Reno recap

Since 2008 (six months after I started dabbling in scrimshaw), I have attended the yearly Firearms Engravers Guild of America show every January in Reno. I was finally able to exhibit for the first time this year. Glory be! The winds of change had started to blow in the guild the last year or so, and with some internal changes a-happenin' it was finally decided that scrimshaw could be exhibited. That was some supremely awesome news when I heard that last summer. So I had a table this year! How strange not to be a wandering nomad. How nice to be able to show my stuff. :-) A lot of long-time exhibitors stopped by the table and told me how happy they were that I was finally able to show there. That means a whole heck of a lot to me...

I know I've said it every year, but I'll say it again, I love that crowd. That's a lot of good people, and so much fun to be around. I had a great time, though it was a seriously stressful weekend because one of my good buddies had a medical emergency, so I spent 5+ hours of my Saturday night (and into Sunday morning!) in the ER... (he's okay now, whew!)

Business-wise, well... you could hear the crickets chirping sometimes at the show. It was less crowded than other years, I would have to say. There are a number of reasons for that, which is a long topic in itself and not something I have any need to blog about. Again though, the winds of change are blowing, the guild is undergoing some major changes, and I think this show is going to evolve considerably in the next few years. I have already signed up for my table for next year. It will be in Reno, the first weekend in February.

How about some pics?

Here's a view out the window of the bus in the Sierras on Thursday morning. Barely a sprinkling of snow out there, which is quite a contrast from other years. The drive was totally fine that day, and actually no chains were required on the way back either. So yes, I could have driven myself (I waffle about this every year) and I would have taken more "stuff" if I had driven (like my microscope) but considering I slept for half the bus trip, both ways, and it only costs $35/round trip, it's a pretty sweet deal. And there weren't more than about a dozen people on it, so it's pretty nice!

This isn't a great pic because the bus windows are reflecting, but those are some seriously strange clouds I was seeing as the bus approached Reno.

Here's the view out the window of the Nugget on the morning I arrived. It started to snow in the mountains not too long after this. And then there was a huge fire too...

The sunset on Friday, more snow in the mountains that day!

My table, which looks a lot like my table at Blade Show...

Snow! This was Monday late afternoon, taken through the bus window near Boomtown. I fell asleep shortly after crossing the state line, and woke up in Roseville. Yeah... I like the bus. :-)

And I know, just like every other year, you probably think I go to these things just to hang out with a bunch of guys all weekend (pics from last year here). ;-)

John Barraclough, me, Ray Phillips:

Tira Mitchell, Rod Cameron, me:

Tim Wells, me:

when in Reno...

I think I've been grinning since last Friday, even though I've been back home since Monday evening. I was at the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) show in Reno over the weekend, and not to overuse the word which I will surely overuse in this post, but it was AWESOME. This is the fourth time I've been there. I'm not an exhibitor (I've always wanted to, but under current rules have not been able to) but am a member of the guild and enjoy visiting the show, and I spend all year looking forward to seeing everyone. By and large it is a WONDERFUL, kind, helpful, and generous group of people and in the relatively short time that I've been part of the engraving world, many have become close friends, and I'm so honored work with some of the most well-respected gun and knife engravers in the business.

I actually drove this year. I've taken the bus the previous years, and the bus is really very nice, but Donner Pass was clear and the weather was bright and sunny, so I had no concerns about snow or ice or needing chains. It's only about a 2 hour and 45 minute drive, so getting to Reno is no biggie at all. It was a lovely drive, and I rolled into Reno in the mid afternoon on Friday.






And from the moment I walked into the show on Friday afternoon I was busy. This was a fascinating new scenario. In the past there seemed to be a lot of down time for me where I would sit around, go back to my room, go to the Safari Club show (I didn't go this year but am not sad about that), etc. But... to my delight, I spent the entire day every day of the show talking to people. I really felt much more at home this year for some reason. I really can't put my finger on it, but even though I've enjoyed the show every other year too, this year totally rocked. People totally know me! And want to talk to me, and see my scrimshaw! Yeah baby! It made for a busy weekend but holy cow did I have fun, and I made some great connections. It was a real honor to meet some new people who are very well known in the engraving world (this was the 30th anniversary show so it was a big deal) and it's so humbling to know that these folks truly appreciate my work.

