Process: Modeling the Doves

These photos document the work that continues on the large-scale sculpture the will be used to memorialize  ECU students that die as students. It is called Broken Circle of Doves (I think), by Trey Martin. I was hired to model the doves. 

My previous post shows the armature construction process. Next is to get clay on that armature and sculpt the details. If the armature is done incorrectly, and sometimes its hard to tell until you get that clay on it, then you'll have to cut or add to the armature. 

I'll just briefly take you through the basics of "fleshing out" the armature. 

Wrapping the birds in newspaper and plastic helps to beef it out and seal it.

Now you can see the bodies more clearly and begin adding clay to the surface.

The bottom bird now is covered in clay, but with no details.

Wire is added so that the clay will stick to the underside of the dove.

This is a tool I made so that can make a raked texture to the surface.

My buddy Matt Grady was able to help me out by adding clay while I was teaching at PittCC.

We used a commercial Plasticine. It is softened to a mud consistency when heated in a microwave.

Get that clay on there Grady!

After a couple of weeks I have modeled the feathers, the eyes, the beaks and have decided that this is the completed "model".

I think I'm sitting on the floor for this shot. Remember that this is going to be bronze and about 6 feet from the ground.

Random notes: Birds have been represented in art for thousands of years. There are many different ways to represent the feather pattern on the wings. I decided on a pretty basic design of major, secondary, and then into the textured body. 

Process: Armature for Doves

Around late September I was approached by ECU sculpture undergraduate Trey Martin about working on his monument sculpture project. This was a commission through ECU for a sculpture student to propose a model, win the bid through a voting process, and build the monument in about a year. Trey's model won this competition and he has been working on it ever since.  I was brought in to enlarge "the doves" portion of the sculpture. Although I was already teaching a full load of classes at the local community college as well as getting a gallery/studio off the ground, taking this commission on would be an opportunity I couldn't refuse.

My Twitter and Instagram followers have been getting some process shots of this occasionally, but I figure I should post some to this blog, too. This post will feature photos of the armature.

Broken Circle with Doves by Trey Martin

Dove 1 begins

Dove 1

Dove 1 built up and attached to a stand.

Dove 1 looking good. My buddy Matt Amante using DirtyLam's special spray booth.

Dove 2 begins

Dove 1 outside while I weld Dove 2

Dove 2 welded onto Dove 1. Thanks Billingsley for the handmedown overalls.

Its a bit hard to photograph this, because it is see-through.

All three together.

Trey Martin comes by to give me the thumbs up.

Random notes:

- Its around this time that I got the Regional Artist Project Grant through Pitt County Arts Council to help purchase a welder. So I was riding high on that humble achievement.

- At this point in the process, I really enjoyed making a sculpture using 1/2" round bar. Just as an armature, this makes a pretty strong sculpture. Might have to more like it.

 -  This was welded in between teaching Art History Survey I and II. It is very satisfying teaching art and doing art. 

- oh yeah, I forgot that I know how to do this more than teaching.

Ancient Amnesia, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

I've been jamming to this new Dead Can Dance album in the studio. Please listen to it as you read this. If you like it, find the DCD playlist on Youtube, it is great.

It reminds me of when I was first getting into music and my older brother gave me a mixed tape that had a DCD song on it. It helps me to think good thoughts about him.

Since I've been teaching Art History Survey I've had to catch up on two different time periods at once. In one class we started out with Mesopotamian history, Sumerian, and very early art for the entire human civilization. At the same time in the next class I'm teaching about Renaissance Art...which is a huge subject as well...where artists and scientists are making huge discoveries and many of these discoveries are from looking back a few centuries at what the Greeks/Romans were doing. Very interesting stuff.

Dead Can Dance sort of works with both these time periods. It is described as medieval, new age, and ancient-sounding. I just curated a sculpture show called "The Ancients Made These" that incorporates this sort of sound, but in a sculptural way.

I'd like to think of the artwork I make as being new and old at the same time. Which brings me to my next point.

I've been reading Carl Jung's autobiography called Memories, Dreams, Reflections, in which he describes having a split personality. One Jung is the old one that is full of wisdom (and all the things that go with old age). The other Jung is the young one, this one makes mistakes,  says stupid things (and does all the things that young people do), but is more in the present moment. These two parts of Jung have to learn to deal with each other and learn, over his lifetime, to work together to make a decent person. If one personality is ignored, Jung would....well....be less Jung I suppose.

