Do You Aspire to Own a Bo Nordh?

This question was recently posed on a particular pipe-smoking forum on which I am an active member. I thought it was an interesting question from the outset, and the result of the conversation was both unexpected and fascinating.

Do I aspire to own a Bo Nordh pipe? Yes, I do.

Bo Nordh is an incredibly important figure in the pipe world, not only creating one of the most beautiful shapes, in my mind, but also carver some incredible works of art. His dedication to quality over quantity and his desire to work with the briar resulted in pipes that would shine in even the greatest of collections.

I was surprised to find that I was in the minority when I expressed this opinion on that particular online forum, and it seems to me that a lot of people got caught up by the word "aspire".

I hate to do this, but my time in my many college English classes leaves me no choice: I have to go to the dictionary. Merriam-Webster defines "aspire" as "to seek to attain or accomplish a particular goal", while some synonyms are: crave, desire, hope, venture, want, yearn.

With all of these, I find myself returning to the same answer: I do seek to attain a Bo Nordh pipe; I do want one, crave one, desire one, hope that one day I can own one. I was perplexed by the fact that this was not the overwhelming answer.

To read the rest of this piece, please check here, at Pipe School's new location on Quality Briar.

Same Blog, New Face

"Hey, why don't you give me a call sometime? I always like to get to know my customers by voice."

I saw this message on an e-mail from Nick Miller, the man behind Quality Briar, after we'd been dealing with each other for a while. His website provides great value for high-quality pipes and is one of the few that carries a good number of Russian carvers, so I had become a frequent denizen of Quality Briar.

At first, I figured that Nick was just wanting to connect with a customer, as he seemed to me to be that kind of guy. I meant to call him, I truly did, but school and work and everything just got in the way, as life tends to do.

A couple of weeks later, I placed another order, for this pipe in particular:

(Michael Parks Pipe with Deer Antler, Photo by Ethan Brandt)

Along with a confirmation from e-mail from Nick came another, slightly more insistent, appeal: "Hey, man. Call me when you get a chance."

This contained no questioning tone and seemed to leave me no wiggle room. I picked up the phone and called him within a minute of getting the e-mail.

"Whoa, I didn't expect to hear from you so fast," Nick said on the other end of the line.

Since that time, I have gotten to know Nick quite well. He's a call-them-how-he-sees-them type of guy, who often says exactly what he thinks and what he thinks is very often right. He's quick to crack a joke or break into an anecdote or explain something casually, as if it were the most basic concept, that I had been unable to grasp after trying relentlessly.

The result of that initial phone call, and the many that have followed, is exactly what you are reading right now.

For a long time, the "Blog" section on Quality Briar went unused, gathering cobwebs. It was very much like Val Kilmer's acting career: the pieces that were on there were good, but there just weren't enough of them. That is what Nick called me to change.

Pipe School is now going to be continuing on the blog page of Quality Briar. It will still be Pipe School and will still feature the same content, along with some additional writers pitching in every now and then. The main difference is the URL. I know, change is scary, but this is good change, have no doubt about that.

I have enjoyed what Nick has done with Quality Briar, much as I have enjoyed the process of making Pipe School a reality. I am excited to announce that the two will now be coming together, something that I have no doubt will make each of us even more valuable to you, the piping community.

I just recently posted my introductory post on Quality Briar and I am working on my second one as we speak ("Do I Aspire to Own a Bo Nordh?").

Thank you very much and look for the first real entry on Quality Briar within a week!

Ask, and You Shall Receive

What do you expect from a pipe called a “Strawberries and Cream Blowfish”? Probably a very interesting, and possibly deadly, dinner experience, for one thing. However, despite the interesting images conjured up by such a moniker, the title is a perfect descriptor for one of Chris Askwith's most recent creations.

I have recently found myself drawn to the Blowfish shape in a surreal way. It's an unusual shape to the eyes of the uninitiated, and even to many who are experienced with pipes. It is often lopsided and fits much better in one hand than the other because of its shape – in my experience, most Blowfish pipes tend to favor our Sinister compatriots.

The Blowfish is also one of the many shapes that was brought into existence from the Danish revolution of pipe making, from names like Sixten, Lars, and Nanna Ivarsson and Jess Chonowitsch. It is always fascinating to find a shape that can capture a liminal moment in the history of pipes.

Perhaps what I love most about the Blowfish from a scholarly perspective is that it is an extremely difficult shape to pull off well. A lot of carvers less familiar with the shape will simple hack off one side of an apple or tomato pipe and call it a day. That's not enough, though, as anyone who has seen one of these ugly ducklings can attest. These attempts are important in their own right, as they are testimonies to the skill required to make this shape.

A Day of Our Own

It's here. It's finally here. After weeks, if not months of waiting, International Pipe Smoking Day is here!

For a lot of pipe smokers, every day is Pipe Smoking Day, but there is something different about today, something special, something transcendental.