Not to be all sappy and stuff, but it was an amazing weekend. I feel so... appreciated? Joy, that's what I've been experiencing! Joy! I'm all smiley and inspired. :-)

Yes, of course I got the required amount of crap because I haven't fallen in love with engraving metal (yet?) but the overwhelmingly positive reaction to my scrimshaw totally overshadows that anyway. :-)

Anyway back to the weekend... so Friday evening I got to meet up with my friend Harriette Allison, who I met at the show in Jackson Hole a few months ago. That was a real treat to visit with her! Thank you Harriette!



Saturday morning was the general business meeting. I didn't love the notion of prying myself out of bed in time for an 8am meeting, but it was interesting to see the inner workings of the guild, and to my complete surprise I was presented with one of the Editor's Choice Awards for the article that Chris Malouf and I wrote about our collaboration on the Cheetah Knife a couple of months ago. (He got an award too for his part). Knock me over with a feather!

And then I talked to people all day Saturday, so much that the people who I hadn't managed to talk to yet would come up to me and say "hey where have you been, I want to talk to you tomorrow!" Wow, popularity is a foreign concept. ;-) Saturday night was the banquet and auction. I hadn't planned on attending that but Rod Cameron surprised me by putting a ticket in my hand and telling me I was going, good thing I'd packed a nice outfit just in case! Good food, super fun group at the table, and it was interesting to watch a bit of the auction. I stayed long enough to see Mike Dubber's S&W .44 Mag (for which I donated a scrimshaw logo) sell, and then slipped out to watch the musically talented folks do some picking and grinning.

Every night I stayed up til some ridiculous hour, and often that was because my awesome roomie and I would talk a blue streak til way after midnight. I stayed with Emily P. from TN again, and of course I have to tease her about her funny "ack-see-int" but she's really pretty darn cool. :-)

Me and Emily P.:

Oh, the Toucan Knife! I finished it late Thursday night and brought it to the show. Lots of people there got a sneak peak, and I was able to deliver it back into the hands of the William Henry company. I don't think I'll show you the finished piece until I receive the photos from W.H. of the assembled knife. It looks great though, if I may say so myself.

Sunday morning was nice, the show opens to members for an hour before the general public comes in, and it was a good quiet time to sit and talk to some folks I hadn't yet had a chance to visit with. And that's what I did ALL day.

Me and Yves Halliburton:

Me with Roger Bleile (on my right) and Leonard Francolini (on my left):

Me and Mike Dubber. He is holding the gun he donated to the auction. I am holding the North Carolina Colt (CCA 2009 Auction gun) on which I scrimmed the grips. Hot damn it was good to finally see the completed gun in person! :-)

Me and Sam Welch, for whom I can't find a web site.

Me and my favorite engraver from New Zealand, Andrew Biggs.

Me and Fred Bowen, for whom I also can't find a website. He sings very funny songs. :-)

Me and Kalyn Hochstrat. We go way back. Her husband Brian used to be my farrier and is the person who got me into scrimshaw! That always makes for a good story!

Me and Sam Alfano, who claims to be my biggest fan. :-)

Me and the infamous Barry Lee Hands.

Me and Chris Malouf, co-authors of the award winning article! :-)


And suddenly it was 5pm and the show was over. My gosh how the weekend flew! I had dinner at the buffet that night with some of the guys (oh yeah, have I mentioned it's mostly guys at these shows? Heh heh... ;-) and then listened to more picking and grinning that night. Those jam sessions are AWESOME. There are some very talented musicians in the group, and to everyone's surprise, Scott Pilkington wheeled in a grand piano from some place, and then some random guy walked past and heard the music and turned out to be some sort of champion fiddle player so he was a great addition. Geesh I love this stuff! :-)



That's Rod Cameron on the mandolin, Sam Alfano playing banjo in the earlier pics, Bill Lister seated at the piano with a guitar, unknown really cool mystery man with the fiddle, Stan whose last name I don't know (red shirt) with another guitar, and one of the Rohner ladies (I didn't catch her name) playing the piano. Goodness knows where the piano came from! There were several different people playing other instruments at other times as well.



After a scant few hours of sleep, I was up early Monday morning to check out before the seminars started.



There were two very good seminars, one about stone-setting and one about fine shading. I went to lunch with some of the guys, and then it was show and tell time for a few hours, where people who hadn't been exhibiting can show work for a while. Everyone sat around and talked, and I hated to leave but by about 3pm I figured I'd best hit the road and try to be back by dinner time. Besides, the later I stayed, the sleepier I would get! I pried myself away and drove home. There had been more snow in the mountains on Sunday and and it was beautiful, but thankfully the sun was shining and the roads were clear.


