Have a good holiday all, I hope you all get what you wanted to out of it. While you are doing your thing, take the time to think about the things you have that cannot be bought. Trust me on this, one day will come a time when "just one more minute" will be your sum of a world's weight in gold. I used to enjoy the holidays, perhaps in a slightly different way than the societal norm. It's no secret that I abhor the materialistic approach in people- and for the very few who know my mind in all things bless their spirits for seeing my darker view on this and managing to ride through it's storms. "Christmas"...

I know this won't mean much on the surface, but Historic Origins, as a website has gone through quite a few incarnations over the years. It's been a reflection of my ever changing tastes and desires, but ever since I started in business in the early 90's I've wanted to somehow create the perfect easel. Web design, coding, digital graphic arts, meh. I learned because I had to, and have found some enjoyment in it over the years. The problem has always been, what I call "pixel OCD". Diane, my sons, and anyone close to me knows if I'm up at 4 am pecking away at the keyboard it's usually a damn...

Bronze. White Metals. Wood. Leather. Add a long list of other things like web design, coding, digital graphic arts, meh. I learned because I had to, and have found some enjoyment in it over the years.   Yeah, I've been around the block a number of times. So many, the neighbors have coffee waiting for me at every driveway. Historic Origins. It's been a reflection of my ever changing tastes and desires, but ever since I started in business in the early 90's I've wanted to somehow create the perfect easel. I'm almost there, and you're going to get to see it.   "White Metal", is...

Bronzes, for me invoke a connection to the past. A lifetime of study in the arts found me frequently returning to those pages in books and museums where the "good stuff" was: Viking, Celtic, Anglo Saxon and even Native American metalwork. I'm tribally Germanic to begin with, so I'm just settling for the belief that ancestrally I'm being beckoned backward to revisit those paths. It's also been the primary focus of my efforts for the last few years. Finally coming to pass this year in 2014 is my "allforge" - Not one, but 3 furnaces dedicated to Norse Gods and fueled by visions of a small boy...

For me, Steampunk can be somewhat narrowed down to the basics you'd gather on the general wikis. My desires for participation and contribution though are governed by my own interpretation and personal guidelines when it comes to creation practices. I've had decades of involvement in other "maker" genres and this one will be no different for me, I'm sure I'll surprise some and piss off others- it's the way of things and you just roll with it. My hope is contribution I can be satisfied with and really isn't subject to approval by really, anyone other than myself. I've always been a teacher (leatherwork,...

Demons. We all have them at one time or another. They can define us, or drive us. They can take the form of something as simple as a vice, habit or behavior and on a grander scale, as the stories go a physical entity. Those who choose to limit themselves by making the determination that in extreme cases these can be a sign of imagination, stress or even mental health issues have never been able to fully prove that they don't exist, but without physical proof still prefer to stay on the side of "some other reason". This is never true for those experiencing them.   For me, life has presented...

Back in 2007, I had just re-subscribed to the idea I needed to get back to design work; Casting, Leather, Wood and Metals. In addition to my normal paths (Historical, Medieval, Gothic) a newer thing made it into my peripheral vision.   Steampunk. I kept an eye on it and found myself from time to time contemplating the norm for me: "If I do, what can I contribute to it's presentation and later, history?"   I started where I always do. I looked at the roots of the subject and began first with what I liked. Science and Industrial discovery of the period. You'd have to know me a bit...

  This is the piece that started it all, over 30 years ago. Bronze and walrus ivory casket from Gandersheim (Anglo-Saxon origin, late 700's)   I don't know what it was about researching this piece that got me all fired up, but after awhile I found myself travelling back in time to an early workshop, selecting tools by firelight- images dancing on the walls and even the smell of fresh bread to compliment a bowl of stew sitting near my lap for hours. A bite here, carve a little there.   Time.   It doesn't really matter when you are in your element.   Heres a...

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m a hippie of sorts when it comes to creation. I hate with a passion, what I call “landfill” resources. Plastics. Faux crap. Looking deep into my past, a recurring thought, or feeling emerges. As a small child, I hated toys that broke, or didn’t function at all after a short time. My parents did wonders for trying to serve the desires of a inquisitive little boy who could never focus on any one thing for too long. See, I was fed at an early age, books and visual stimuli at every turn. Thanks Mom. The downside for the rest of the world and ultimately led to my fits of...