Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm Macro F/3.5, F/10, 1/125, iso 200
As you can imagine, Jack is no Walmart greeter. He lives out in the hills. Yet he earns his own living (don't get him started on the "Gubmint" taking care of you). Besides being able to build a rustic cabin with his hands, Jack is capable of amazingly fine detailed work as well.
When we first arrived, we went into the cabin because Jack insisted on making coffee - you saw that going on in Tuesday's post. On his table I noticed an interesting looking jig. Obviously hand made, curious bend, a very old jig indeed.
He pointed at the horsetail that was the subject of yesterday's post, and said to me "you might we wondering what that's for? Well, I make bows with it." He then opened up a leather case that contains the bows you see above. He then told me the string instrument that each bow is for.
Let me tell you, this was a rich and intense experience, hard to take in all that was going on. It's not the time and place where someone like me whips out my camera and starts blasting away. I felt more like being reverential. Especially with his loaded rifle at the ready! "Mountain Lions!" he says.
As our time continued on, I decided I did want to try to capture these incredible works of art. If I didn't, who would? By now Jack was outside solving the world's problems with an old friend, so I asked him if he would mind and he said "no problem." I gathered the bows and felt that it would only be right if they were placed on these sawed timbers.
Let's take a closer look.
Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm Macro F/3.5, f/11, 1/80, iso 400
I have to confess I have never seen anything like these. Literally like jewelry, but they perform an important function, bringing the sound of a string instrument to life. Obviously you can see the abalone that he inlays. People bring him abalone shells that he works with.
I realize now that I should have got a shot of the length of the bows, sorry about that. Like I said, I wasn't trying to make a spectacle of myself. The main part of the bow is made of wood, I think he uses the wood right off his property but Im not sure about that.
What I know though is about the handhold area you see here, this rich tan area. Looks like wood, right? Nope, walrus tusk! Turns out Jack spent a lot of time in Alaska. He still has friends there. They bury walrus tusks in the ground for some time, which turns them these rich brownish colors. Jack then fashions them into these amazing shapes.
In the middle bow, from the base of the handhold area, looking to the left, you see a gold part, then a white part... That's the horse tail hairs, that actually do the work on the viola or whatever string instrument. Look how they are placed so perfectly.
Talk about a lost craft. I can see Chinese craftsman with all the latest tools in a clean room, with computer generated blueprints, turning out something akin to these. But never an individual work of art like we have here. It's easy to look at Jack and think he is a crazy old coot living up in the sticks with a rifle on his lap. But he is an enigma. Watching him describe the bows to me, I looked at this man and thought "I'll never have the skills nor patience to create anything like this."
A rich experience indeed.
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