In my opinion, the important part of IPSD isn't that you smoke your pipe (though that is a big part!), but rather that those of you who are closet-pipe-smokers, those of you who hide inside of your house while you puff away, should get outside and smoke at least once today.

By making ourselves visible, we ensure that we are not forgotten. With certain legislation in the works these days, it is important that the world doesn't forget that we exist and doesn't imagine that we are all the caricature of the white-haired grandfather. We are a large and diverse crowd.

For the most part, pipe smokers are humble and quiet people. If we start to smoke our pipe outside and someone looks offended, we will often put our pipe away out of respect. That's a good thing. It is a good thing to earn the reputation of a kind and thoughtful people.

While I am not encouraging you to tarnish that reputation, I would say that you should feel entitled to smoke where you feel fit today, as long as it doesn't break any laws, of course. If someone gives you a sideways glance while you are smoking at the park, I encourage you to respond to by saying that it is an international holiday devoted to the humble pipe and that you must smoke out of obligation.

I would recommend that you select a special pipe and a special tobacco and enjoy the day to the fullest. For those of you who smoke only occasionally, today is a day to puff away happily and without any guilt. This is a special day for us.

While you are happily puffing, I would ask you to do me a favor. Contemplate exactly what it is that makes you love this hobby some much, then come back on here and tell us about it along with how you decided to celebrate.

Finally, allow me to wish you a very happy and healthy International Pipe Smoking Day!

Loved Ones and Pipes

I'm sure that you're all aware that today is Valentine's Day. Don't worry, this is not going to be a discourse about how important love is or how annoyingly commercialized Valentine's Day is (thought that's true).

There is something very important about Valentine's Day, however, and that is that it gives us a day dedicated to contemplating some of our most important relationships.

I remember that pipes used to be a point of slight contention between me and my girlfriend when we first started going out. Lauren came from a family that smoked cigarettes heavily and had come to despise them. Perhaps because of the success of the anti-tobacco propaganda, she had come to associate all tobacco products with cigarettes, as a lot of people do. Thus, because of the negative impact that cigarettes had on her family, she was concerned when she found out about my love for pipes.

(Lauren and me on her first trip to Disney World)

Her fear concerned me as well, as I didn't want to give up pipes, though I didn't want to cause her grief. Naturally, smoking my pipes would have been the one to go if it had to, but I took this as an opportunity for discussion. I talked with her about the medical differences between pipes and cigarettes (as discussed more in depth in a previous post) and let her know exactly why I love pipes as much as I do.

After hearing the differences, including the fact that pipes are smoked less frequently (typically) than cigarettes and are usually not inhaled into the lunges, she completely changed her tune about pipes. She encouraged my hobby and has done her best to learn more about pipes because she knows how much they are a part of my life.

Recently, Lauren did something that revealed her radical change in opinion of pipes.

Shameful Aromatics

(Photo by Valentinian)

I've talked before about my friend, Jeff, a bartender at the pub where I work. I recently made a gift to him of a pipe-starter set, complete with pipe, tobacco, and all the necessary accompaniments (see the whole story here).

A week or so after I gave this to him, we ran into each other on the patio of the pub. We were both dressed for work, in our kilts, and enjoying the fire-pits that were roaring outside. I asked him how he was enjoying his new pipe and he seemed to light up when asked about it, indicating that he was liking it a lot.

“I'm really liking the Altadis Night Cap. It just smells and tastes great!”

“Oh, absolutely,” I said. “Aromatics are always a crowd-pleaser.”

“I do have a question about aromatics, though.”

Uh-Oh.

“Is there anything wrong with liking aromatics?”

“No,” I responded instantly. I did feel obligated to discuss the issue of aromatics further with Jeff, as I feel the need to do now.

First of all, to say that a particular pipe tobacco is aromatic is a sort of an absurd statement. Of course it is aromatic. It has an aroma, usually quite distinct, and is thus aromatic.

The term “aromatic” when being used to describe a subsection of tobacco means something slightly different, however. It refers to sweeter blends, frequently featuring artificial flavoring, such as cherry, chocolate, and vanilla through the addition of syrups.

(Photo by wmliu)

Other tobacco blends that feature Black Cavendish as a primary component are also often referred to as “aromatics”.

Let me blunt, much blunter than I often am about issues concerning taste: there is absolutely nothing wrong with liking aromatics.

My Father's Gift

(My father, Jay Brandt, on the Playboy Jazz Cruise in 2009)

Like a lot of children, I loved to be told stories when I was growing up. Honestly, stories, both fictional and true, still play a large part in my life, as I am an English major and aspiring poet. 

Unlike most children, however, my father never regaled me with stories about fairies and princesses and castles. I grew up hearing about Krishna and Ganesha, Parvati and Durga.

