Authentic Nautical Accessories, and Custom Furnishings
Figureheads get lots of attention in maritime museum exhibits. There are even museum collections of figureheads lost at sea. Often, the names of the ships they graced are unknown. If we knew, we could reconstruct a travelogue of all the ports they'd seen. But many ships lacked figureheads. The old figure went overboard in a …
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a Drummer was not just a percussionist. A drummer was a traveling salesman who'd make the rounds with tools, clothes, or anything else you might wish to purchase but could not easily find at the small retail establishments in your town. Think no internet, no Walmart, and few …
Yesterday, I spent a significant part of the day working on a carving of a large schooner. I based it on research I did for an earlier schooner built by the same yard around the same time in the late 19th century. I used skills acquired in the earlier carving to ease the work on …
Photographs help me remember steps and processes. Years ago, I used photography only to record the results. But pictures of the in-between stages were more than a bit helpful. One of the big reasons I say this is because there are some things that I only do rarely. Reminders are valuable.I need to be a …
If you studied economics, process engineering or are an enthusiast of popular psychology, you might have heard of the Sunk Cost Fallacy. It's alive and well in woodcarving too. Sunk costs are costs you have paid and can't get back. That's fine if everything works out. But if the project just hasn't been the success …
This is my second run at the Steam Yacht Zaida. I've used different techniques and am more satisfied with the outcome.
I found the wood sitting in the shorts at my favorite hardwood dealer. It was very dark, heavy, and dense. It was mahogany but so dark and heavy that I felt it was a wayward piece of Dominican, not Honduran. It was just what I wanted.
We all want to be instant experts. One of my sensei describes this in terms of the training montages that are standard fare in martial arts movies; the neophyte progresses from clumsy beginner to skilled pro in thirty seconds of cinematic snapshots.
I admit that the sort of non complex carving that happens when I carve a small bowl is pretty alluring. No antsy detail. No pattern that needs to be followed. Just follow the will of the wood.
We can easily get lost in the weeds talking about tradition in crafts.
This chest was not in stock long enough for me to do a proper set of photos. It sold at it's first appearance at the Maine Boatbuilder's Show to a pair of Boston Harbor pilots who were going to give it as a retirement gift to a colleague.
As consumers, there is much that you don't know about your favorite woods.
It sails on my wall with a cherry ocean and sky heading east from Japan or China towards Los Angelos. I think my father is pleased that his ship is restored to an essential place in our lives, through the unexpected kindness of a fellow seaman.
While teaching, I always like to decorate the workshop with carving examples for students to use as a reference. Week-long excursions to teach away from home mean emptying the house of many of my carvings. But samples in three dimensions often are better than pictures or demonstration, and the extra work was worth it.
The problem with imagination is that it's boundless. On the wall is a poster telling you that you can do it if you can imagine it. Don't take it too literally.
Five thousand steps? No, my preplanned target is for six, but I almost always go over. And recently I've been in the seven- and eight-grand range. But thanks to the arthritis in the feet, those halcyon days of going for hikes of many miles are in the Rear view mirror. You say, "But step counting …
Having served the public as a government employee for many years, I learned early on that when a member of the public verbally assaulted you red-faced and energetically, you worked hard to maintain a polite demeanor. Frankly, turning all red-faced and dumping on their negative vibes was a sure path to fast unemployment. I found …
I don't believe a lot of what I believed when I was young. Like most of us, life experience disabused us of lots of fantasies: the permanence of summer loves and summer memories, the absolute truth of the astrological predictions, astrologers in general, and politicians. Okay, big surprise. I grew up as a Republican, and …
This months last on the card is Northern Wild Raisin was something I found on a hike with my son yesterday. The common name for this plant was witherrod - which meant flexible. It was used for making basskets and other small items, but the fruit is edible, and tasts like regular raisins. I ran …
(teachers of martial arts). It was a memorable evening because Sensei's teacher was visiting us from Japan, and we wanted everything perfect.
The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed corporations. - Thomas Jefferson Have you checked the funding sources for your favorite candidate recently? A week or two ago, I was at a Pride event in a nearby town, and …
Believe it or not, the television was not too old when I was a little kid in New York City. In the years before going to school, I'd spend the evening watching cowboy shows where the hero, like Gene Autry, would wrap up the half-hour segment with a gunfight and take all the bad guys …
One day, way back in the 1980's, I was sitting in my office at the little center I was working at in Eastie (located across the River from Boston, but no, not East Boston. A neighborhood within a larger city.) I had just wrapped up a planning session with my Brain Trust of residents, planning …
I still work part-time, running a small access television station. Every week, I scour the video providers' websites for material to put on the station. A few months ago, I found an interesting series to present on one of the stations. It features a host who introduces a film from Hollywood's "Golden Age", usually some …
Lots of us speak languages that are almost impenetrable to the general populace, and yet they aren't properly foreign languages. For example, if you work in IT, a medical profession, maybe construction, or a trade, you can rapidly get into the area of the incomprehensible when you talk to someone you work with. Your spouse …
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