Your Art

[Oopssorryy]

 

 

I'll start a thread and see if it elicits any interest - I've already enjoyed your prose and poetry from this thread - how's about more?

 

bg

I would read a thread full of short stories, as I love reading. Even though I've never really been able write well. Feel free to post them here as well, I don't care!

[Oopssorryy]

Retro, I don't even know were to begin! The piece you did in metal reminds me of old comics, the style of it at least. I really like your glass work, I've always like hand blown glass. I never gotten to experiment with it, but it looks like fun. And your pics are stunning. It goes to show you don't need a big 1000 megapixel camera to take good pictures. Please keep them coming.

[Oopssorryy]

 

 

Bob

That's more of my kind of art, I've always been a fan of works like this. Reminds me of Tool (the band), which is a good thing. I've got to know, did you make all those guitars that you have pics of on flickr. They are beautiful.

[davidl]

I would read a thread full of short stories, as I love reading. Even though I've never really been able write well. Feel free to post them here as well, I don't care!

Here's a little story I wrote some time back. Don't do this often but it just came together in no time and I kept it.

Hope it isn't too long.

 

A day in the life of a recycled golf ball

 

February 26, 2003

 

 

I've been here before, it's like golf ball purgatory. I must have been really bad in my previous life as a new golf ball. I can only surmise, because I'm now a recycled ball with no memory of my previous life. (Or maybe just a little).

Here I am stuffed into a plastic bag with 11 other Pergatites just waiting for some duffer to come along and adopt us as his or her own. Real golfers don't buy "gently used or previously cared for balls"

I can see it coming, the third guy in line at the cash, he's scouting out the counter looking for door crasher specials and his eagle eye spotted the HUGE "used ball"sign. Nothing gets past this guy.

It's always the same, the big bruiser decides to come out and play the office tournament and of course has no balls left from last year. They've all ended up either in the drink, the woods or lodged into the tail light of some poor unfortunate soul who just happened to be driving adjacent to the fairway three holes to the left

There are still two people ahead of the bruiser, all hope is not lost.

The first one, oh great , her name is Brittany, I can tell, its embroidered on her designer golf shirt, her designer skirt, her designer visor, stockings (socks just don't cut it here), you get the picture. The only balls in her bag are sent out for dry cleaning after each round. Not much chance of joining the upper crust here.

Wonderful, the computer guy is next. The pocket liner stuffed with diskettes and the screwdriver in the back pocket kind of give it away. Not a bad choice. These guys aren't generally too concerned with the ball they're going to hack and slash at anyway so they tend to buy us used guys. At least

they don't have a tendency to wack the heck out of whatever ball they choose to victimize.

Well, I missed that one too. It turns out he's never hit a ball more than fifty yards so he still has the first bag of used balls he ever bought… 12 years ago. Too bad, I could have retired there.

Arrrrgh. The bruiser is reaching for me. Maybe I can duck..Oh yeah, I have no neck. I'm doomed.

Here we go, me and my buddies', getting dumped into the golf bag. With any luck I'll work my way to the bottom and be spared the humiliation of being the first ball into the drink.

Nope, I get to ride shotgun in his hip pocket. Now there's a treat. There's already a couple of fellas here that seem to think they own the place. In my opinion, they can have it. This guy really needs some advice in the hygene department. GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!

Pssshhht. I can finally breath. What? Where am I going now? Not that, not the ball washer. There's no padding in there but you do come out smelling kinda nice.

OK buddy, take it easy, if it starts to smoke ,lighten up on the torque. If you pump it more than three times you're playing with it. Where's the towel? Thanks.

My time is coming, we're approaching the first tee. The tee is spinning in the air, who gets to tee off first?

Why not get it over with, point to me!

Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.

I got it.

Here goes buster brown, with hands like catchers mitts, mashing the tee into the ground and gently placing me onto it. He doesn't want me to fall off before he even swings,it's unbecoming for a gentleman of his physical

stature to be less than adequate at the tee. I wish I could jump off just to play with his head but I have no legs either.

This should be good, he's wearing running shoes. Now there's a pro.

