in their magazine this year. This is a great way for those of us strapped for cash to purchase your work. [Besides, it leaves us more cash to buy tins of Westminster when it is released. ;)]

I can't wait to have this hanging on my wall!