Or at least that is what I'm getting from the book. This is a book that I feel I have a very personal connection with. Several people over the years have told me that I need to read it. It may be because of my father being a therapist and, having grown up in his household, many psychological philosophies are built into my head, sort of hard-wired in. OR maybe Jung is simply a very good storyteller that is able to draw me into his head. Nonetheless, Jung writes about therapy in a very fresh altruistic manner (even humorous).

It is good music to study art history and to build sculpture to. I've been listening to it as I start a new project that will keep me very occupied in the studio for the next few months. If you listen to the lyrics, you may hear things in it that reflect Jungian themes. Or perhaps its as simple as the styles of music that DCD use that reflect the Jungian idea of archetypes (another subject that interests me).  Ancient + New.

Schedule for The 34th Tri-State Sculptors Conference

East Carolina University School of Art and DesignGreenville, NC 

WEDNESDAY, October 3^rd 2012

10:00AM- 3:00PM

Mold Making Workshop Room: 135

By Hanna Jubran

No Mold Making on Friday October 5th

IMPORTANT!!! To participate in the mold-making workshop for the iron pour, you must arrive to make your pattern by 10AM Wednesday, October 3, 2012.

Materials:

$12. Per 100# bag of sand includes catalyst and resin.

$3. Per pound for wax or you can bring your own wax pattern.

1# of wax = 10# of iron

Your wax pattern should not exceed 10# of wax

You may bring your own iron. Everyone who wants to cast a pattern must break the equivalent amount of iron themselves before the iron pour.

$1.00 dollar per pound of iron, unless you supply your own.

Please – we are short on iron...if possible bring pipes, radiators, sinks etc.

**We also have pre-made scratch molds available for the iron pour at $10 and $15 each which includes iron.

THURSDAY, October 4^th 2012

12:00PM-4:00PM Registration- Jenkins Fine Arts Center (foyer between Gray Gallery & Speight Auditorium)

FRIDAY, October 5, 2012

8:00AM-12:00PM Registration- Jenkins Fine Arts Center (foyer between Gray Gallery & Speight Auditorium)

9:00AM-10:30AM Room: 225

Feel Good Yoga for Sculptors 

By Julia Stout

Style (Yin & Yang/feminine and masculine) 1 1/2 Hr. Class, relax with guided meditation at beginning and end, stretch, flow to awaken a deeper part of yourself; We will look deeper at strength and what opens those tight places. How do we deal with success and failure as artists? What feels open, what feels closed? Wear loose-layered comfortable clothes, bring blanket, yoga mat or heavy towel, anything that will make you feel comfortable. Do not eat or drink much two hours before class, if you can. Shanti/peace is what this class promises…….

9:00AM-10:00AM Room: 1326

Title: Franconia Sculpture Park: Internships and Residencies

By Virginia Tyler

Virginia Tyler (a professor at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, NC) was a Hot Metal Artist for the iron pour at Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota this summer. Andrew Davis (a graduate student at Winthrop College, SC) and Taylor Browning (an undergraduate art major at UNC-G) were Interns. They will talk about the residency and internship experiences, and provide contacts for other members.

10:00AM-11:00AM Room: 1326

Health and Safety in the Arts

By Phil W. Lewis, CSP

Assistant Director

Environmental Health & Safety

East Carolina University

Artists encounter many of the same hazards found in industrial settings.  It is critical that artists know the hazards they will encounter and how to protect themselves from harm.  This presentation will explore the acute and chronic health hazards encountered by artists as well as control measures they can utilize.  We will discuss the common materials found in the art studio, how to identify the hazards associated with those materials, risk factors and effects of exposure, and control measures to minimize exposure. 

10:00AM-12:00PM Room: 133

Eastern Papermaking and its Sculptural Applications

By Andi Steele

Eastern Papermaking and its Sculptural Applications

In this workshop we will:

•Discuss the preparation and cooking of kozo plant fiber

•Beat the kozo fiber

•Pull sheets of paper using Eastern style sugetas

•Apply sheets of paper to armatures and cast paper into plaster molds. Workshop participants are invited to bring a small armature and/or mold to use in the workshop.

**Papermaking is a wet process. Dress accordingly.**

11:00AM-12:00PM Room: 1326

The Grants, Public Art and the Role of the North Carolina Arts Council

By Jeff Pettus, Senior Program Director for Artists & Organizations, North Carolina Arts Council

This presentation will cover grants, public art and other artist opportunities in North Carolina, tips for submitting stronger applications, the importance of having your materials and portfolio correct, how artists can assist and improve the process, how artists can improve the arts in North Carolina and the role of the arts and the North Carolina Arts Council in education and economic development within the state. 