I'm already looking forward to next year. While nothing is certain at this point, the winds of change are blowing in a very good direction. :-) I miss my friends already and can't wait to see everyone again!

Huge thank you to all the members and officers who bust their butts putting on this show! You are... awesome! :-D It's not just the amazing work that makes this show such a gem, it's the fine group of people and the bonds of friendship between them.

For more photos (I was so busy talking all weekend I didn't photograph anyone's engraving!), check out Rod's slide show and Hora's slide show!

scrimshaw FEGA logo

I did this piece a couple of months ago but you haven't seen it yet unless you saw it on Facebook in the last 24 hours or you were at the show in Reno over the weekend!

It's the Firearms Engravers Guild of America logo scrimmed in full color on a 30mm diameter piece of pre-ban elephant ivory. It was inlaid into the cap of an engraved brass oil can, and cased with an engraved Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum. Engraving by Mike Dubber. This entire set was donated to the FEGA auction, and raised $4000 for the guild. I was honored to be asked to participate in this project, and am pleased that my contribution helped raise money for FEGA.

Reno recap, and a mind full of stuff

I'm never sure how to begin trying to recap the adventures of a weekend in Reno at an engraving show, but words that come to mind are: amazing, inspiring, friendship, competition, determination, and intimidation. There is some of each of those things.

Every year I stay longer, for one reason or another. This year I was there for four days. I thought it might be overkill, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made the trip feel relaxing, like I didn't have to rush around to see everything but could take my time perusing the items on display and chat with people in a more leisurely fashion. And of course it helps that I had a very sweet roommate, big shout out here to Emily from Tennessee who said she would read this... so I won't say anything embarrassing about her other than I got a kick of her accent (or "ack-see-uh-int" as she says). Emily, "we are here." ;-)

I took the bus again this year, not the greyhound but the casino bus that picks up in Elk Grove. Love it! Can't beat a $32 round trip ticket, plus it's warm and comfy and I can take a nap and let the driver mess around with tire chains! Plus I had some company on the bus, as fellow engraver Rod C caught it in Auburn to avoid having to drive Donner Pass.

Pretty pic from the ride to Reno:

Baby it's cold outside! There was snow on the ground the whole time:

You can't tell from this pic, but it was snowing when I took it. Emily and I were walking back from In N Out burger. They don't have those back east, so I had to introduce her to it. As a person who doesn't live in snow and has nearly no snow experience, I'm completely enthralled with it and had to resist the urge to run and jump and roll around in it. I know that in much of the country they get rather tired of it though...

So what did I do for four days? Well, three of those were the show itself, so I talked to a LOT of people, enjoyed catching up with old friends, enjoyed meeting new ones, and spent a lot of time ogling the amazing guns, knives, jewelry, and other items on display. I wish I could take some of those things home to study (note to self, forgetting to buy castings was really stupid). The fourth day was seminars and show-and-tell, and that's one of my favorite things, educational and enlightening!

If I could, I would exhibit there in a heartbeat, but unfortunately under the rules of the organization I cannot do that. Best not get me started on that subject. I had a great time anyway. ;-)

Mirrors mirrors everywhere! It actually got a little confusing with all these mirrors...

I finally got to meet Mike D! We've done a couple of collaborations on Colts in the last year but had never met, so this was a real treat and honor:


Carl B, me, and Roger B. These are two of the nicest and most helpful guys ever. They rock my little world:


On Saturday I had the surprise opportunity to go see the Safari Club Internation show over at the convention center. Oh. My. Gosh. I have wanted to see this show soooo much so it's pretty awesome that I had the chance to go there, even though it was a scant three hour tour and I didn't manage to see everything. I tried, but it is sooooo big. There are guns, knives, fine art, amazing taxidermy (how are there any animals left in Africa? I think they were all stuffed in Reno!) and of course LOTS of people selling safari trips all over the world. It was seriously amazing, the kind of place I could have explored for days and still not seen everything. The art was pretty impressive. And the prices blew me away. Man I'd love to show in a place like that! Thank you Scott for the chance to check it out. :-)

This is the sort of thing you see at SCI:

Okay yeah I'd like a few of those...:


I actually went to the banquet this year. That was definitely the most expensive dinner I've ever had, but it was really good, I haven't had steak for ages. I didn't stay for the auction afterwards though, because evenings at the show are all about the jam session. I'm musically inept, but I sure enjoy hanging out with the crowd and admiring the musical talents of others.

