Jake Powning Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I'm very excited about this project! Owen Bush has asked me to create a "Dwinesque" (similar to a seax I made in 2013) hilt and scabbard for a massive and beautiful bear-tooth pattern-welded Seax blade he forged while creating seaxes for the national geographic program about the staffordshire hoard. He wanted it to have a bear theme. Here is the initial concept sketch. I'm now waiting for bronze and working on the wood for the hilt. and here's a glimpse of the pattern— 2 Jake Powning Swords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Sanson Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Woow!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Arthur Loose Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Nice! Great sketch page too. It would make a good print. jloose.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Fantastic vision Jake. This will be a seax of epic proportions. The perfect home for Owen´s blade :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Powning Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thanks guys Jake Powning Swords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Stephens Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 That will be awesome! Great concept. Dave -----------------------------------------------"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly." -- Theodore Roosevelthttp://stephensforge.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Miller Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Awesome project man!!This is a bit like deja vu since I recently designed a very similar sax I'll creating along with another smith. (You know who you are!) “If you trust in yourself. . . believe in your dreams. . . and follow your star. . . you will still get beaten by the people who have spent their time working hard and learning things, the people who weren't so lazy.” ~ Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Page Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Very cool, Jake. In reference to what Michael Lenaghan said, I like the darkness that's been surfacing lately in your work, and for the the imagery it evokes. I really look forward to seeing this collaboration come to life! John Not all those who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien-Shards of the Dark Age- my blog-Nine Worlds Workshop--Last Apocalypse Forge- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Colwell Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 oh yeah, a little pattern welding, a little carving, a little casting, and one fine story to go with it. I like it. watching hopefully, kc. please visit my website http://www.professorsforge.com/ “Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” E. V. Debs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Green Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Sweet!!! Mark Green I have a way? Is that better then a plan? (cptn. Mal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emiliano Carrillo Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I really love the design for the bronze cast scabbard piece, very evil and beautiful at the same time! Dwine was always a favorite of mine, and I am happy to see you create another in the same mind set! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Powning Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 thanks guys! Thanks John, For a long time I've wanted to make work that was unsettling, it's always been part of my design process. I find if you look in the eye of a migration period beast or deconstruct the pretty patterns on Salin drinking horns you will find some things that are quite unsettling, (like the Salin II ( I think?) horn at the British Museum with ornamentation constructed from dismembered limbs and heads). I've always wanted to explore these things in a more overt way but when I was younger I was worried that people wouldn't take my work seriously. After twenty years though I feel like I've earned the right to play with some skulls Also swords are inherently dark and it's liberating to admit that and explore what that means. I think the designs can loose heart if we don't acknowledge the gritty darkness, they can become like a drawing without shading, or a tracing of a drawing that has no feeling in it. Even doing strict reproductions of germanic gripping beasts requires a sense of the macabre or they end up looking cute. 2 Jake Powning Swords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott A. Roush Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Awesome. Love the sketches and linguistics. Yes... you've earned the right to put skulls in your work. I will always remember when Peter Johnsson gave me advice when I first started making swords. He advised me to stay away from skulls. :-) He was right.. I'm not sure that I can tastefully pull that off yet. (although I've had my eyes on a particular Japanese 'battle field' skull carved into a tsuba for quite some time... a particularly unsettling one). I also have always appreciated your ability to capture those subtle aspects in your carvings.. just as you mentioned... that particular look in the eyes of the ancient beasts. http://www.bigrockforge.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter johnsson Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 You know how inspiring this is Jake?It will be great to see this unfold. Scott: I had forgotten that piece of "advice" I gave to you! :-)Sorry for putting hampers on your inspiration and creativity. Go for the skulls!:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott A. Roush Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 You know how inspiring this is Jake? It will be great to see this unfold. Scott: I had forgotten that piece of "advice" I gave to you! :-) Sorry for putting hampers on your inspiration and creativity. Go for the skulls! :-) Oh no... I had no plans for skulls at that time anyway. But that was before I saw this tsuba. I think it has the dark, unsettling.. yet tasteful aesthetic one kind find if they approach the skull in the right way. :-) 1 http://www.bigrockforge.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh A Weston Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 This is quite fantastic.Thank you for continuing to push your work and providing us with inspiration along the way. I can't wait to see this unfold. The Pixel Smith Facebook Etsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Thomas Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Can't wait to see the work on this as it progresses! Owen forged an epic blade and I am really liking the darker bear motif you envision. I think the finished work will be greater than the sum of it's parts. Guy Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Page Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Thanks for that Jake, I immensely enjoy hearing about your approach to the theme, and indeed you have earned that right! Not all those who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien-Shards of the Dark Age- my blog-Nine Worlds Workshop--Last Apocalypse Forge- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petr Florianek Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 i always liked Dwine the most, i think, so this makes me very excited! thanks for sharing GULLINBURSTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Powning Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 thanks guys. That tsuba is amazing Scott! Jake Powning Swords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Powning Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Making progress on the hilt carving, now on to the fittings. 1 Jake Powning Swords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Powning Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 more progress. just about done carving the grip and the wax model of the rivet block for the sheath... 1 Jake Powning Swords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Interesting skull collection! And nice carving of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh A Weston Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Beautiful carving. I am enjoying watching this come to life. The Pixel Smith Facebook Etsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Miller Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 That wood carving on the handle is almost soothing to look at because of the smooth organic lines, yet the theme or "energy" is still deep and grim. “If you trust in yourself. . . believe in your dreams. . . and follow your star. . . you will still get beaten by the people who have spent their time working hard and learning things, the people who weren't so lazy.” ~ Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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