1:00PM-2:00PM School of Art Wood Shop
Bending Wood with Steam
By Gerald Weckesser
The ability to alter the grain direction of wood as our imagination dictates while preserving the strength inherent in a straight piece of wood allows us to create the strong beautiful forms. Gerald Weckesser will demonstrate methods of steam bending wood as elements of sculpture. Wood selection, drying forms, steam box requirements, and bending systems will be discussed and demonstrated.

1:00PM-2:00PM Welding Studio-Sculpture

Tig Welding Demo

By Kevin M. Vanek

TIG application for the sculptor. TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas); this process grants the operator greater control over the weld than competing processes such as STICK and MIG welding, allowing for stronger, higher quality welds. The demo will cover basic TIG welding process including how to set up a TIG machine for use along with proper metal preparation. Demonstrations will be given for proper welding technique of basic material such as steel (stainless and mild), aluminum, bronze and iron.

2:00PM-3:00PM Room: 1326

Hot Glass in the Sculpture Studio

By Mac Metz

This discussion will focus on the use of glass in the field of modern sculpture. Beginning with a brief

history of the modern studio glass movement and it’s growing place in the art world at large. The discussion will then go on to cover studio set up, the equipment, different methods of using glass as well as my own history and experience with the material. Glass is an emerging medium in the field of modern sculpture and much of it’s potential is left untapped. Hopefully, attendees will go away with a better understanding of the material, it’s place in sculpture and where hot glass studios are available for them to use. See you at the conference!

3:00PM – 4:00 PM Room: 1326

Doing what you can with what you have: An effort towards an ecologically sustainable foundry.

By Christian Benefiel

As temperatures rise along with costs and resources dwindle, some artists are faced with the possibility of cutting metalworking out of their studio practice. Sustainability does not have to be a novelty, in many cases today it can be the most efficient approach. We will look at alternative methods of building metal casting facilities, using a variety of fuel sources, molding techniques and studio practice which can help save your health, money and environment.

3:00PM-4:30PM Room: ECU Innovation Design Lab – Willis 202

Rapid Prototyping and 3D Printing  

By Wayne Godwin

Accommodations for 8 –10 people in the Innovation Design Lab. Visit the ECU Innovation Design Lab and participate in a discussion of the use of photographic techniques to replicate sculptures with Rapid Prototyping. Rapid Prototyping is used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design. The replication process will be demonstrated using the famous “Bronze Bruce” statue, which represents the US Army Special Forces in Fort Bragg, NC. It starts with a series of photographs that are converted into a digital 3Dfile that is refined by a character artist with digital tools (ZBrush). The files are then converted into stereo files (STL) that are checked for “water tight” construction and texture maps. Then the files are sent to the rapid prototyping for production using the ZCorp z450 machine. 

3:00PM-4:30PM sculpture courtyard

Intro to Blacksmithing-

By Phillip Harrison

A demonstration on Forging Leaves & Animal Heads of various types. Starting with either bar stock or prepared weldments, leaf and stem forgings will be demonstrated including techniques on joinery, blending, welds and how to's on how fabrications end up looking less"Fabricated" and more Unique.

5:00PM keynote Address – James Surls

6:00PM-8:00PM Closing Reception of The Tri-State Sculptors Exhibit in School of Art Gray Gallery and ECU Sculpture Students Exhibition in the Burrough’s Wellcome Gallery

SATURDAY, October 6, 2012 9:00AM-2:30PM De-Installation of Tri-State Sculptors Exhibit from Gray Gallery

9:00AM-10:30AM School of Art Auditorium

Panel Discussion: Exploring or Exploiting the boundaries of Public Sculpture

Panelists: Hanna Jubran - Moderator

James Surls, Carl Billingsley, Tom Grubb, Jim Gallucci

Panelists present the artists viewpoint when applying for public sculpture and how they can play a significant role to push the boundaries and rights of the artists. What are the rules they have to play in this complex system of committees, regulations and politically correct, while still being creative?

10:30 – 12:00PM  School of Art Auditorium

Outdoor Sculpture Competitions Panel

Panelists:

Candy Snodgrass from Bristol, TN.

Anne Trebue Nelson from N. Charleston, SC.

Elizabeth Breeden from Charlottesville, VA.