He pulls out the "Big Bertha" and starts a few practice swings. This is a par 5, 625 yard hole. (He's swinging for the fence, as in baseball) He'd better stop the practice swings soon, he's digging a trench. (Usually frowned upon by the course marshall). I'm guessing that the safest place to be would be on the tee.

This is it, I can see the vein in his forehead pulsating and his eyes are crossing a little (if he's seeing double, I hope the other guy gets it).

The eyes straighten out, the back swing begins, the club reaches the maximum arc and starts it's return thrust. Aaaagh, I'm gonna get smacked but good. Here it comes, here it comes, my eyes are closed, I'm cringing, and if I had an orifice, it would be in jeopardy of expelling its contents.

Oooh, a clean hit. Jumpin' jimminy, what a view! From up here it looks like a really crooked landing strip with an incredible amount of grass.

How far am I supposed to go? I've never soared like this before. I can see the fairway beneath me and it's passing quickly. A couple of sand traps…here's the green, there goes the green. Oh, here we go, the trees, I'm not even on the course anymore. I could be here a long time. The big guys don't usually venture too far into the woods. (too much work).

Well, it's been a few hours now. I'm just guessing, but I think the big guy gave up looking for me. Just a guess.

At least I'm comfortable, nestled between some roots with a nice soft pine needle bed. I could probably retire here if we didn't have winter.

What's that noise? It's not as loud as the golfers, not at all.. It has feathers, it's huge and it has an attitude. It must be a goose. Great, I get to spend my retirement looking up at the underside of a goose that thinks I'm its offspring.

Boy, the computer guy would have been a bonus.

I'm feeling an awful lot of movement. Too bad, I was just getting comfy.

The light, it's almost blinding, I can hear a lot of shuffling and breaking of branches but I still can't make out what's causing all the ruckus.

Ow!! I'm pretty sure that was a shoe. Not the shoes that usually step on me. These ones have no cleats, and they're a lot smaller. Can this day get any better?

Here comes the hand, it's kind of small and pudgy. I think I like it.

I'm being shoved into a pocket again. Holy cow it's crowded in here.

I'm all of a sudden in very close quarters with a pocket knife, assorted elastics, some paper clips, chewed bubble gum and a frog.

It's kinda gross, but I think I like it.

This little guy appreciates me for what I am, a treasure worthy of the pocket.

This must be Heaven.

I think this is where I'll retire.

[Bob Marsh]

Loved it David...tongue in cheek humor is particulary appealing...Sorta reminds me of some of my days!

 

B

[Guest FarnsBarns]

It's funny you know. used to paint and draw when I was younger but seem to have drifted in to adulthood without it. I have an odd mix of technical analytical thought and creativity in my brain. Seems obvious with hindsight but I suppose I was always going to end up writing programs and developing applications and app based web sites. Writing code is, to my mind, creative and is my way of letting the creative pressure out.

 

I bet this is really boring to you all but it's a thing of beauty to me. It was written for one of my customers to update his MySQL database based on data posted to his server after his customer made a purchase through PayPal. I have replaced any reference to the company, and passwords etc with *s.

 

To any fellow PHP coders, your comments are welcome!

 

 

 

//Debug emails may not be in order in your inbox if they were sent during the same second so the stages are labled in the email subject line

 

//$debug = "yes"; //comment this line out by adding // before $debug to turn off the debug emails

 

//to find a DEBUG STAGE search (ctrl+f) for the relevent number of #s. IE, if you are looking for debug stage 3 search for ###

//There are two sections for stage 6 depending on whether it has failed or succeded. The section for failure is near the end of the file.

 

 

// Initial Variables - YOU MAY CHANGE THESE TO SUIT

$account_owner = "*****@*****.com"; //Set the Paypal business account

$mail_To = "****@*****.com"; //Enter the email address for recieving debug emails

$mail_From = "From: *****@********.com";

$done = "done"; // DO NOT CHANGE

 

 

 

// # DEBUG STAGE 1 - email confirms IPN has been triggered for debugging

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 1 OK - IPN Triggered";

$mail_Body = "IPN has been triggered - TO STOP THESE EMAILS EDIT **********.com/ipn.php";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

//Build the data to post back to Paypal

$postback = 'cmd=_notify-validate';

foreach ($_POST as $key => $value) { // go through each of the posted vars and add them to the postback variable

