 I have never thought of myself as an artist. I was one of the kids in school with straight A's and a D in art (which I think I received only because an F would probably have made the teacher look questionable). But outside of school I enjoyed calligraphy. I liked the order to it, that there was a system to it, and that it looked beautiful. And throughout the years I have doodled with Celtic knot work as well (for the same reasons of order & beauty).
About 4 years ago Jamie was teaching a workshop in Vancouver and I was there (helping a little, but mostly keeping our then almost 1 year old out from under hatchets). Near the end of the workshop one of the participants pulled out a wood burning kit and burned some knot work onto the back of his bow. Jamie had some concerns about violating the back of the bow (where there is tension placed), but I was thinking how cool it looked, and that maybe I could do something like it. So I went ahead and purchased a pyrography set (wood burner and pen with interchangeable tips). And started playing around with the burning. I took a basic knot design and customized the ends, with one looking a little like an arrow tip.
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80# @ 30" - Large recurve, custom flatbow with sinew & snakeskin backing. With Islamic calligraphy and old English writing for the name, seal skin arrow pass, moose tip overlays. This one is a beauty and took about 8 months to make. Newest bow to be leaving the shop: custom English longbow named Skellow.
The name is from Robin Hood's Well: Robin Hood's Well is situated six miles north-west of Doncaster, on the south-bound side of the Great North Road. A traveller in 1634 left this charming description, "We tasted a cup at Robin Hood's Well; and then were in his rocky chair of ceremony dignified with order of knighthood and sworn to observe his laws". Beauty bow, off to a good home in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Shop update on a couple English longbows and a flatbow that are near completion. At final tiller - time for final sanding, inlay arrow passes, oil, & leather grips.
6 bows on the go...all custom work.
2 traditional longbows 1 recurved flatbow 1 snakeskin backed longbow 1 heavy stained flatbow 1 heavy stained longbow Twin brothers - grew side by side and heading far away from each other. Two stunning longbows - one on the way to England, the other on the way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Both going to great homes - they have been a treat to work on.
Here's the next batch of bows that Jamie is working on. 6 of them on the go. Quite a range of bows: 2 traditional English longbows; 2 recurved flatbows; and two snakeskin backed longbows.
Our latest custom yew bow has left the shop, headed for LA. Berkilak - 43# @ 26"
Couple neat things about this bow:
 Our newest bow went out the door yesterday - a custom order from the BC Hunting Show in March. Joe really wanted one of the longbows that was all ready sold, so instead ordered a custom one for his son. 70lbs. @ 28", English longbow shape, bison horn tip overlays.
Thanks to Joe and his wife for driving all the way up here to pick it the longbow! Joe makes beautiful jewelery and Jamie and him could have chatted for hours about various projects and ideas...He gave us some good tips for a steam bending box design.
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