Catherine Coulter-Lloyd from Rocky Mount, NC.

1:00PM-2:00PM Room 1326

Slide Presentations- open to all Tri-State Members

5 images each, ready to download to Mac Computer (jump drive or CD)

1:00PM-4:00PM Sculpture Courtyard

IRON POUR-Please have your molds ready. No mold making on Friday

By Carl Billingsley

1:00PM-2:00PM Welding Studio

MIG Welding Workshop and Demo:

By Matt Harding

 MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding is an easy and efficient method for welding various metals and alloys. This demo will cover basics of this process and the MIG machine, providing technical tips/tricks for structurally sound welds well-suited for sculpture.

2:00PM-3:00PM Room: 133
Intricate Mold Making and Casting Workshop for Students
By Chris Wooten

This workshop will demonstrate techniques used to mold and cast intricate pieces on a small scale. Participants will be introduced to mold making and casting techniques using silicone rubber and urethane casting resin.

Topics that will be covered are the following:

-Basic casting fundamentals

-Preparation of work for casting

-Proper venting and gating of work

-Silicone rubber and vacuum degassing

-Jeweler’s cut mold opening

-Urethane resin and pressure casting

-Clean up and preparations of urethane casting for applying finish

SUNDAY, October 7, 2012

8:00AM - 9:00AM COFFEE AND PASTRIES Room 1326

9:00AM Business Meeting for Tri-State Members

All Tri-State members are encouraged to attend this very important meeting! This is your opportunity to learn about and contribute to the work of our volunteer-run organization. Issues to be addressed include a review of TSS business from board officers and member voting to fill board vacancies. Please see enclosed business meeting agenda in your conference packet from our President Jim Gallucci.

Questions or concerns contact - Hanna Jubran 252-328-1303 jubranh@ecu.edu

The Ancients Made These

Coming Friday October 5th, 2012 at ARTAVENUE. In DOWNtown Greenville, NorthCarolina.

Please like Art Avenue's Facebook page and join this event to help promote our fledgling program.

I've been planning an exhibition that is in conjunction (unofficially) with the Tri State Sculpture Symposium occuring at East Carolina University. This specifically sculptural exhibition highlights artwork with a particularly pre-historic quality. Whether through material or content, its work that could look weathered or primal or tribal or basic or otherwise "ancient".

Here are some examples of the participating artists' work (without their permission).  This will give you an idea of what to expect. I'm not sure what they are going to show up with. It's up to them.

Poster by Mario Paredes
Link to his website.

Matt Amante
Mohu Stone
Link to his website.

Stuart R. Kent
Vessel in the form of an egg, variation #2
Link to his website

Andrew Denton
Tetrahedronal Transformation

James Dudley
(link)
Dear Reliquary
(sold)
6”x12”x5”
Steel, Brass, Bone

Jonathan Bowling
Pull Toy
Link

Austin Sheppard
British Invasion
Link

Tri-State Sculptors 34th Annual Conference

Tri-State Sculptors 34th Annual Conference

October 4-6th 2012

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC 

Welcome: We invite you to attend and participate in the Tri-State Sculptors’  34th

 Annual Conference on October 4th, 5th and 6th. 

The conference will be hosted by the Sculpture Area at 

East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Tri-State’s annual meeting will offer an exciting mix of traditional sessions and panels as well as 

“hands-on” demonstrations and workshops. Of course,  there will also be the annual Members 

Exhibition of sculptures and Drawings. This year’s show will be held at the ECU’s Gray Gallery in 

the School of Art and Design and a limited outdoor show of six sculptures. The outdoor show is 

on a first come first serve basis. The concrete pads are 6’x6’. 

Our Keynote Speaker is Sculptor James Surls

Friday, October 5th, at 5PM in the Speight Auditorium, School of Art and Design and following the 

presentation will be the opening reception at the Gray Gallery across the hall. 

Transportation: Pitt-Greenville airport in  Greenville, North Carolina offers daily commuter 

service to Charlotte (Navaids ILS/DME).

You will be notified of available Parking at East Carolina University before the conference.

Hotels: Find lodging information at http:www.greenvillenc.org/lodging.asp.

Fees: Registration fees for the conference will be $50 in advance and $65 after September 5th. 

Student registration will be $15 in advance and $20 after September 5th.