When he didn't feel like recalling a classic Hindu or Buddhist story, he would tell me one of his own. In his younger years, my father traveled through India and Iran, Russia and France, Afghanistan and Tibet. He tells me that he left the USA with a backpack and $2,000. Mind you, this was in the early 70s. One my favorite stories involves that fact that, while traveling through Afghanistan, he saw "a line of trucks and jeeps, miles long". Apparently, he had no idea what was going on until many years later, when he realized that that was the Russians invading the country.

(My father riding a donkey with children in Iran)

To this day, my habit of living vicariously through my father has not changed. 

This summer, my father, stepmother (affectionately known as 'Smom'), and my two younger siblings traveled to Myrtle Beach on a family vacation.

When they told me where they were planning on going, I nearly started drooling. "Myrtle Beach as in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina?" I said over the phone to my father.

Don't mistake my intentions. I have no interest in beaches or lengthy periods of exposure to the sun and shirtless people who really should be wearing shirts. My drool-reflex was inspired by something else residing in Myrtle Beach, specifically something residing less than two miles from the condo in which my family would be staying: Low Country Pipe & Cigar, the physical location of Smokingpipes.com.

(Image courtesy of Smokingpipes) 

Needless to say, I attempted to rearrange my schedule, to no avail. College does not let you reschedule your classes so easily as one might like. 

So, while my family was enjoying the sunshine of the beach and I would have been whiling away the hours eyeballing extremely expensive pipes, I was forced to learn about basic Political Theory and the writings of Daniel Dennett, which, for the most part, I enjoyed.

A couple of days into their vacation, I received a phone call from my father. "Do you have the Mark Twain pipes from Peterson?"

He's there, I thought to myself, he is standing in my Mecca.

Play Those Briar Blues

What makes a great business man? Knowledge, resources, experience? Of course, these are all exceedingly important for providing excellent service. To take the step step from good to great, however, you need a little something extra. Mike Glukler has that something and I knew it from the moment I first spoke with him.


He takes an intense interest in your passions, making it his mission to help you achieve your pipe collecting goal, be it finding your first good pipe or completing an incredibly rare and complex collection. More than anything, he is a genuine and disarmingly kind man.


One of the best examples of the type of business man he is, in my mind, is that he starts almost every single e-mail update with something along the lines of, "Good evening. Please excuse this intrusion into your busy weekend", despite the fact that his pipe updates are one of the highlights of my weekend!


Recently, Mike took the time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of my questions.

Ethan Brandt: When did you smoke your first pipe? What made you start? Can you describe that experience?

Michael Glukler: Many years ago. I was 14 and began with cigarettes. My parents, being of solid European stock, said no to cigarettes, and they bought me a pipe. A straight burgundy pear shaped Yello Bowl. I was given a package of Borkum Riff. I filled the pipe, smoked it to near the bottom. My tongue was raw. I emptied the bowl and the yellow tobacco chamber liner fell out. I did not touch a pipe again until I was 18 years old!

EB: How did you first get into the pipe business?

MG: I guess it sort of began in the early 80s. I started to enjoy a pipe, seriously, and ended up working part time in a few of the local pipe shops. In 91, the last real “pipe shop” in this area closed and shortly
after I went back to cigarettes. A few years later a friend came over ( a pipe smoker ) with a tin of
McClelland’s tobacco and suggested I bring out an old pipe and have a bowl. From then I switched
back to a pipe. The more I returned back the more I realized that my income was not sufficient for
my “needs” in pipes and tobaccos. In 1995 I began to dabble a bit in selling pipes for friends on E-Bay.
In 1996 I decided to take it to the next level. Built a web site. Listened to a lot of others in the business
on what to do and what not to do, and the business has grown.

EB: What do you look for when deciding what you will sell on your website?

New Sherlock Holmes Makes Pipes Cool...Again...

Recently, I was given the opportunity to start writing periodic pieces for Pipes Magazine, one of the largest and most trafficked pipe websites out there. I was thrilled and nervous, to say the least.

I had a lot of ideas for articles, some of which were good and some which simply wouldn't work for Pipes Magazine. In fact, a recent post on this blog, entitled Come Together...Right Now...Over Pipes, was my first attempt at an article for the magazine.

(Pipes Magazine Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Kevin Godbee)

Eventually, the editor of Pipes Magazine, Kevin Godbee, and I decided on a topic: the new Sherlock Holmes movies, starring Robert Downey, Jr., and their impact on pipes.

It was a challenging project. I consider myself linguistically acceptable, capable of pumping out a fifteen page research paper on a topic that I know nothing about within a couple of hours and receiving a very good grade. However, this was my first time writing for a real magazine.

I have worked on Washington University's newspaper, Student Life, doing restaurant reviews, but that was nothing compared to this.

After thinking and working and deleting and slamming my head against my desk, I managed to produce what I feel is a decent analysis of these movies in relation to the older films and the pipe world as a whole.

