bow maker

This speaks to my soul. I can't tell you how many arrows I helped my Dad fletch over the years or how many stripe patterns we placed on arrows on his homemade striping lathe. I also have fond memories of making bow strings with him in the shop. Did I mention that he built his own long bow and performed numerous repair jobs on recurve and compound bows? My Dad was super into traditional archery when I was growing up. He would make sets of arrows for people all the time. We had archery meets in our woods near our house with people that my Dad worked with. I used to spend free time outside practicing shooting with my Little Bear recurve bow and I would hang out at the Archery Shop when my Dad shot league during the winter. My Art teacher in high school also sponsored an archery club that I was a member of with several of my friends. We were taught discipline and a perfection of craft through repetitive and consistent action. I never dreamt that all of these things would lead to my love of functional objects and creating things by hand. 

I love it when these videos rekindle the fire that shaped our being. Thanks Dad and Mr. Graves for providing the opportunity to be exposed.