Jim Kelso

Thanks Steve! Thanks very much Luke. If there is an effortless look, it's deceptive! It seems these days that most of my work requires long periods of gestation, especially working out the various design elements and how they work together(or not). Lots of gazing, then leaving it alone for a while.

Thanks very much Chris! Very nice to hear that Doug...

Thanks very much Jeremy! Much appreciated...

A couple others saw the bark as stones, which I can totally see now. It's all good... Thanks Dave! I'll pass that on to Don.

Thanks very much Joshua, Wes and Gerhard. The lyrical content means ever much more to me. Gerhard, yes end-grain with bark on the sides. It's one of my favorite bits too! I did the bark first and puzzled over what to do on the top, and the light-bulb went off...

Many thanks for your comments guys. Much appreciated. Alan, we met last week and he liked it!

Don gave me this blade five or six years ago and said, "Make something beautiful with it". Hmm, ok, so it rumbled around in my mind until last fall. It was a slow process figuring out the transition, theme and all the details, but I think it came good in the end. I didn't find out until it was almost finished that it was Don's last patterned blade. I knew it had to be one of the last, but THE last. I'm glad I didn't know as I was working on it. Below is a little of what I've written. More to be read here: Kelso Journal And a slide show with more photos here: Fogg/Kelso In keeping with the persona of a hunting knife, I chose to represent features of the Vermont woodlands that would be familiar to a skilled, observant woodsman. These include tracks of the Red Fox, leaves of Red Maple, Beech, and Red and White Oaks, and a feather. The feather was modeled from the Ruffed Grouse, but altered in shape and color to fit the surroundings. I chose a feather as a sign of passage, which in the case of birds, could be molting, conflict, flight or death. Feathers have such deep and subtle beauty. My wife Jean and I have a collection and I always wonder, when finding a single feather, what the story was. The tracks, leaves and feather are all signs, marking activity and transition, the meaning of which is read by the skilled woodsman. This project has been very satisfying for a number of reasons. I was touched and honored when Don gave me the blade to finish. I did not realize until the piece was nearly finished that it was his last patterned blade, which greatly enhances the meaning for me. Don is a legend in the smithing world, and rightly so. Apart from his technical innovations, he has an artistic eye, both for pattern and form, which is rarely, if ever matched. In addition, his Bladesmith’s Forum stands as an unparalleled online resource for beginning and accomplished knifemakers.

Daniel I have been sadly distracted this year and missed this. I love the Swedish flavor of your engraving and how it complements Roger's work. Jim

Many thanks James.

Thanks Prof. Actually a kind of weird thing happened. As I was taking material off I would run into the occasional termite carcass released from their woody tombs. As I made the final shape, one sort of stuck in the hole, and stayed there through some vigorous handling, so I decided to lacquer over him as he was not very visible. I took a look last week and some other insect was in the same hole trying to back out! I tried to help it but gutted it in the attempt. I thought it was extraordinary that it was in the same hole. Maybe after some tasty dried termite... Thanks so much Steve.

Thanks very much Joshua and John. All your feedback is very helpful.

And a top view

Thanks Brian. Much appreciated... Here are a couple more shots:

Thanks very much Charles.

Very nice production Dave, as always.