(Photo by Shining Darkness)

"So, imagine that there is a chain gun blasting away about 20 feet in front of you. Its target: you. How do you respond? By lying down and calmly smoking a pipe, of course! At least, that's what you would do as Robert Downey, Jr.'s rendition of Sherlock Holmes.

Naturally, this is quite a new situation for Sherlock Holmes, as is easily recognizable by even the most casual of fans. However, no matter which Sherlock Holmes we are discussing, be he played by Robert Downey, Jr., Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, or even if he is simply a character on a page, we can be sure that he will have a particular item: a pipe. The pipe, even more than the hat, coat, and magnifying glass, is a signature of Sherlock Holmes. It defined him. The question that is rarely asked, however, is how did Holmes define the pipe?"

To read the entire article, check out my piece on Pipe Magazine.

Let me know what you think about any part of it: the pipes, the movies, the acting, anything!

Cheers.

Back to Basics, Part II.

(Photo by Patrick Hoesley)

All right, class. I know it's been a while since I've taught your section, but I hope that you have taken opportunity to practice what we talked about last time.

Who here remembers what we talked about before? Yes, you in the second row.

That's right: how to select your first pipe. Now, how many of you have that pipe with you? Good! I see a lot of briars and corncobs. Oh, there are even a couple of meerschaum pipes in the class. Very well done.

When we last met, I was about to discuss how to select your tobacco. Let's talk a little about that now.

Bear in mind, this is how to select your first couple of blends, not how to select a tobacco once you've gotten the hang of pipe smoking. By that time, you will have ideally figured out what you like and how to select a new blend to try.

For now, let's worry about how to select those all-important first blends.

I am not going to tell you the one option that you must do, but rather show you your options, with their positive and negative aspects.

Come Together...Right Now...Over Pipes

(Photo by Gary Birnie)

There's something beautiful hidden within that piece of briar or meerschaum or corn or clay that you are holding. Beyond the external beauty, beyond the physical properties that allow it to turn dried leaves into mystical experiences, beyond the hard work that went into its formation, there is something bigger, yet invisible. That pipe represents a form of global unity rarely found today. You are holding proof that man can come together out of love, out of a shared passion.

(Photo by "psd")

If I am sounding a bit transcendental, cut me some slack, since I have spent the last four years of my life studying religion, philosophy, and literature (hurray for a liberal arts degree!). If you give me a bit of leeway, I hope I can illuminate what I find so amazing about the pipe.

When I picked up my first pipe, not even four full years ago, I knew nothing about the differences between given schools of pipe making, nor did I have any conception of the history of the wondrous object that I had just purchased. I just knew that I put tobacco in the hole, lit it on fire, and puffed, and even that I did not fully understand.

Once I started to widen my gaze and do a little research, I saw some of the most beautiful works of art I had ever seen. The first one that made my jaw drop was shown to me by my older brother, Tommy, who I had also brought along with me in my exploration of pipes.

Sitting at home, puffing contently on my Neerup apple, I saw a message pop up on my computer from my brother, reading something like: “You think your pipe is pretty? Look at this!”

(Photo Courtesy of Smokingpipes) 

To say that I thought that this pipe, carved by Kei'Ichi Gotoh, was magic is an understatement. I was expecting a jinni to slither out of the pipe at any moment. Fascinated, and disappointed by the red SOLD OUT next to every pipe made by Gotoh, I looked for other Japanese carvers, to see if there was any similarity between this carver and his countrymen.

The pipes I found were organic and breathtaking, their curves flowing more naturally and more perfectly than a super-model's. Since then, I have learned that this is one of the signature qualities of the Japanese carvers: natural, organic shapes that push the boundaries of the pipe-making world, while simultaneously showing respect to the traditional form.

This is it, I remember thinking to myself. These are the top of the line pipes.

While there are those out there who would agree with this assessment, the Japanese style is but one jewel in the crown of pipes.

My piping education continued. I eventually discovered more online resources beyond the retailers, including A Passion for Pipes, the revered blog of Neill Archer Roan. 

(Image: Neill Archer Roan, © 2008 Neill Archer Roan, All Rights Reserved)

My very first visit to this website brought me face-to-face with an Eskimo, by Tom Eltang. At the time, I was unfamiliar with both the shape and the carver, so, like a good little student, I did my research.

With a few keystrokes, I discovered that Mr. Eltang is a contemporary artisan based out of Copenhagen. I may be American, and thus horrible at geography, but I knew enough to know that meant he was from Denmark. My curiosity piqued, not least of all because I found it intriguing that a Danish man would make a shape called an Eskimo, I determined to find out about other Danish carvers.