One of the important parts of this show for me is getting to talk to people who are experienced engravers, who have been doing this since before I was born, and asking them for advice. Sometimes it's hard to hear it, not because it's bad in some way, but because it's hard for me to believe in my own abilities. That's why it always feels so important for me to attend these sorts of things, it inspires me, and I seem to need those pep talks, even if the pep talks make me feel a little bad at first. The big question at these things is always when will I engrave metal, and my answer always seems to be that I will, but this, but that... I have a lot of excuses, some of which are better than others. My bench was not set up right. Now it is. I didn't have sharpening equipment. I kind of still don't. The old bench grinder is in bad shape and won't do the job, so I will get a new one very soon (how many women want bench grinders for their birthdays?! Lol).

I think the big hangup comes down to some sort of intimidation, like there's a million miles of distance between where my abilities are (with metal engraving) versus where they need to be, and it feels like an unreachable distance. People are so confident that it will be an easy transition for me, but I have a hard time feeling that confidence myself. I am really really bad at engraving metal right now, I have practically no tool control and get very discouraged. Now the bulino dot thing, that's a different story. I can do that. But I don't like the Italian style, where you can only see the engraving if it's angled just so, in just the right light. I don't want to do that, even though I can. I want my work to be visible, and that is something I have yet to figure out how to do, though I have things to try and new tools on the way. There just seems to be this giant mountain of tool control that I need to get over, and I have to plow through it without getting discouraged by it. This'll sound weird or snotty probably, but I'm not used to being bad at art stuff. I pick things up easily most of the time. There was one time, one thing I never could do... throw pottery. I tried and tried, it shouldn't have been that hard, I knew how to do it but it just didn't work and I'm not sure it ever would have. That is what I'm afraid of. But... I have to keep trying, otherwise I'll never find out if I can get through that mountain. :-)

I DO want to engrave metal, if I can get it to look how I want it to look, I really do. I love the scrim, and I don't want to give that up, but I definitely see the need to do the metal work. It commands a better price than scrim, and an increase in income would be a very good thing! That's unfortunate that there's such a discrepancy, but it seems to be the way of the world and the perception of scrim. Why do I pick the hard things? You know, it's like colored pencil versus oil paint. Galleries want oil paintings, some of them won't even look at colored pencil.

I digress. :-)

I have the potential. I know it, and a whole lot of people reminded me of that this weekend. Thank you to those people, I needed to hear it and I need to get to work so that I have the confidence to do the work that people want expect me to do. I'm sure I'm going to ruin a lot of practice plates before I get there.

Determination will beat intimidation.

To my friends in the engraving world, you are awesome. I wish this happened more than once a year!

Now, I know you want to see more pics than this, so check out Rod's photos here.

And Sam's photos here.

Reno recap

Okay, I gotta write this all down before I forget what I want to say! This was my second year visiting the Firearms Engravers Guild of America convention in Reno. I had hoped to be an exhibitor this year. That didn't pan out, long story, won't get into it, but I went anyway and took samples of my work and a portfolio and did the nomadic wandering thing. Which by the way is totally acceptable, lots of people do it. I'd met a fair number of people last year and was eager to see them all again. I'm an active member of a couple of online engraving forums which has been a great way to "meet" people and a lot of those people were there.

I took a bus again this year. Not Greyhound, that was just a little too weird and scary last year, so I opted for an All West casino tour bus. Sweet deal! Costs less than a tank of gas, they give you cash and a meal coupon on arrival, and the bus was half empty and mostly populated by old people. The weather turned out pretty good, I actually could have driven, but it was so convenient to take the bus. I'd totally do that again. It was snowy in the mountains and did snow in Reno while I was there. Strangely, between Saturday morning and Monday late afternoon I did not step outdoors. It's kind of weird that you can exist entirely within a casino.