T-shirts for the conference will be sold for $15. Each. If you would like to buy a T-shirt, Please 

select size and # of T-shirts. Add up number of T-shirts and make check payable to: Sculpture 

Guild 2012 7:30 pm is the Saturday night dinner barbecue and/or vegetarian dinner  - meals are $15. Per 

person.

Preliminary*Schedule*of*Events

Dates & Times to be announced

The aim of the conference is to provide students, teachers, art professionals and anyone with an 

interest in art, but especially sculptors to participate in the exchange of ideas.

“PRE-Conference” Workshop:

Sand mold making workshop for Iron Pour

IMPORTANT!!! To participate in the mold-making workshop for the iron pour, you must arrive to 

make your pattern by 10AM Wednesday, October 3, 2012. 

IRON POUR ----- Saturday, October 6th 1:00 pm – 4:pm

Materials: 

$12. Per 100# bag of sand includes catalyst and resin.

$3. Per pound for wax or you can bring your own wax pattern.

1# of wax = 10# of iron 

Your wax pattern should not exceed 10# of wax

You may bring your own iron. Everyone who wants to cast a pattern must break the equivalent 

amount of iron themselves before the iron pour. 

$1.00 dollar per pound of iron, unless you supply your own.

Please – we are short on iron...if possible bring pipes, radiators, sinks etc. 

**We also have pre-made scratch molds available for the iron pour at $10 and $15 each which 

includes iron. 

2 Panel Discussions: NC Arts Council Presentation & 2 Artist Presentations

Demonstrations:

Rubber mold making

Paper making

Traditional bronze casting

Forging

Welding

Steel surface application 

Woodcarving or steam bending

More to be announced...

Friday and Saturday open Tri-state  Members presentations of their artwork  - CDs & Slides 

(maximum 5 minutes each)

Hanna Jubran

Coordinator, 2012 Tri State Sculptors Annual Conference

Hanna Jubran/ Carl Billingsley

School of Art and Design

Greenville, NC 27837

252-328-1303

jubranh@ecu.edu

Tri State Sculptors 34th

Annual Conference

October 4,5,6

East Carolina University-Sculpture-Greenville, NC

Registration Form

Fees: Registration fees for the conference will be $50 in advance and $65 after September 5th. 

Student registration will be $15 in advance and $20 after September 5th.

Name______________________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address_____________________________________________________________________

City__________________________________State______________Zip________________________

Phone_________________________________Cell_________________________________________

Home_________________________________Work________________________________________

Email______________________________________________________________________________

Please enclose the following:

(   ) $50.00 Conference Pre-Registration Fee 

(   ) $65.00 Late Registration Fee

(   ) $15.00 Student Registration by Sept. 5, 2012

(   ) $20.00 Late Student Registration

(#_____  ) Saturday Night - Barbecue Dinner $15 per person 

(#_____  ) Vegetarian Dinner $15per person

7:30pm at Carl and Catherine Billingsley’s house

Directions will be supplied.

(#_____    ) $15 Conference T-ShirtPlease choose size and quantity for T-shirt(s)

(#_____    ) Small (#_____    ) Medium

(#_____   ) Large (#_____   ) X-Large

(#_____    ) XX-Large (#_____   )XXX-Large

Please email Hanna Jubran (jubranh@ecu.edu) with any questions you may have.

Pre Registration forms must be 

postmarked by September 5, 2012

Please make checks payable to:

Sculpture Guild Tri-State 2012

Send this completed registration 

forma and check to:

Hanna Jubran

School of Art and Design

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC 27858

(252) 328-1303

jubranh@ecu.edu

Mackinac Island and the new Bike Trailer

This past weekend we made a little road-trip to Mackinac Island. This is an island in the Upper Peninsula that, for historic and preservation reasons, has banned motorized vehicles since the 1900's. The inhabitants get around mostly by bicycles and horses. Although I think the horses are mostly for the tourists. It was very inspiring to me to see a town totally tied to the bicycle in a real functional way. I saw lawn maintenance crews using bikes to haul their equipment around, giant baskets on most of the bikes, and many tandem and three person bikes.

I had already been scheming to turn a baby bike trailer into a sculpture and package pickup trailer for the Visual Art Building here at Interlochen. So this was further motivation to do that.

This lovely Schwinn has a giant basket, but this amazing well-built aluminum trailer. It attaches to the frame of the bike with an air-hose detachment, if that makes sense. Really ingenious and many of the trailers attached this way.

A typical bike parked along the main downtown tourist-crowded  street. Yes, that's horse drawn taxi. 

Nice style!