(Photo by Ashtyn Renee)

To this day, it is a mystery to me how I went a single day in the pipe world without stumbling onto the wealth of information concerning the Danish pipe-makers. Images of stunning caliber flashed across my screen, filling my hard-drive and my mind with shapes unbeknownst to me previously. These shapes came equipped with titles like tulip, bent egg, elephant's foot, blowfish, and, most commonly, freehand.

(Photo by slynndesign)

Had I been a more casual collector, I may have paused for a moment to admire the stunning prowess of these carvers and then been on my jolly way. Instead, I dug deeper. Soon, I found out how much I owed to the Danes.

Back in the late 50s, a man by the name of Sixten Ivarsson – a name now on the same level to me as Michael Jordan and Jimi Hendrix – did something practically unheard of: he left the bark on the top of a bowl he was forming, rather than removing it, as the classic doctrine dictated he should. This simple decision led to the creation of what we now know as freehands.

Before this innovation by Mr. Ivarsson, pipes looked mostly like what are today called classic shapes: billiards, dublins, princes, maybe a bulldog or zulu or two. The undisputed master of the classic shape was, and is still widely thought to be, England.

(Photo by David Salafia)

Ashton, Barling, Comoy, oh my! ABC, one, two, three, you've got three incredible companies who have been putting out reliable, handsome pipes for years. Beloved by many, revered by some, these pipe markers have stayed close to shore and have not adventured as far as others in terms of shape innovation. However, when you know how to do something pretty close to perfectly, why change?

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the biggest English name of them all, the big-daddy, the Goliath of pipes: Dunhill. The name itself is still enough to send shivers down the backs of some pipe collectors – in a good way!

During its time, the Dunhill company has helped to reshape the pipe world, creating some new shapes and transforming the meaning of a quality pipe. When Alfred Dunhill opened his first tobacco shop in 1906, he found the quality of pipes coming in from France to be below his required quality level: he saw fills and did not seem to think the pipes smoked as well as they could.

Like a true entrepreneur, Alfred Dunhill set out to fix the problem himself, opening a small factory that followed a simple motto: the best briar at the right price. The rest is history.

Dunhill and the rest of the English pipe-makers have ever since enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for producing handsome, elegant pipes of high quality. They were the undisputed gold standard of pipes, and still probably would be if it were not for little man in Copenhagen by the name of Sixten.

The Danish artisans did not rest on their laurels, however, and have since continued to innovate and create some of the most popular and exotic shapes available today, using some of the highest quality briar available in the world. I actually discovered that a lot of those Japanese carvers whose work I had fallen in love with had studied with some of the great artisans of Denmark, including Sixten and Lars Ivarsson and Jess Chonowitsch.

Okay, I said to myself, I was a little hasty in my conclusion before. This is really the top of the line, the best of the best.

I was so convinced by the superiority of the Danish pipes that I messaged Neill Archer Roan, since his website was the springboard for this whole investigation, to ask him his opinion as to whose work I should focus on in the Danish market.

Helpful as always, he directed me to several of his favorite artisans. He then said something that caught me totally off guard: “Have you looked into Russian carvers?”

What?

(Photo by Marc Veraart)

How many different countries could possibly produce great pipes? Sure enough, I did my research and was once again wildly impressed. In fact, Russia has recently become my country of focus in terms of pipes. The Russian artisans show a vast awareness of the organic possibilities within a pipe, as well as the simple beauty of the classic forms, and are not afraid to mold the two worlds into one piece of art, creating something new and yet, at the same time, timeless.

The pure talent coming from everywhere in the world is mind-boggling: Turkey is home to the master Meerschaum carvers, who come the closest to making actual sculptures of their pipes; American carvers are some of the world's rising stars when it comes to pipes, reinventing the notion of sandblasting and turning it into an art-form of its own; German artisans seem to have taken the best of both worlds from Japan and Denmark and turned it into something new and heart-stopping.

The list simply does not end. Every country bears its particular perspective on pipes and brings something unique to the table. While each is unique, none is an island (even though some of the carvers literally live on island). Every tradition relies on another and somehow, despite physical, ideological, and language barriers, they all come together to form something beautiful: the pipe.  

Creature of Smoke

As I have said many times, and will say many times again, I am a geek. That's why it is no surprise when my jaw dropped when I first saw this pipe:

(Balrog, by Stephen Downie)

I don't know how I first stumbled across the work of Stephen Downie, though I think it was from a link on another pipe related website. Since that fateful spotting of the Balrog, Stephen and I have been in frequent contact, discussing projects, games, book, music, and everything else. His work is phenomenal, appealing to more than just geeks, specifically to anyone with eyes.

I have discovered that Stephen is not only an incredible artist and a first rate pipe-carver, but his is also a great guy, fantastically intelligent and hilarious. Here is a little interview I conducted with him recently.

Ethan Brandt: Pipe carving isn't the usual avenue for the artistically inclined. How did you first get into making pipes?