A view out the window on the way there:

View out my room on arrival:

View out my room at night:

The "mining machine" inside the dome at the Silver Legacy:

I was so tired when I got there (because I'd been up til almost 1am finishing the tiger, and then got up at 5:30 for the bus) I ended up napping for almost two hours before I went down to the show. I knew I'd be totally useless if I didn't! Pretty much as soon as I walked in the convention hall I was greeted heartily by a couple of people I didn't know but who recognized me from the forums. How awesome. After about three hours I finally made it from one end of the building to the other, meeting and greeting all around along the way. It's just the most amazing bunch of people, so much incredible talent all in one place and people are SO nice and friendly and helpful! I did lots of good networking, and everyone is more than happy to introduce a newbie around to all the pertinent folks. I love these people. Seriously. I don't say that lightly. I showed my work to a lot of people and got a lot of compliments (mind you I'm totally star stuck by some of these engravers, so you could just knock me over with a feather when some of them compliment my work) and a lot of really helpful advice on marketing and engraving.

Saturday night was the big banquet. I did not have a ticket, as it cost a small fortune, so I got a table for one in a nice restaurant in the casino (I think that's the first time I've ever eaten alone at anything other than a fast food joint, it was kinda weird but also kind of empowering). And I was served my food while the rest of the engravers were still in line! Ha! I goofed around my hotel room on the internet for a while before heading back downstairs, as I'd been encouraged to come into the banquet hall after dinner to watch a bit of the auction. I was mortifying underdressed and slunk over to an empty seat for a while before heading back down to the convention area to watch a little jam session put on by some of the engravers who are talented musicians. Dang these guys are amazing. I'm about as unmusical as it gets. They played old cowboy songs and a little rock and roll and some old Scottish tunes I and I was just enthralled. I faded out around 11pm and headed back upstairs for some much needed sleep.

Sunday was another convention day. I hadn't been sure what I'd do all day but no sooner was I in the door then I ended up chatting with various people and time flew, I made a bunch more good connections and also got to just sit and catch up with some friends I haven't seen for a year. And before I knew it, 5pm rolled around and people packed up and left. I was kinda sad to see it end. Lacking dinner plans, I decided to experience room service. A little pricey, but convenient.

Oh, I have to throw in here that I think hotels are weird because they are so incredibly wasteful. For one thing, who actually uses an entire bar of soap while they are there? And for crying out loud, I'm ONE person with a room for TWO nights, I do NOT need a fresh bar of soap every day. Why on earth would they throw out the barely used one and give me a new one if I'm staying another night? And same with washing towels. The little "save the environment" card says if you hang the towel on the rack they won't wash it. So I did. They washed it anyway.

But I digress...

I headed back downstairs that night to see if there was another musical jam session to be found (and was terribly tempted to stop in one of the many bars, the place was populated by rugged looking dudes from the Safari show. However, good judgement once again won out, thank goodness). And sure enough, a jam session was just getting underway! So I enjoyed good company and good music for a few hours before I went to bed.

I had originally toyed with the idea of going home Sunday afternoon, but wanted to catch the seminars on Monday so I stuck around for those and I'm glad I did. While none of them applied directly to the work that I'm doing now, it was great to catch a glimpse into some other forms of engraving. I gotta say though, 8am is a tad early. Three cups of tea later, I was still barely functioning. I went to lunch with some of the guys and had a great time, then headed back down for an informal "show and tell" session.

Now I have to say something about the demographic of this world. I'm an oddball. Good thing I'm used to hanging out with old guys in the chicken world, I feel like I fit right in with the engravers too. ;-) There are exceptions, of course. They're great company. So for a few more hours people just sat around and visited and looked at each others work and asked questions, offered advice, etc. We were kicked out around 3pm, and I had an hour and a half to kill til the bus got there. I searched unsuccessfully for a wireless network (apparently available only in the rooms, those sneaky buggers), gambled $5 and won $0.50 (which I didn't bother to cash in, and I really don't know a darn thing about how to use those machines, I just put in a dollar and pulled the handle), finally caved in and had a tasty green beverage (DW it's just not the same without you!) and headed outside to catch the bus for the ride home. It was so beautiful, the sun was going down over the mountains and the clouds were pink and gold, but the bus windows were too dirty for a photo.

And I couldn't stop smiling, because it's this feeling again of that is exactly where I need to be. Engraving. Scrimshaw. That's it, that's right for me, I fit, and if I can toot my own horn just a smidge I'm darn good at it! And I love it. Now if I only I could find this feeling with a man, sigh. But I digress. ;-)

So I have a lot of ideas and suggestions to put into play. This week however I am focused on getting my sales taxes done since they are due on Saturday and I don't really feel like going to jail. Priorities, you know.

Clearly nobody had let me write anything lately, geez.