Collector's Show - Napa, Review

JeremyM

JeremyM

Joined
May 10, 2005
Messages
319
my girlfriend and i decided to attend the napa collectors' show this year. i was interested in seeing some makers who don't turn up at other shows, and my girlfriend wanted to do some wine tastings and enjoy the scenery - so this seemed like a perfect way to mix the two.

we flew into sacramento friday afternoon, where we were staying with friends. on saturday morning we got up early to drive down to napa. not sure how many other people had problems finding the silverado where the show was held, but we got lost for a good 30 minutes. not that napa is a bad place to be lost in. sadly the weather wasn't cooperating this past weekend and lots of cloud and rain on and off made things a little difficult.

the show was at a pretty posh golf glub/resort, the silverado, - looked nice enough, sure the rooms had to be pricey but i don't honestly know.

the show itself is smallish - probably had about 30-35 attendees this year. a few of the people i was looking forward to seeing were not in attendence - owen wood was out with the flu & chantal gilbert got snowed in on the east coast.

my girlfriend and i spent the morning talking with a bunch of different people, including -

Dan Pfanenstiel had a few nice pieces on his table - a katana, a small wak he was delivering, a large fighter and a really nice little hunter that had some great embellishments, probably my favorite of his pieces. Dan is part time, but is considering going for his journeyman stamp this year. nice guy who does great work - i have one of his waks and would love to get another piece from him in the future.

John Davis had his trademark brilliant damascus in a number of different forms - folders, an s-guard bowie and art plates (cool pieces if you haven't seen them). John won the people's choice award this year (and apparently last year as well) and it's easy to see why. John did up a bunch of pieces for this show in a mosaic pattern that included wine bottles & grapes.

Kevin Cashen is a very funny guy & a brilliant maker to boot. he had a great little short sword with him, as well as a bowie, hunter and carving set. the bowie & hunter were gone almost immediately. it was a real pleasure getting to handle his work and talk to him. Kevin also won the maker's choice award picked by the makers at the show.

Ric Furrer out of door county wisconsin is also a great guy to talk to. he definitely know his history in regards to steel working. he does work in both pattern welded steel and wootz. he'd done up a great looking tulwar for the show, but ended up selling it before the show so sadly i didn't get to see that.

Christoph Deringer had a beautiful damascus waiters corkscrew that i absolutely loved. if i could have afforded it, it would have come home with me. it had a great modern look to it with really unusual design - wish i had a pic to share. Christoph, like most the makers there, went out of his way to bring some 'culinary implements' - and he won best culinary implement for a chef's knife he brought - also a very beautiful piece.

Mardi Meshejian had a bad experience getting to the show, when the airlines lost his luggage and he didn't have all his knives at his table. i'm sure it was a pretty harrowing experience for him, but fortunately they'd found the luggage by the end of the day and were sending it over - really wish i'd been there sunday to see it, as his work is always really unique. in this case mardi's girlfriend melissa actually spotted us as my girlfriend was wearing a pendant that mardi did out of walrus ivory. melissa is collaborating with mardi on some of the jewelry pieces and did the beaded chain the pendant hangs on.

Todd Kinnikin is a maker i hadn't heard of previously who is doing some nice work. he had a couple of artifact handled knives including one that required a split tang due to the handle shape - cool stuff.

Daniel O'Malley - a dealer and a smith (which i didn't know until talking to him) who does chef's knives. he didn't have any of his own pieces with him, but i'll bug him for a look when i go to seattle this summer. a nice guy who really enjoys what he does.

Patrick Hastings was attending the show, though he didn't have a table. he did bring some already sold pieces to show to friends, so i got change to look at some of his newer work in person. he recently went to london to work with ford hallam and his already great work is getting even better.

after the morning we took off and went back into napa to have lunch and hit a couple of wine bars to do some tasting. we made it back right before the show closed to chat a litle more before the dinner. the dinner was nice, though really pretty small. most of the attendees were makers with only a few collectors present. we sat with a bunch of great makers for dinner, and after dinner was a roundtable discussion of damacus with john davis, daryl meier, kevin cashen & ric furrer - it was great hearing different ideas and perspectives on the history of damascus. unfortunately we had to cut out before it was over as we had a long drive back to sacramento.

overall it was a nicely put together little show - though there are a few things i think would really make it better.

i'd really like to see a wine tasting associated with the show - after all it's in napa right? we ended up leaving the show during the day to do that - would be cool to have it part of the show.

the makers rose to the theme of the show by adding chef's knives, carving sets, wine tools and other culinary implements to their tables. it would be nice if the show included some demonstrations by chefs or something along that line to further tie the theme together.
 
Thanks for your slant on the show.