$value = urlencode(stripslashes($value));

$postback .= "&$key=$value";

}

 

 

 

// ## DEBUG STAGE 2 - email dumps $postback for debugging

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 2 OK - postback function completed";

$mail_Body = "$postback - TO STOP THESE EMAILS EDIT ******.com/ipn.php";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

// build the header string to post back to PayPal system to allow for validation

$header = "POST /cgi-bin/webscr HTTP/1.0\r\n";

$header .= "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";

$header .= "Content-Length: " . strlen($postback) . "\r\n\r\n";

 

 

 

// ### DEBUG STAGE 3 - email dumps $header for debugging

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 3 OK - header generated";

$mail_Body = "$header";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

// set string to send to paypal

//$fp = fsockopen ('ssl://www.sandbox.paypal.com', 443, $errno, $errstr, 30); //uncomment to test in PP sandbox.

$fp = fsockopen ('ssl://www.paypal.com', 443, $errno, $errstr, 30);

 

 

 

// #### DEBUG STAGE 4 - email fsockopen error string

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 4 - fsockopen string generated";

$mail_Body = "$errstr"; //dumps any error string generated by fsockopen

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

//post the data back to paypal

fputs ($fp, $header . $postback);

 

 

 

// ##### DEBUG STAGE 5 - email dumps post to paypal

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 5 OK - fputs Complete";

$mail_Body = "$fp, $header" . "$postback"; //dumps fputs command

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

//Get the response from PayPal

while (!feof($fp))

{

$response = fgets ($fp, 1024);

 

 

 

// ###### DEBUG STAGE 6 - email advising staus verified

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

if ($sendresponse != $done) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 6 OK - Response recieved";

$mail_Body = "$response";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

$sendresponse = "done";

}

 

 

 

//Check if the reponse from PayPal is "VERIFIED"

if (strcmp ($response, "VERIFIED") == 0)

{//It's verified

 

 

 

// ####### DEBUG STAGE 7 - email advising staus verified

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 7 OK - IPN status verified";

$mail_Body = "IPN status verified";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

// assign posted variables to local variables

$searches_purchased=$_POST['item_name'];

$customer_id = $_POST['item_number'];

$payment_status = $_POST['payment_status'];//read the payment details and the account holder

$posted_account_owner = $_POST['business'];

$payment_currency = $_POST['mc_currency'];

$payer_email = $_POST['payer_email'];

$first_name = $_POST['first_name'];

$last_name = $_POST['last_name'];

 

 

 

// ######## DEBUG STAGE 8 - email advising staus verified

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 8 OK - local variables";

$mail_Body = "$customer_id, $payment_status, $posted_account_owner, $searches_purchased, $payment_currency - TO STOP THESE EMAILS EDIT ********.com/ipn.php";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

//checks if complete and from your pp account and in GBP

if( ($payment_status == "Completed") && ($posted_account_owner == $account_owner) && ($payment_currency == "GBP") )

{

 

 

 

// ######### DEBUG STAGE 9 - email advising staus verified

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 9 OK - status, Owner and currency checked OK";

$mail_Body = "The IPN script has decided that a transaction has been successfull and should update the database - TO STOP THESE EMAILS EDIT **********.com/ipn.php";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

 

 

//Update the database as everything is fine.

 

 

 

//Database credentials

$host = "localhost";

$db_user = "*******";

$db_pass = "********";

$db_name = "**********";

 

 

 

//connect to DB

ini_set("display_errors", 0);

$db = mysql_connect($host, $db_user, $db_pass);

mysql_select_db($db_name, $db);

 

 

 

//find currently logged in client from DB

$query = "SELECT searches FROM sh_client WHERE id = ".$customer_id;

 

 

 

//see how many searches the client had before the purchase

$result = mysql_query($query, $db);

if($result){

$row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result);

$current_searches = (int)$row["searches"];

}

 

 

 

//calculate the new number of searches

$new_searches = $current_searches + $searches_purchased;

 

 

 

//update the DB with the new searches purchased

$query = "UPDATE sh_client SET searches = ".$new_searches." WHERE id = ".$customer_id;

if(!mysql_query($query, $db)){

echo mysql_error();

