The nights are cold again with frost spiking the windows and the darkness begins to come earlier. Apples hang ripe on gnarled trees, the wind carries the smell of wood smoke and change. The sun casts across the land at a low angle, it seems to be a deeper more …
This is a preview of a DVD which includes two presentations that I did at the Arctic Fire Swordsmithing event in Alaska in June of 2012, as well as several interviews. There is also footage of Swordsmiths Michael Pikula, David Delagardelle, Don Fogg, Peter Johnsson and J. Arthur Loose. This …
The sun cuts low through winter trees, woodsmoke hangs in the air. Walking through the forest one day I find what’s left of a raven dance, the steps clear in the snow. I can see where a raven has scratched it’s beak back and forth drawing concentric lines. As part …
I’ve just returned from a three-week trip to Britain. I taught a class about carving Iron Age ornamentation in wood, helped with a sword course that my friend Owen Bush was teaching and presented at a swordsmithing conference. Owens workshop and home “Bushfire Forge” is an amazing place to do …
Snow falls on snow, then more snow falls. Somewhere in the forested hills the bear sow and her cubs hibernate and the moose shifts about in his winter yard. It is snowshoe weather, too deep for skis. I spent the day yesterday shoveling the snow from the roof of my …
Late November brings snowstorms. The field behind my forge turns white and grey, obscured by pencil lines of snow. Ground freezes and propane is sluggish and recalcitrant in the mornings. Then as the month turns, it becomes warmer, snow turns to mist, the ground thaws. Creatures come out of their …
The wind is up, rain pelts relentlessly and I am finishing the autumn’s work and starting my winter projects. Over the last year I’ve been focusing on honing my drawing and painting skills alongside my work as a swordsmith and sculptor. The act of painting an idea is a …