2016 Solvang Knife Show - California hosting the world's finest

SharpByCoop

SharpByCoop

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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This standout show only happens once every two years.

From the NordicKnives.com website:

2016 Solvang Knife Show

We are excited to announce that our next Solvang Show will be held Saturday, April 23, 2016, at Solvang's Hotel Corque.

The list of makers attending below demonstrates this will be the premier knife show in the world in 2016.

This will be an almost all-drawing show, although each maker will have the opportunity to sell one knife by "bid-up". All attending buyers will enter the showroom at 10:00 AM, beginning a three-hour viewing period. During this time, buyers will enter their names into the drawing boxes of any knives they wish to purchase. At 1:00 PM, all makers will draw names for each knife, and bidders will see who wins the right to purchase.

The outstanding group of artists attending understand this is their opportunity to showcase their finest work, so you can be sure there will be many, many works of art presented. Being a one-day event, we need to limit the number of buyers to 150.

If you would like to attend, please contact Dave Harvey at Nordic Knives.

This will include a fully hosted lunch during the show, and entry to our legendary BBQ and wine event, held at the Gainey Vineyard Saturday evening. Pre-registraton is required.

W. E. Ankrom
Charles Bennica
Ron Best
Joel Chamblin
Moro Corrado
Barry Davis
Kaj Embretsen
Julie & Curt Erickson
Emmanuel Esposito
Tore Fogarizzu
Antonio Fogarizzu
Dennis Friedly
Larry Fuegen
Les George
Shaun & Sharla Hansen
Koji Hara
Anders Hedlund
Harumi Hirayama
Steve Hoel
Steve Johnson
Kirby Lambert
Matthew Lerch
Elizabeth Loerchner
Wolfe Loerchner
Salvatore Puddu
Zaza Revishvili
Todd Rexford
Eugene Shadley
Mamoru Shigeno
Jurgen Steinau
Ken Steigerwalt
C. Gray Taylor
Robert Terzuola
Owen Wood
Timothy Wright
John Young

As I write I am unsure if the event is closed to new attendees, but I am suspecting (hoping) not. :)

I was privileged to attend and be able to capture the works at the 2014 Show, and I wrote about the trip in this thread:

2014 Solvang Knife Show • People, Nordic Knives Shop, Incredible Knives

I'd expect this year to be even better, and that's demanding a lot!

I shot a BUNCH of world-class knives at that show. You can view them ALL on my website Gallery in total: 2014 Solvang Knife Show
(Note: on the Nordic Knives website they have gallery images from 2012 (not 2014) from the VERY talented and friendly knife photographer - Hiro Soga. Not mine. Just a correction.)

I am flying out Thursday, and will be there to set up on Friday till evening, and during the Show on Saturday through the afternoon. I'll be in an adjacent hallway in a makeshift studio. Then we head for the BBQ. :D

I'll post more throughout the trip and the show, as I hope others will also. I will have more to talk about than the Show as well! ;) Think SPEED.

Please feel free to comment in this thread.

Stay posted!

Jim 'Coop' Cooper
 
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At 67 miles away from home, it's an easy one hr drive, so see everyone there. Current forecast for Saturday is sunny and 76 degrees.

Glad to see you will be the photographer again, Coop!

Bob
 
betzner said:
At 67 miles away from home, it's an easy one hr drive, so see everyone there. Current forecast for Saturday is sunny and 76 degrees.

Glad to see you will be the photographer again, Coop!

Bob
Click to expand...

about 150 miles for me 1-way
but I make a trip out of it,
long day of hiking in SB Thursday
Golf in Lompoc and visit to Nordic Knives Friday
Show on Saturday
 
All packed and out the door. From CT to CA in one day. Tomorrow my work begins.

I will report back soon.

Coop
 
Have a great show buddy and be safe in your travels.....can hardly wait to see the photographs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Dave Harvey puts on a great show!! I've missed the last two shows and will miss this one,too. I think my wife has more withdrawls than me, a chance to get out of the desert to Santa Barbara!!
 
Travel safe, Coop.

See you soon, brother!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Dave Harvey will have 2 copies of my new book on display at the show!
He will take preorders as the bulk of the book's shipment will arrive only
at the end of April 2016.....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
That is a great group of makers! I can't wait to see what they all brought.
 
Picked up a knife at the Nordic shop.

f50946269c73345ec8afea6936086e9e.jpg


Look who I ran into! @knifepurveyor , sitting on the bench outside talking on his phone. So we decided on lunch.

b1e41f6d7a6ea6a2cc47017cc9983d8a.jpg


d3b8bf73b5a70cae84f808f2dfa910dc.jpg




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Harbeer: Nice score. Howard's work is clean and a value. Good for you.

I must have missed you by just about an hour. I was at the Nordic shop from 10 until 11 a.m.

David: Good news! Your delivery of the books arrived yesterday. He's selling them like hotcakes. I ordered another one for my best friend and having it shipped straight from there to home.

I just finished up shooting a bunch of knives today, and I will be there first thing in the morning. Already it's been a successful show certainly in quality. I'm bushed. Off to bed
 
SharpByCoop said:
David: Good news! Your delivery of the books arrived yesterday. He's selling them like hotcakes. I ordered another one for my best friend and having it shipped straight from there to home.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim!! this is GREAT!!
Wish I was there too....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
I have a lengthy review which I've been trying to post, but the blade forums servers are not cooperating. It just won't go through. I'll keep trying, maybe tomorrow.

Coop
 
HSC /// said:
Picked up a knife at the Nordic shop.

f50946269c73345ec8afea6936086e9e.jpg
Click to expand...

Great score. That particular knife has an interesting history. PM me if you would like to know.