Rowdy bike.

The bell reads "This bike is my car" or something.

A horse-drawn trailer that the suspender-wearing man used to haul a bunch of drywall.  They are serious about no cars.

One of my favorites. This bike, which is parked next to a tricycle, has a trailer held on  by a homemade  thick rubber bracket.  I wonder what is delivered in this exactly?

Same bike as above, but please note the front mudflap. This evidently get used in the  wintertime.

Now back to Interlochen Center of Art. Cars are allowed but they really aren't ideal for getting around all the campers and are frowned upon. It seems that all the other departments get these golf-carts to ride in, but for some reason the Visual Arts isn't on the A-list when it comes to golf-carts. That is ok. I'd rather ride a bike, but if we need to pick up some packages from the post office, get ice for a reception, or other random task, it'd be great to have a trailer for a bike. Much like at Mackinac Island.

Here is the bike I brought from NC. I will be donating it to Interlochen Visual Arts (value is $25).  I bought the child trailer from this local bike-fixer-upper for $10. 

Here Julie and Dan are using it for its first mission! Picking up rocks from the old art building C7. Without the bike it would've taken multiple trips sweating it with a wheelbarrow.

Here's Kiln Tech Chris taking the new rig out for a spin. Its very fun to ride. I even tried it out by riding in it and it held my weight.

There you have it, friends. I've been wanting to convert a baby bike trailer into a sculpture bike ever since seeing one in Chicago. Since I've always had a truck, van, or car it is pointless to have one. Yet, here at Interlochen Summer Camp there is a real use and need for one. Just like at Mackinac Island!

Torchmate Project # 2: Anchor

Hi there! Its another installment from the Interlochen Summer Studio Tech at the Dow Visual Art Building. Everyday between my busy schedule of moving chairs and tables in various formations, hauling pedestals around for various exhibitions, and laundering aprons, I sit down at the computer of the brand-spanking new Torchmate CNC plasma torch.  It really helps to have something to build that someone wants or needs. That way, there's a mission to complete...instead of making random unusable shapes. 

I was asked to make a small anchor. Similar to the ones I made for my floating sculpture class a year ago. This one is going to look nice, instead of welded out of junk metal, it will be cut from a nice big plate of fresh 5/16" steel. 

Torchmate carving into some 5/16" plate. 

Fresh parts.

After stick welding it together I deburred it with a flapdisc and a bastard file.  Ain't it purty?

OK, so I learned how to cut out an anchor design using the Torchmate CAD. In order to do this I had to convert a .png file into a vector shape. Sounds simple enough, but it wasn't. I only have the guidebook to help and I never learned Illustrator, so this is a bit new.  

Its about 6 inches tall. So, at this size, its more of a grappling hook, but it has this great heavy feel in my hand...like its begging to have a rope tied to it and thrown. BATMAN!

I made an anchor out of 16 gauge steel (much much thinner) and showed the kiln tech Chris Reed how to weld it to his slip mixer he built. Now it mixes the bucket of ceramic slip perfectly...and with style.

I'll have to make a few of these before I leave, just to have around the house and in the van in case I need to grapple onto a roof. 

This Torchmate is so handy. 

A Book on The Arts of the Sailor

While looking for some reference books on boats for my sculpture class at Interlochen, I ran into a couple of books highlighting the use of knots in sailing. The only sailing I've done, where I am "skipper" is in a little sunfish, within the safe confines of Green Lake adjacent to Interlochen. Still looking at these books gives me this romantic feeling. The beauty of tied rope and its usefulness. It reminds of when I was studying knot-tying for a Boy Scout merit badge. I was something of a knot expert in my troop.

I really like the cover of the Arts of the Sailor. I wonder if it has some symbolism to the sailor? 

Nice portrait of the author Hervey Garrett Smith.

Some notes about picking out a good knife.

The guys at the awning shop I used to work for used one of those sewing palms for on-site repairs.

Contents of a Ditty Bag

Neat illustrations, huh?

This littler book is 112 years old! Signed by the same owner as the previous one.

 

See how small it is? Small enough to go in your ditty bag.

This one has a knot on the side, I think is called a bow-line on a bite.

I'm not sure how this well manifest itself within my work, but it is interesting to note that what attracts me to the ouroboros snakes is a similar feeling to that of these knot books. That's a connection, I suppose. I just wanted to share these books and if you ever find anything similar at a flea market, pick it up for me. I'll buy it from you...as long as its cheap.