(Stephen Downie)

Stephen Downie: Pipe making was something that I fell into through an odd series of events. I was working in the film industry here in a bunch of different jobs as needed. I was location scouting, Production Assistant on set and getting into the editing side of things as an assistant editor. I got into the film industry because I wanted a job where I could be creative, and in reality anyone who has a lick of creativity should stay far away from the entry positions in the film industry. There is very little creativity involved for the majority of the people employed in it and working your way up to the point of actually having any sort of creative input is the work of decades. As a PA I didn't often get asked about shot composition, dialogue delivery or lighting. 


What I did get as a PA was long, long hours sitting in the rain and staring at trees on location. By this time I had been smoking pipes for a while and one night I decided I wanted to make myself a tamper out of an Alder stick. I did and the next night I made a second one. Soon I was bringing Rosewood and Cocobolo blanks to work and leaving little piles of wood dust behind me. The idea that I had got into my head was that once I made enough tampers and developed some skill in shaping wood, maybe I would graduate into pipe making as something to do on the side. At the time I was living in an apartment and one birthday my good wife, Lexa, consented to let me bring a drill press into the livingroom. After that pipe making became a hobby. 


After that the film industry went through one of its Phoenix impressions and self-immolated, leaving a lot of us in the field scrambling to find work. To make matters worse, we just found out that Lexa was pregnant with our daughter, Helaina. Film industry hours are not normal hours and 15 hour days were the norm rather than the exception, especially while working on set. Spending that amount of time away from one's family didn't strike me as a balanced way to be a good father or husband. Thankfully I had paid a good number of hours into employment insurance at that point and was eligible for a course on how to set up and run your own small business. I was accepted to the course and pipe making became a full-time pursuit. Being able to hang out in a warm workshop with my wife and daughter close by is a much nicer way to spend my time!   

EB: You are very well known for your "Creatures of Smoke". What first inspired that series and what do you enjoy most about it?

SD: Truth be told the first creature of smoke was half a publicity stunt, half something I had wanted to do for a few years. It sounds horrible, but that's how it started out. I was attending my second or third Chicago show and I wanted a pipe that would draw some attention to my table. I always liked some of the carved Meerschaum pipes and wondered if it would be possible to do something similar in briar. Trever Talbert's Hallowe'en pipes also probably had something to do with it, I was and am a big fan of his work. It was a big risk because these pipes take weeks instead of days to complete, but I decided to take the plunge and after that more commissions came slowly rolling in. I was actually surprised when they did and I eventually had to come up with a separate grading system for them.

I think what I like most about these pipes is that they are something you need to approach with a sense of respect for lack of a better word. I know that I'll be investing a ton of time and being paid a fair bit of money for these pipes, so I had better get it right the first time. There is a definite series of steps to be followed, it's sort of like the anticipation and enjoyment of going on a long road trip. The design, materials, time and creative energy need to be all there before I can begin. When I finish a more conventional pipe there is always a nice sense of completion, Creatures of Smoke are that times ten. 

EB: What inspires your pipe creations today, aside from commissions?

SD: The great thing about pipes is that there are so many avenues to being inspired. You can be inspired by the elegance and balance of a classic shape. You can look to nature for organic shapes. You can look at what other artists are doing, not just in pipe making, but other professions like knife making, sculpture, architecture, artistic movements, whatever there is out there. Sometimes the inspiration is just to outdo what I've done before. I've been inspired by the shape of a toilet flush, it's often more difficult not to find inspiration.

EB: What do you feel sets your pipes apart? Give me your sales pitch!

SD: When I make a pipe I make it to smoke and smoke well. Engineering is the base that everything else is built on. A pipe should smoke well no matter how crazily the briar is shaped around it. When you get right down to it a pipe is a couple pieces of wood and plastic with holes drilled in. Even with great engineering I could probably make three pipes a day. It is building something on top of the engineering that I think sets my pipes apart. What I try to do when I make a pipe is to make a common object extraordinary. A box with a door can be a building, but so can the Chrysler building. I'm not saying what I do is anything so grand as that, but I think today there is too much emphasis placed on manufacturing things quickly with an absolute minimum of quality to keep costs down. I understand this, but in my way I think I'm trying to make pipes that go beyond a simple smoking instrument into an object that can be appreciated on many different levels. I think a world with just boxes and no Chrysler Buildings, Sagrada Familias, or Taj Mahals would be a much more dreary place.

EB: How do you like to go about making a pipe? Is there a certain process you follow, including the environment in which you work?

SD: I can't really say that I have a strict process per se. With commissions I like to sketch out some concept thumbnails before I start cutting briar. It lets me work out some design ideas and also helps avoid confusion later on. With some of the more complex pipes I use modelling clay to figure out how it will work. There is nothing like being 28 hours into a Creature of Smoke and still not really have a clear idea how the final shape will turn out.

