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.
Physical fitness, neuroplasticity? Important words for our overall well-being. There's no getting around it. We all need a fitness regime, especially as we get older. But for most of us, we stop at the physical. That little trifle we call the mind gets left behind. Think of it, we exercise the body, but not the …
There is a lot of romanticizing about being on the road. And Jack Kerouac's book On the Road is responsible for lots of it. The Romance of the Road? You bet. Having been on the road myself for several years, I found familiar passages and events in it that I found reflected in my own …
It's an old gardener's cheat. Buy one plant and propagate it via slips so you have three or four. Well, not only is it too cold to put things out, but frankly, prices have skyrocketed. So I've resorted to an old trick of fast propagation via slips. I'm using the delay in setting out to …
Fame is fleeting, and the people with true importance in our lives may remain famous only in our high regard for what they have done for us. They are not unknown, but they are definitely underappreciated. Many among them were your teachers, professors, and just the people on the job who showed you the ropes, …
The title is right, I don't feel that minimalism is all that it's cracked up to be. Mostly because most of the people I've known who espoused it are aspirational devotees, not actually involved in careful and planned pruning of non-essentials from life. Believe me, as a sort of road bum, a Pius Itinerant, I …
Continue reading "Minimalism is not all that it’s cracked up to be"
And the number is - 246 My favorite bar sign! Hand-carved nautical stars, gold-leafed and set to serve as fridge magnets. A Christmas for a boat-building friend. A liniment sign at an antiques store. A batch of cherries is being washed before getting pitted. "Proofing a batch of cherry hand-carved spoons and spatulas. They are …
My parents gifted me with a set of Lionel model trains when I was about nine. At first, there was a layout around the tree. Then it expanded to a railroad empire. At that time, my dad was the superintendent of the building in which we lived in Washington Heights. We had access to many …
Continue reading "Choooooo-chooooo! The Model Train is coming!"
I'm an anthropologist. I should have tons of local customs on store to tittilate and entertain, right? But one of the weirdest customs I ever heard of, and participated was in the Navy. It happened just after that morning cattle call we called Quarters - where everyone is marked present or accounted for. It was …
At one time, I envisaged hitting this point in life as a retired tenured professor with scads of publications, citations, and students struggling to outdo the "old man". You know the sort of guy whose work is always cited, appears in abstracts, and who has his portrait hung in the "Department's" faculty lounge. Admittedly, he …
The concert hall was usually someone's kitchen. I guess you can figure out why. Someone would be baking cookies, or the pot of stew would be on, and five or so of us would be doing a round robin of songs. There would be a sprinkling of whoever was in town, some folks from the …
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