}

 

 

 

//send email to client confirming purchase

$mail_Subject = "Purchase Confirmation";

$message = "<html><body><p><img src=\"http://www.*********.com/assets/images/header_image.jpg\" alt=\"******\" /></p><p>Dear $first_name $last_name,</p><p>Thank you for purchasing $searches_purchased for ********.</p><p>You will also receive an email invoice from PayPal which you should retain for future refence.</p><p>Your new searches will show in your account within a few minutes.</p><p>Regards,<br/>The ********* Team</p><p>--</p><p><a href=\"http://www.***********.com/clients.php\">www.*************.com/clients.php</a></p></body></html>";

$client_conf_header = "From: no-reply@*************.com\r\n";

$client_conf_header .= "Content-type: text/html\r\n";

mail($payer_email, $mail_Subject, $message, $client_conf_header);

 

 

 

}//close if complete, account and currency

}//close if is verified

 

 

 

// ###### DEBUG STAGE 6 - email advising staus !NOT! verified - See above for stage 6 success email trigger

else if (strcmp ($response, "INVALID") == 0) {

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 6 !! NOT OK !! - IPN status INVALID";

$mail_Body = "IPN status INVALID";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

}

 

 

 

}//close while

fclose ($fp);

 

 

 

// ########## DEBUG STAGE 10 - email advising script end

if ( $debug == "yes" ) {

$mail_Subject = "STAGE 10 OK - script finished";

$mail_Body = "The IPN script has finished you should have recieved emails advising on status of stages 1-10";

mail($mail_To, $mail_Subject, $mail_Body, $mail_From);

}

 

?>

[dem00n]

:mellow:

[Oopssorryy]

That story was great, and actaully made me a couple times. I have to say I have no idea what all that coding means though...

 

Quick question, how do you post a pic from flickr to the forum. I get a message that the image extension is not allowed on the the forums.

[Guest FarnsBarns]

That story was great, and actaully made me a couple times. I have to say I have no idea what all that coding means though...

 

Quick question, how do you post a pic from flickr to the forum. I get a message that the image extension is not allowed on the the forums.

 

Hmm, it's not strait forward. I think they have made it hard on purpose but I found a way...

 

Using Google's Chrome browser...

 

Click on the thumb to view the larger image.

 

Right click on the image and click on Small, Medium, or large.

 

When the new page loads right click on the image and click on inspect element.

 

You'll see the code of the page with the element that places your image highlighted.

 

Right click on the line and click on Copy as HTML.

 

Come here and start your post.

 

Click on th elittle image icon in the editor

 

paste what you copied.

 

Click insert image.

 

Write something and submit.

[Guest FarnsBarns]

Sorry for the highjack, please continue showcasing all your amazing art.

 

RetroSurfer, I love your stuff, I wonder if we can come to some sort of bartering arrangement. We may be able to help each other out!

[Bob Marsh]

didn't mean to ignore your question Ooops! The guitars posted on my flickr are either built by my boss (with my inlays!) or they're repair/restorations he and I have done or are doing. So....I can't claim credit. The coding is interesting - I guess if I knew anything about programming I'd probably find it beautiful!

 

Talent and art wear many faces eh gang?

 

As to Retro's postings - they're all only astonishing - Can you say "Renaissance Man"? Bravo! Very Sexy!!!

 

B

[Oopssorryy]

didn't mean to ignore your question Ooops! The guitars posted on my flickr are either built by my boss (with my inlays!) or they're repair/restorations he and I have done or are doing. So....I can't claim credit. The coding is interesting - I guess if I knew anything about programming I'd probably find it beautiful!

 

Talent and art wear many faces eh gang?

 

As to Retro's postings - they're all only astonishing - Can you say "Renaissance Man"? Bravo! Very Sexy!!!

 

B

 

It's all cool! Still some beutiful pieces none the less, do you get to play any of them? I've been gone for a couple days, and this thread has fallen quite a bit. This shall not happen!

 

Still can't figure out how to share my flickr pics, so it's back to links for now. Watch the Heart

[milod]

I probably shouldn't, but here's one I got on a local wagon train ride...