As far as my approach to the wood, a lot of what I do is commission work and that means that I'm looking for a specific shape in the grain of a block of briar that will accommodate the shape. When I make a pipe for the site I generally grab a block of briar that looks interesting and fit the shape to the briar. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages.

When I'm working I'm usually listening to an audiobook or music on my MP3 player. I find this a bit odd since I'm not usually all that great at mufti-tasking. I've found about the only thing I can't do with a set of earbuds in is to write. Something else I've found is that when I'm listening to something I like I spend more hours in the workshop.

EB: What pipe carvers have been the biggest influence on you?

SD: I think without a doubt Trever Talbert was initially the pipe maker that showed me that a pipe didn't have to be just a pipe. It could be something to admire outside of being simply a smoking instrument. Outside of that I've tried hard to not be influenced by specific carvers -at least as far as design is concerned technical aspects are a different matter. It is too easy to be seen as being derivative and even unconsciously bring elements of another carver's work into my own pipes. If I see elements of pipe design that I like I try and put my own spin on it, but I try not to study individuals. 


That said, there are carvers that I certainty admire. Rolando Negoita for instance deserves a lot more notoriety than what he has. He has developed a specific look to his pipes where most other pipe makers rely on tweaking the designs of pipe makers that have come before them. I find that incredibly compelling. Michael Parks does some really awesome stuff as does Will Purdy, Rad Davis, Jeff Gracik, Todd Johnston, Adam Davidson, Nanna Ivarsson, Bruce Weaver, there are a ton of others too.

EB: Outside of the pipe world, who would you say has had the biggest influence on your work?

SD: Without a doubt my wife. Every pipe I make gets a critique and gets looked over before it is finished. It's easy at times to not see flaws that are staring right at you when you have been working on a pipe for 10 hours. She finds them. It is invaluable to have a fresh set of eyes and thankfully she is mine.

EB: Do you have any particular plans for the future, both in and out of the pipe world?

SD: I have a few things in mind with pipes, but no hard plans just yet. I'm pretty happy with what I've got on my plate. I'm always looking to streamline production though and next year I'm hoping to experiment in planning out my production schedule so I can take better advantage of overlapping projects.

I've slowly been studying and tooling up for knife making over the last few years and that is another avenue that I'll be exploring in the future. Thankfully there is a lot of cross over in tools and techniques between the two crafts.

EB: What is your favorite type of pipe to smoke?

SD: I like to smoke pipes made by people I know and have spoken to. I have a bunch of factory made pipes that are great, but there is something nice about being able to light up a pipe that was made by a friend.

EB: What is your favorite type/blend of tobacco?

SD: If I had to chose I would say straight Virginias. I do also like English blends, non-goopy aromatics, and Orientals.

EB: Other than pipes, what are your other interests that you are passionate about?

SD: My family, playing the Mandolin, long distance running, online gaming, music, reading, coffee roasting, making the perfect cup of coffee, local beers and wines, cigars, always learning something new.

EB: What is your favorite book and who is your favorite author?

SD: Ye Gods and little fishes, there are so many great works out there. It really depends on my mood. Lovecraft, Poe, Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, Shakespeare, Edmund Spencer, George RR Martin, Neil Gaiman, Robert Jordan, Vernor Vinge, China Meiville, Phillip Pullman, Douglas Adams, Terry Prachett are all names that spring to mind. How could I possibly chose just one?

Caricatures

Every hobby has its caricatures, its members who so well fulfill a particular stereotype that one cannot help but wonder if it is an act.

As a passionate and unabashed geek, I have encountered my fair share of these cartoon-like figures. 

It's happened to me more than once that I have walked into my local comic shop to grab a new release of The Amory Wars or a codex for Warhammer 40,000 and have encountered a man...boy...male leaning over the rack of Magic: The Gathering cards with drool on his shirt and glazed doughnut flakes on his lips, laughing at his own jokes with a drone that would make Fran Drescher cringe. When I encounter this figure, I am almost always tempted to put my selections back on the shelf so that I am not lumped into the same category as this fellow. But I am a geek and will sacrifice my self respect to get my nerdy fix!

Pipe collecting and smoking has these caricatures just as much as comic shops do, though I have never encountered someone who has made me ashamed to be a pipe collector. A great deal of these caricatures are even clearer on Pipe Forums, where people have the opportunity to share photos and thoughts with a click of a button at any time of day.

The One and Done: 

We all have that one pipe that means a great deal to us, that shines through in our memories for one of myriad reasons, such as nostalgia, functionality, beauty, or the quest that one had to go through to acquire it. This particular pipester, however, either managed to acquire that singular pipe of perfection on his first try or subsequently got rid of all other pipes after acquiring this one. He only has one pipe and fails to understand what is known as PAD (Pipe Acquisition Disorder) and the general desire to acquire another pipe. In his mind, if you have a pipe that smokes well, then you're done. I, personally, welcome as many of my friends to join the ranks of the One and Done pipester, as that just leaves more pipes for me!

