Darkness, Cold, and the usual monotonous grind of parenting small children have taken their toll this winter, and so with my mind wandering and the ever present desire to dream up something fun I have decided on a third project of commissioned pipes to follow the Alaska themed 7 day set and last year's Cutty Madness competition.
For this set of commissioned pipes I have decided to have various carvers who I consider to be some of the finest artisans working today produce their own interpretations of some of my favorite shapes in my collection. However, to make this endeavor a little more special, I have decided that I will only have them create interpretations of shapes that were crafted by carvers who are either no longer with us, or have retired from carving. I thought it a fun way to pay homage to some of the wonderful carvers who for various reasons are no longer producing pipes, while also giving the very talented artists of today a chance to showcase their own skills and connect a little bit with those who have come before them.
Carvers were given photos of the original pieces, as well as weight and dimensions and were instructed to create an interpretation of the pipe they were sent that is similar enough to the original to see the inspiration, but also incorporates some of their own ideas/shaping/preferences/design choices at whatever level they should so choose, so as to make it their own. The first in the series has been completed!
I have long adored the pipes of Bruce Weaver, particularly his incredible and unique sandblasting techniques. Which is why I found it a little odd that the only smooth pipe of his I own has sort of grown on me more and more over the years. Bruce unfortunately passed away in 2019, but was by all accounts a truly kind hearted gentleman and extraordinarily talented pipe carver. The pipe of his I chose for this project is a smooth tear drop shanked apple/egg, with a long ridge eventually gently tapering off as it reaches the rim. It has a boxwood shank adornment, and beautiful straight grain on both sides. It smokes like a dream, and is a very comfortable and petite clencher. I call it "The Surfing Apple". Here it is:
I first met Jared Coles at last years Chicago Pipe Show, but had long been admiring his pipes on social media. Not only is Jared a stand up guy himself, but is an extremely talented carver with a penchant for some very similarly shaped bent egg style of pipes to the original Weaver. I had the privilege of watching him rapidly craft one from scratch during The Battle of the Briar, for which he won people's choice after showering himself in briar dust to crank one out in only an hour. I couldn't think of a better artisan to take a stab at an homage to this lovely little piece. Quite simply, Jared knocked it out of the park. He made the tear drop ridge in the shank a little more subtle, in addition to squashing and rounding the bowl a little bit, making the piece a little more fluid and rounding out some of it's profile. He also moved the tear drop to the other side of the shank, and flattened the flare in the stem a bit. I could not be happier with the results:
For this set of commissioned pipes I have decided to have various carvers who I consider to be some of the finest artisans working today produce their own interpretations of some of my favorite shapes in my collection. However, to make this endeavor a little more special, I have decided that I will only have them create interpretations of shapes that were crafted by carvers who are either no longer with us, or have retired from carving. I thought it a fun way to pay homage to some of the wonderful carvers who for various reasons are no longer producing pipes, while also giving the very talented artists of today a chance to showcase their own skills and connect a little bit with those who have come before them.
Carvers were given photos of the original pieces, as well as weight and dimensions and were instructed to create an interpretation of the pipe they were sent that is similar enough to the original to see the inspiration, but also incorporates some of their own ideas/shaping/preferences/design choices at whatever level they should so choose, so as to make it their own. The first in the series has been completed!
I have long adored the pipes of Bruce Weaver, particularly his incredible and unique sandblasting techniques. Which is why I found it a little odd that the only smooth pipe of his I own has sort of grown on me more and more over the years. Bruce unfortunately passed away in 2019, but was by all accounts a truly kind hearted gentleman and extraordinarily talented pipe carver. The pipe of his I chose for this project is a smooth tear drop shanked apple/egg, with a long ridge eventually gently tapering off as it reaches the rim. It has a boxwood shank adornment, and beautiful straight grain on both sides. It smokes like a dream, and is a very comfortable and petite clencher. I call it "The Surfing Apple". Here it is:
I first met Jared Coles at last years Chicago Pipe Show, but had long been admiring his pipes on social media. Not only is Jared a stand up guy himself, but is an extremely talented carver with a penchant for some very similarly shaped bent egg style of pipes to the original Weaver. I had the privilege of watching him rapidly craft one from scratch during The Battle of the Briar, for which he won people's choice after showering himself in briar dust to crank one out in only an hour. I couldn't think of a better artisan to take a stab at an homage to this lovely little piece. Quite simply, Jared knocked it out of the park. He made the tear drop ridge in the shank a little more subtle, in addition to squashing and rounding the bowl a little bit, making the piece a little more fluid and rounding out some of it's profile. He also moved the tear drop to the other side of the shank, and flattened the flare in the stem a bit. I could not be happier with the results:
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