 

m

[Oopssorryy]

I probably shouldn't, but here's one I got on a local wagon train ride...

 

m

 

I must say there's some beutiful landscape out near you. Lovely pic, that gun the man is holding is a beaut.

[milod]

Oops... yeah, the '73 is pretty - and that guy likes 'em fancy.

 

This shows the country better. It's near where I live; the folks were trailing from Miles City to Deadwood, an old-time trail. Usually for "art photos" I tend to go more for faces or more specific "landscape." There are lots of real cowboy types out here basically working cattle the same way they did a century ago.

 

m

[Oopssorryy]

Oops... yeah, the '73 is pretty - and that guy likes 'em fancy.

 

This shows the country better. It's near where I live; the folks were trailing from Miles City to Deadwood, an old-time trail. Usually for "art photos" I tend to go more for faces or more specific "landscape." There are lots of real cowboy types out here basically working cattle the same way they did a century ago.

 

m

 

Wow, that is so beautiful. I have a tendancy to just stare at the sky and such, but out there I might slip into a coma!

[milod]

There's more than enough sky.

 

Actually from on top of a hill around where this was shot, you can see Bear Butte 30 miles away.

 

m

[Bob Marsh]

M:

 

Loved the photo - Would really make a nice illustration for a story about pioneers (ancestral or modern) and the way of life. How about it? I'd like a glimpse into what you see and know!

 

Ooops:

 

Try this procedure - I use Flickr too.

 

First let me comment on the issue of file size. I have no way of knowing how you prep your photos so If you know this stuff already just ignore it or gimme a verbal slap!

 

Before I upload my photos I do a couple things. Files from a digital camera are usually large in both file size and "actual" size if displayed at 100% - they are low in resolution though and these factors all make loading a raw file pretty inefficient. Using Corel Photopaint, or Photoshop or some similar program I do any adjustments to contrast, brightness, etc. then Resampled the photo - I reduce the physical size of the photo - My camera usually give me a 3 megapixel image that will be about 28" x 21" at 72 dpi - I change the settings to 7" x 5" (approx) at 200 dpi. this reduces the size but maintains the clarity . file size is slightly smaller and saving this file under a new name as a jpeg further compresses the file size. The new saved photo will upload faster and use less storage and you always have the original to go back to.

 

1. from your photostream click on the picture you want to post. When the view window opens right click the image and you'll get the requester for "View all sizes" - select the size youy want to post and the requested size will appear.

 

2. Right click the image and you should get a flyout with a list - there will be a listing "Copy Image Location" - Select that option - nothing will appear to happen but that's okay.

 

3. Go to the Gibson forum thread you are posting the photo in. In the toolbar above the posting window click the icon for "Insert Image" and you get the flyout

for Image URL - Right Click and select "Paste" and the image's location appears in the window - Hit enter....

 

You should see the code for the flickr location in your post - you should have the photo now - just select "Preview Post" to verify.

 

Sorry to be long winded - Like I said, just gimme a slap if I'm boring y'all.

 

B

[milod]

Bob...

 

Actually in ways you could say I write and photograph real cowboys almost every day for work.

 

Yesterday at lunch after pickin' at a benefit, I ran into a very talented young lady athlete who just won a saddle as all-around cowgirl at a high school rodeo. She'll be competing at state here where I live. She's also a tiger on the basketball floor in her league and will be a senior next year. Yeah, I "shot" her with her new saddle.

 

Even our "miss rodeo" girls out here ride into arenas on horses bred for bucking in rodeos. Current Miss Rodeo South Dakota's comment is that no matter what the weather or the horses do, if they lose their hat, their head had best be along with it.

 

One Miss Rodeo South Dakota I "shot" in an 80 mph wind that popped up as a rodeo opened; she kept control of both horse and big U.S. flag in spite of flying tree branches, dust and newspaper that left her in a fog of dirt. Few riders could match that one. That's a cowgirl.

 

I have some lady friends, sisters, who are excellent horsemen, cowgirls in the sense of working with livestock, good with firearms... and tough as nails as well as very attractive ladies with children long from the "nest." Tough? Both are cancer survivors and still will head out to rescue calves in a spring blizzard.