The Corncob / Briar / Meerschaum / Clay Only Collector: 

Unless you have managed to keep your collection completely symmetrical and balanced, there is one medium of pipes that outweighs the others in terms of value. This particular collector, however, has taken that to the extreme and vowed to collect only one medium of pipe; further, he bellows loudly and often about how all of the other mediums are inferior to his chosen form. When questioned about the virtues of his favorite style, he will go on and on about the wonders of his worshiped material, but will simply plug his ears when similar values are pointed out about the other mediums. Once again, more for me.

The Master Debater: 

This person finds any hot-button issue being discussed, either on a forum or in calm conversation among collectors, and turns a rational dialogue into a raging argument. Common subject matters that the Master Debater simply cannot resist include the value of inner bowl coatings, the function of bowl geometry in relation to tobacco flavor and burning qualities, and the price of pipes. Once this person opens his mouth, the entire conversation stands on the edge of a knife in an attempt to retain its sanity.

The Old Codger: 

No one can really tell how old this person is, but he always seems to be at least ten years older than the other oldest member of the organization. Additionally, though he seems to always be unable to remember your name or even what he had for breakfast, he is perfectly able to remember the pipes of yesteryear and how much better they were than the pipes that are being made today. Even if he acquires some contemporary, artisan pipes, he seems to always return with the same beat up pipe clenched between his jaw. Despite his obsession with the value of the older pipes, he knocks his cherished pipe around like Ali handled Frazier in Manila, forcing the obsessive-compulsive collectors to shudder, all the while lecturing about the good ol' days, Ronald Reagan, and the genius of Wheel of Fortune.

The Flavor Hater: 

This person seems to have had one bad experience with a particular flavor in pipe tobacco and has deemed anything containing that flavor as tripe. There are three typical flavors that draw the most ire: artificial flavorings, Latakia, and Perique. Those who fall into the first camp feel that any "Fru-Fru" tobacco is worthless and is only smoked by those who cannot appreciate real pipe tobacco. For the Lat-Haters, even a little but of smokiness is too much and far too overpowering; despite the fact that there are many subtle Latakia blends, they refuse to try them, as they are under the impression that Latakia poisons even the best of blends. Finally comes Perique-a-phobia. Even a sprinkling of this flavorful leaf makes the pipester feel like they are biting into a peppercorn and thus shiver when even contemplating a blend with Perique in its contents. There is nothing wrong with this caricature unless the personal preference starts to take the form of overarching condemnation, which it often does.

The Put-Everyone-Else-to-Shame Collector: 

This pipester is not evil or bad or even mean. He has managed to amass one of the most stunning, comprehensive, and mind-boggling collections of pipes you have ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately, he is always around whenever you want to show off a new acquisition. He looks on and claps you on the back, congratulating you on your fine new pipe. Then he pulls out his pipe bag, which is made out of the fur of one of Santa's reindeer, embroidered by silent monks living in an Ashram high in the Himalayas, and kissed by Marilyn Monroe. From it he pulls a pipe that might have been crafted by Hephaestus himself, leaving a solitary cricket in the place where your friends were standing moments earlier, as they gather around this collector in an attempt to get a glimpse of the gods' gift to pipe smokers. Eventually, even the cricket goes over to see what everyone is looking at.

Big Brother: 

There's not much to say about this person, because he does not say much at all. Should you encounter this person at a tobacconist or pipe club, he might spend his time staring out a window or blindly gazing into space; if you didn't know better, you might suggest calling 911 to ensure he was still alive. If this is someone you interact with on a forum, you may even start to forget that he exists. Just when you let your guard down, however, he pops into the conversation, either will just a little comment aimed to remind you that he is still listening or with a genius analysis that proves that he, even while half-comatose, still knows more than you do.

The Mad Scientist: 

Just when you thought pipes were simple pieces of wood or stone or corn into which tobacco was placed, ignited, and subsequently inhaled, out pops the Mad Scientist, with chemical analysis, lectures about thermodynamics, and diatribes about principles of engineering, all of which serve to explain why you really like that new Billiard you bought. In other words: Flee before my mighty intellect, peons! The sad fact is that the Mad Scientist is, more often than not, correct. He simply provides so much information that you never needed or, even if you needed it, you could never understand if you tried. He has spent hours researching pipes and the inner machinations of the beautiful pipes that you take for granted. While we are grateful, Mr. Mad Scientist, my mind melted trying to understand just your introduction to thermodynamics.

I am sure you have met at least one of these people in your pipe travels, and probably in other situations, and I am also sure you have met even more ridiculous fellows than these. Let's hear about 'em!

Trever Talbert wrote his own list of types of folks that are found on pipe forums, a story that can be found here and is perfect for a good laugh and is sadly accurate!