Solvang is a show I have never attended. I have always wanted to but the drive is just to far!:)
 
You and Coop really are exceptional in painting the picture of how well or not a show performed, what you saw, did, ate, etc. It's truly enjoyable to sit back and read your reviews, even for one who was there.
 
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(Below: Long rambling self-interest dialog. Carry on, nothing to see here.... :))

I've now taking a couple of days away from the show and have enough time to write down few thoughts.

After arriving at Los Angeles Airport, and renting a Toyota RAV4, I loaded all my studio gear and two large bags into the SUV, and started the 3 hour journey to Solvang. It took 4+ hours because of the rush hour traffic, and by the time I got there it was 9pm, but it felt like midnight to my jet lagged mind. I was bleary.

I stayed at the Solvang Inn which was not far from the hotel show source, and it saved me a few dollars. They had all the amenities and it was $150 per night total. Anywhere in that town is special.

Friday morn: Before going to the hotel to set up, I visited the Nordic Knives store where it was busy day already at 10 in the morning, with a number of knife people along with Dave Harvey, and Dan Combs; the two principles at that business. Dave introduced me to his girlfriend Crystal, who would help me as I needed an assistant during a few busy. She was as bright and as cheerful as I could hope for. Smart, cheery, and on the ball. So cool!

While there, I ordered one of David Darom's latest books, and had it shipped to my best friend as a return gift for a different book that HE just giving me which I was reading on the way flight to Los Angeles. Karma is alive and well!

I got to the Hotel Corque and set up in a small hallway next to the showroom itself. It was a very exposed area to the attendees which worked in my favor; people knew I was there. However I was out of the way of the main traffic so I wasn't impeding anyone.

Work came immediately and I work steadily until around 7:30pm that evening, and I was getting pretty tired. However, I knew that in the morning there would be even more work coming in before the show started, and it was most important that I didn't have a backlog. So I asked myself: "Can I do one more knife?" Yes, I would finish one knife, sit down rest, and then ask the same question again.

I pushed myself until 9 p.m., and that was enough. I packed up my stuff, got in my car, and found a fast food Taco Bell with the Cantina salad for cheap and quick. That's all I needed.

more....
 
The next morning I returned at 7:15 a.m., and as expected, here came a number of makers who had just gotten in in the evening, and would like to get their knives finished before the show started at 10. So I worked diligently getting them done, finishing one of Wolfgang Loerchner's pieces at 9:45 a.m. Crystal was invaluable in this particular time, to keep me working without distractions.

Once the show started it was incredibly positive. Lots of excited attendees and makers. The work that I had been shooting, and I had been witnessing was some of the best I've ever seen. Serious. The tables were filled with boxes and every attendee got a large catalog with bidding slips, and a full glossy catalog with the makers work and descriptions. There was a lot involved in the preparation, and this is testimony to how well this show is designed and run by Dave Harvey.

There was a buffet lunch at noon, and by then everyone that had enough visual so that they could relax and enjoy some food before the 1 p.m. closing time. I was able to keep working through the show to a small degree as I would wander in the show, and makers who I hadn't talked with earlier would pull me aside and asked me if there was a chance I could shoot a particular knife. I said that if you can give it to me for 15 minutes I'll have it back to you and I'll get it done. Deal.

So anytime I walked in there I found work. I wasn't trying to press myself I just happened to be visible. That's a very fortunate and welcome opportunity. I also got a chance to see other makers and it was a pleasure talking with them and admiring their works as well. I love looking as much as YOU do.
 
After the bell rang at 1 p.m. to select bids randomly the place was buzzing, and it took at least 30 minutes before the dust settled and people were able to check and see their positioning on a given knife. Most of the makers would pull out 3 bid slips and place them in order underneath the knives, so the hierarchy would be: the first buyer, the second alternate, and the third choice.

After all this finished, then the tables turn and collector attendees load up tables with works that they have brought from their collections, and there's some Show and Tell, and some buying and trading that takes place. It's really a great format.

Time to go: It takes me about an hour to disassemble my studio and then pack it all back up into my cases ready for airport delivery. After doing so it was almost 5 in the afternoon by the time I got back to my hotel. I did manage to spend 25 minutes in a small jacuzzi outside the hotel. Well deserved, and very relaxing.
 
It's about a 10 minute drive out of Solvang to the Gainey winery, where the hosts provided a full wine and barbecue party. It was an amazing and beautiful setting, and many collectors and makers were on hand to actually cook and help pull this off for the guests; the winery was only there to provide spirits and the setting.

I chit-chatted with a number of people including Steven, and met his charming wife Karen, I've been looking forward to that for years. She keeps him and check and yet lets the leash run when it needs to! ;) Lol.

I had conversation with Elizabeth Loerchner and found her insightfully warm. She's a very interesting person and I would encourage you to visit with her at any show and look closely at her work, she's really doing her best to make her own mark, and she's succeeding. She also has more to offer in her life than knife making and wants to work with her college degree in art education for children. I say she needs to explore that along with her talented knife making.

After 2 wines I've met my limit, and I left when it turned dark. Two glasses of wine, two trips up to the barbecue table, and to helpings of sheet cake, & I was ready for a long, long dozy sleep.

(I saw a little plate in one of the cozy shoppes in Solvang: "If you think you're the life of the party, it's time to leave....") Haha! I stayed very low key. :)

I'll come back and talk about the other events since the show at another time. I've been rambling till now, but I have a lot of time on my hands!

I've completely missed impressions and conversations with tons of people, but I simply can't take up that much space. Suffice to say everyone made me smile.

Thanks for reading.

PS: Lousy BF servers would not accept my post unless I broke it into manageable bites.

Coop
 
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