 

As for the guys, pretty much the same except ... they're not what I figure is pretty, but the ladies, I'm sure, might disagree.

 

It's just that, as I said before, what I do every day is more "industrial art" in that it's week in, week out. I'm no Bob Kolbrener or Louis L'Amour. <grin> I've met Bob, unfortunately never Louis.

 

In one sense you're right, though; I'm a history nut and sometimes do living history stuff and have been on several museum/historic site boards and such. Again, the history writing has been "industrial art."

 

Perhaps some day.

 

m

[Bob Marsh]

Milod,

 

thanks for the insights - having lived in Western New York and then the South all my life I seldom get to see or hear about other interesting lifestyles.Because you feel you're not a prose wiz doesn't make your descriptions less interesting. I'd be interested in seeing any photos you'd share with the forum!

 

Thanks!

 

B

[Bob Marsh]

Here's a couple more projects that I enjoyed, or am enjoying.

My younger son is a sword freak and was given this rather nice commercial katana - it's not a cheap repro with a crappy blade, but an actual forged blade (and very sharp) working sword. It had a garish plastic hilt with rather poorly rendered scenes molded into it and one end smashed from some previous mishap so I've been making a walnut inlaid hilt to replace it - I'm working on some fossilized ivory inlay panels for the sides of the hilt - I'll post finished pics when it's complete. Next project is a pair of nice inlaid rosewood grips for Dottie's S&W Model 13 .357 Magnum - More on that later.

 

This is a countertop and hearth I constructed (to a friend's specs) for a buddy's new Jotul Wood Stove - The hearth is actually cinderblocks faced with Hardy Backer Board and then tile and trim installed and grouted. I was working to an existing fireplace which was closed off retaining the old wood trim - I would have preferred to make a new backsplash that would have allowed balancing the cuts more nicely but the cust wanted it this way.

 

 

As I said - art takes many forms (Hope these qualify)!

 

B

[milod]

Bob... Hmmmmm....

 

I guess I wasn't considering the knifemaking I did back in the '70s as "art." <grin> Or handgun grips and checkering I did a cupla times in that same era.

 

As for swords... my only two are a 20th Century Japanese military sword that looks like a katana and is quite heavy, and an early U.S. CW type officer saber that fits how "my" unit - the 112th Illinois volunteers that still has my own name on its CW roster - had its officers equipped through 1862 and '63.

 

Through the years I've been kinda a do-it-yourselfer for a lotta stuff so I've never considered making what I wanted as "art." Just ... getting what I wanted at the time. Most of that stuff is gone, too, since when it wore out, it went.

 

m

[retrosurfer1959]

I think weapons of all types especially bladed weapons are definitely art. Knife making is one of my favorite hobbies and after seeing the faux Axe in Chanmans post it made me want to make a Viking axe of my own. So here is my first attempt at a viking axe it's kind of small with only a 22 inch handle and a high carbon tool steel axe head. I made it from a piece of high carbon blade steel that I had sitting around in the shop and I haven't even polished it or even fully cleaned the steel up yet so it still has some of the firescale staining and darkening from the kiln temper it just went through. I kind of like the way it looks though so I may just leave it looking just like this. Guess Chan can tell me if the Vikings put mirror finishes on there axe's or not but I kind of like the aged look that just steel wool and a finish sharpen left on it.

 

 

 

This is my daily carry a small automatic with a 2.3 inch blade and a damascus blade, I can't imagine who could see this and not consider it art.

 

 

One of my best friends is Japanese and he's about to turn 50 so I researched his family history a bit and I'm making a ceremonial Japanese style arrowhead in his family pattern and even though it's not a real arrowhead and is made of silver it's pretty artistic but I still wouldn't want it stuck into my body.

 

(sorry about the photo quality there just Iphone pictures)

 

[Bob Marsh]

Great metal working Retro - The arrowhead is exquisite - Is the filligree cut and finished or did you cast the main shapes and then finish? Do you do a lot of investment casting?

 

SHow More!

 

B

[Dub-T-123]

Some interesting stuff in the background there. Twilight Eclipse, that little figure thing.. Where do you get figures like that? I've never seen one of those figures with detail like that. Is that for intended for modeling or is it just an "action figure"?