I was the one to buy the Cashen Damascus Bowie and hunter.Pics and review later.
Randy
 
Great review, hit's it on the head.

I really like your wine tasting idea. That would've helped things along, I bet.

Glad you have met you finally, Jeremy (this is Jeremy, right? :) ) and thanks for the kind words.

Dan Pfanenstiel
greatwaveforge.com
 
Thanks, Jeremy. Very good review. All good insights! Thanks. :)

I have much to say and lots of show photos, as well as a dozen+ knives to show off.... ;) But.... you will have to wait as I get it all in order.

All-in-all, a VERY prestigious show and well-liked by all who showed up. More news & photos in the next day or so....

Coop
 
This show is a trend-setter, in a number of ways. The show is an upscale event, held at a posh Country Club/Resort/Golf course (the Silverado Resort was THE reason that Chevrolet named their best SUV after).

The show celebrates the artist and introduces a culinary aspect to the attendees and offers a place for the makers to present and advance these unique skills.

John Greene goes above and beyond to accomodate his showgoers and offers insights that went beyond the normal realm of what would be considered 'usual' for a show. He opened and closed each day with remarks and reflections and quotes that were in-depth and made us all think closely how the artist and the work and the people are closely integrated. His comments were warm and refreshing, and were delivered over a PA system for all to enjoy.

Throughout the show the warm venue elevated the artist's work and gave us all a 'feel' of being involved with something especially rewarding.

There was a banquet on Saturday evening, and in a great gesture asked by John, we were all asked to stand up and say who we were, where we came from, and some remembrance of what the show had delivered so far to us. The stories and people were all very connecting and in MANY cases very funny. I loved this part of the night. :D

After the meal, John Davis, Kevin Cashen, Daryl Meier, and Ric Furrer had an open discussion 'Damascus' roundtable and were fielding questions from the audience. ( I learned that an Alex Bailey came from Germany in 1972 and introduced pattern-welding steel procedures to a group of history re-enactment blacksmiths, including Darryl Meier. The following year, Bill Moran as a knifemaker, was a presenter in this same venue, having explored what had been brought to the US from this original group.)

Ric, John, Kevin all went on in-depth to explain much of their experiences to the audience. Again, an unusual and worthy addition.

I was busy with my photo work much of the time and only later on Sunday was I able to walk around and take candid shots. The venue was quite crowded on Saturday. I missed a whole bunch of folks, but still managed to capture many. My apologies to ALL that I missed. :(

Daniel Koster and I spent a bunch of quality photo time later on on saturday, and he could not stay for Sunday. When I returned on Sun morning, he had left me a small kitchen chopper and a note of thanks for MY time in dialog and experimentation. Another high-point. Thanks, Dan!

Anyway, this thread is WORTHLESS without pics! :mad: :p ;)

Here are the top three winners:

Best Culinary Knife - Christoph Deringer's integral chopper

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'Peoples Choice' Award (voted on by the attendees) John Davis's 'Wine and Grapes' mosaic damascus chopper.

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'Best of Show' - As voted by the attending knifemakers themselves. Kevin Cashen's sword:

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(This shot was especially difficult and I was not prepared for such a large piece. Jot Khalsa loaned me a velvet tablecloth for a backdrop and I had a third light held up in the air to capture it. (Thanks, Manny!) All-in-all I made do.)

Here is a link to the many people shots I took along with the captions for who they are. I will be adding knife photos as I am finished.

Napa Show Photos - People and Knives

Thanks again to all I met. Look for me to return next year, as this was very rewarding to me.

Coop
 
thanks for the pics & thoughts coop!

btw - if you have any closeups of what mardi brought to the show we'd love to see them. as we weren't able to make sunday we didn't get to see what he had for the show.
 
Great review gaussian, and thanks for the awesome pics Coop! Man, I sure hope Christoph brings something like that to the CKG show next month - WOW! :eek:
 
SharpByCoop said:
Anyway, this thread is WORTHLESS without pics! :mad: :p ;) Coop
Click to expand...

Coop, DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT, your photos are spectacular and speak for themselves, however, your narratives come from you. They add a special element to your photos and always to my enjoyment and I'm sure many others. Thank you for your work and words. Preston
 
Thanks for the post and the pictures. Excellent choices in the awards, great knives from great guys. John and Julie work hard to make this one of, if not the most vender and guest friendly show; they are excellent hosts...Take Care...Ed
 
...Jeremy, Randy, Coop, Dan and Ed -- you have all contributed to a Great Show!!!


Jeremy,


Your review is much appreciated and is icing on the cake for all of the Tableholders -- and those Makers and Collectors who weren't able to come to Napa.

