Dawkind
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2000
- Messages
- 13,006
Stuart has been working on this for a number of months now and feels it's his best piece to date....an extremely powerful representation with a stunning blade that is thicker and wider than many Katanas. I'll use Stuart's words as he described this piece to me as he was working on it, through our email exchanges:
"The wakizashi is the rustic one I mentioned that I was inspired partially by David Mirabile's piece and of course my own rustic aesthetic. As you can see, this one drifted pretty far from the "utility" angle into a darkly themed piece that, as my Sensei ant Iaido said, seems to "exude pestilence, rot and death. Like something some brutal warlord would carry." That's the feeling I had with it and why I made the menuki fashioned off of antique skull menuki. They were hand filed with needle files and alone took about 8 hours to make as I have never done anything like this before. The tsuba is very heavily etched wrought iron and looks like decay. The other fittings are steel that have been forge blackened, the copper has been patina'ed lightly with rokusho. The saya wrap is wicker and under the sealed silk Ito is rawhide. I thought rawhide suited the theme more that rayskin and serves the same purpose as it dries rock hard too. It's got a very robust blade, wider and thicker than most katanas. What started as a rough bush wakizashi turned into an art piece. Oops.. ha. All I have left to do is the final blade polish on this one. Considering the art styling that evolved I will go for a high polish as the hamon promises to be interesting."
And then, being the Gentleman he is, wanted to 'soften his stance' on the description....LOL....so I wouldn't think he was a bit wild, I thought he'd know me better by now!!!!
"Just thinking about my and my Sensei's description of this and I didn't want it to put you off or anything. It's not that "dark", just full of character. It's a piece that seems to have its own soul, not just an object. Something that in some movie might be the piece that controls it's wielder or perhaps some artifact hidden away because of its power. Maybe I just have a crazy imagination.. ha."
A little later in time....yeah, I'm a lout and not a friend to his son.
"I'm so glad you like it and I'm happy it will be going to a good home. I have had a lot of trouble releasing this one. There is so much that is new and I put so many hours into it as it slowly took form almost on it's own, guiding me to it's completion. I know that may seem too poetic but really this piece more than any other grew on it's own piece by piece and even through 3 different finishes on the saya, two different ito wraps, an accidental tsuba that I forgot in the etchant and came out exactly right but not at all what I thought I wanted... the list goes on. It feels like a darker part of my soul.. Ha..."
And the last email:
"I think the theme is inherent in all the parts even down to the hamon looking like it's dripping blood. Also the hamon is very controlled and even throughout the length and from side to side with what I think is a proper boshi or termination and turn back at the tip. I hope you're as excited by this piece as I am."
Yes, I feel very fortunate....thank you, Mr. Branson.
EDITED TO ADD: These are Stuart's photograpghs, he's got some high-res versions I'm going to get from him.
"The wakizashi is the rustic one I mentioned that I was inspired partially by David Mirabile's piece and of course my own rustic aesthetic. As you can see, this one drifted pretty far from the "utility" angle into a darkly themed piece that, as my Sensei ant Iaido said, seems to "exude pestilence, rot and death. Like something some brutal warlord would carry." That's the feeling I had with it and why I made the menuki fashioned off of antique skull menuki. They were hand filed with needle files and alone took about 8 hours to make as I have never done anything like this before. The tsuba is very heavily etched wrought iron and looks like decay. The other fittings are steel that have been forge blackened, the copper has been patina'ed lightly with rokusho. The saya wrap is wicker and under the sealed silk Ito is rawhide. I thought rawhide suited the theme more that rayskin and serves the same purpose as it dries rock hard too. It's got a very robust blade, wider and thicker than most katanas. What started as a rough bush wakizashi turned into an art piece. Oops.. ha. All I have left to do is the final blade polish on this one. Considering the art styling that evolved I will go for a high polish as the hamon promises to be interesting."
And then, being the Gentleman he is, wanted to 'soften his stance' on the description....LOL....so I wouldn't think he was a bit wild, I thought he'd know me better by now!!!!
"Just thinking about my and my Sensei's description of this and I didn't want it to put you off or anything. It's not that "dark", just full of character. It's a piece that seems to have its own soul, not just an object. Something that in some movie might be the piece that controls it's wielder or perhaps some artifact hidden away because of its power. Maybe I just have a crazy imagination.. ha."
A little later in time....yeah, I'm a lout and not a friend to his son.
"I'm so glad you like it and I'm happy it will be going to a good home. I have had a lot of trouble releasing this one. There is so much that is new and I put so many hours into it as it slowly took form almost on it's own, guiding me to it's completion. I know that may seem too poetic but really this piece more than any other grew on it's own piece by piece and even through 3 different finishes on the saya, two different ito wraps, an accidental tsuba that I forgot in the etchant and came out exactly right but not at all what I thought I wanted... the list goes on. It feels like a darker part of my soul.. Ha..."
And the last email:
"I think the theme is inherent in all the parts even down to the hamon looking like it's dripping blood. Also the hamon is very controlled and even throughout the length and from side to side with what I think is a proper boshi or termination and turn back at the tip. I hope you're as excited by this piece as I am."
Yes, I feel very fortunate....thank you, Mr. Branson.
EDITED TO ADD: These are Stuart's photograpghs, he's got some high-res versions I'm going to get from him.
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