My photo
I been a professional photographer since I worked for the US Government documenting Test and Evaluation of Research and Development projects for the US Army and US Navy in the later half of the 1980s. I came home to Maine to finish my Marketing Degree at USM and began to work full time in Market Research and Marketing for many years while documenting weddings and occasional photojournalist and commercial jobs on the weekends. In 2001 I again returned to photography as a full time trade and have never been a happier man. I love working with creative individuals, couples, small businesses and select Non-Profits and can’t imagine working in any other trade. In 1987 I was lucky enough to wed my high school sweetheart and we now live in a cozy little solar powered, recycled bungalow a mile deep in our woods in the Western Hills of Maine with our two brilliant home-schooled teenage daughters and our three cats.

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PAW 2006 - #16 - Awen Cara

This is Awen Cara (lit. "Flowing Spirit Friend" in Gaelic)
I spent much of this past weekend making and getting to know this flute.



For our upcoming 19th wedding anniversary, my dear wife gifted me with a seat in Tim Spotted Wolf's Flute Carving Workshop this last weekend. Tim and Wood Artistian Eve Abreu hold the workshop at Eve's studio "Ravenwood" in Bridgton.


This is Seabhac ("Hawk".) I carved Seabhac into the foot of this flute. Hawks are quite special to me. We have several hawks here on our land whom I watch (and who watch us.) They teach me a lot.


This is the saddle of the flute. On this style of flute it is more than decoration, it is necessary to the proper airflow. The first saddle that I made during the workshop was supposed to be Dobhran ("Otter".) I don't work well carving in three dimensions and so as Beth said when I brought it home...it looked more like an ill dinosaur than it looked like an Otter. :)

For the replacement pictured above, I took a small piece of the wide pumpkin pine boards that we removed from the 1789 Federal Home that stood on this land for more than 200 years before the fire in 1995 and I carved and sanded it down to a correctly sized saddle. On top of this I placed a piece of real ivory that we also salvaged from the keys of the old player piano that was also destroyed by the fire. I scrimshanded Doire ("Stag") into the ivory and he looks wonderful. This saddle fits the flute better, has much more meaning for me and sounds even better than the Prehistoric Otter that I carved in the workshop did!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a beautiful flute. I imagine that each time you play you will think of its creation.

Anonymous said...

Sweet! Nice job...very impressive. Can't wait to hear you play it!

Timmmmaaayyyyyyyyyy