It's nice to get feedback from attendees in addition to the Makers/Tableholders... Meeting you and Kim was cool -- we are all glad that you came and participated.

To answer your comments for adding tie-ins to The Collectors' Show, we have looked into both Chefs' Demos and Wine-Tastings from the beginning of this process and haven't yet figured out how to make them work in a complementary way -- adding to and not distracting from The Collectors' Show.

You have caused me to come back to these subjects again. I now have a couple of ideas for new approaches that I will explore for next year's Collectors' Show. So, if we are able to make either, or both of these elements work we will include a notice in our collateral -- so, look for it in our advertising and communications. :thumbup:



Randy,


Your having made the extra effort to make the trip from the Big Sky is very cool. Thank you.

It is always great to get together and I know of several Makers that deeply appreciated your comments, advice and counsel -- as I did for your presence.




Coop,


Wow!!!:D Your contributions to The Collectors' Show were appreciated by all of us.

In addition to the great images that you have posted here, for you to have taken your valuable time and gone to the extra effort to write about your experience, finish editing and posting images -- while clearly busy with life, and catching up from a long weekend across the country, is a testament to your professionalism and integrity. Thank you for everything. :)




Dan,



I am really glad that you were able to come to our Show. Everyone that I've spoken with has been impressed with your sincerity, character and your work. It was great getting to know you and Chris and to welcome you to our Show. We look forward to seeing you next year. Keep up the great work...:thumbup:




Ed,


For your friendship and your advice -- Julie and I are grateful. Thanks.

Here, I'm reminded of a significant motivation for our Awards --acknowledgement and recognition of the Makers' work and efforts.

For Christoph to receive recognition for his great work by Chefs & Restaurateurs -- this piece is special for all of us.

For John to have received the Peoples' Choice Award from all attendees is another tip of the hat to his great imagination and ability to execute around these patterns in Mosaic.

For Kevin to have won Best of Show -- from a jury of his peers -- raised cheers when announced. How cool is that?:thumbup:



Sometimes these Makers are not remembered as frequently as their great work indicates or suggests that they might.

I am humbled that this recognition is appreciated so much. While just a piece of what we are doing, it helps validate our approach.

That these great Makers and wonderful people are being recognized and acknowledged for their efforts is tremendously satisfying for me. I hope and expect that they may feel the same, and more...:D



What a great experience and opportunity. We have now pretty much completed our second year of this adventure. We have learned alot. All of this knowledge and feedback informs our future course.


Look for greater things to come...:)


John
 
nice show review by both gaussian and Coop. Enjoyed the knife photos and show photos. looking forward to seeing more knives as coop gets his work done
 
Some photos of the work I accomplished so far. I still have a few left, but this is getting to the end of my editing.

Darriel Caston, Don Cowles & Jim Small's engraving, J.P Holmes


Thomas Haslinger, Dan Pfanenstiel


I'll add some more in later. Wonderful knives, all of them! :thumbup:

Coop
 
pjsjr said:
Coop, DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT, your photos are spectacular and speak for themselves, however, your narratives come from you. They add a special element to your photos and always to my enjoyment and I'm sure many others. Thank you for your work and words. Preston
Click to expand...
Thanks, Preston. I hadn't really thought about it that closely, but I am really flattered you enjoy the read and thoughts as well. :) This was an unexpected perk!

Regards,

Coop
 
You can really see the passion and skill in these knives. Works of art and, beautiful in every way.

It is a pleasure reading all posts in this thread.
 
This was a stellar weekend for cutlery! Each one of these I fell in love with again...

Kirk Rexroat - MS, and John Davis both show how well they forge mosaic damascus:



Jot Khalsa's incredible dagger and a pair of sculpted folders! :eek:



Karl Schroen did this wonderful carving set. Look at how he carved the tailstocks with the bears...



Bob Weinstock has always impressed me with his sense of flowing lines and sculpting skills. Look at the spine and engraving he added to this sold piece. :thumbup:



I even got a shot of a BladeForums member's 'Kreb's' Custom Colt .45 handgun. Rocksolid and fancy.



Hope you enjoy these now too.

What's your favorite?

Coop
 
Coop, Those are some fine looking knives! The skill's you have with a camera amaze me. Thanks for shareing!


Did anyone here if Don Cowles ever found his wallet?
 
Ray, my wallet was stolen in the airport on Friday. By Friday night, they had cleaned out my personal and business checking accounts (running to a negative balance on the business account of $1200), and made ATM withdrawals and charges against my credit cards. There was also $350 cash in the wallet. They were pros- I'll never see it again.
 
Wow... How could they make ATM withdrawals? :confused:

That sucks big time Don. Sorry to hear that. :mad:
 
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