Patricia Edel - Blue Fly Bed, Breakfast, & Alaskan Fishing Guide Service King Salmon, AK

Fortunately when the time comes for Teri and I to experience Alaska we’ll have at least one place where there’s a familiar face to guide our adventure. I’ve been friends with Patricia (Patty) Edel since some time I’d say in the first grade. Patty is now the owner of Blue Fly Bed, Breakfast, & Guide Service in King Salmon, AK. Teri and I have decided that relocating our shop has to come first, but once we’re reestablished and operational – an Alaskan adventure is one of the next highest priorities!

Blue Fly offers a variety of seasonal fishing packages, guided nature photography, accommodations, and the Alaskan Experience! Patty has spent her life building her experiences in the outdoors always taking the opportunity to go fishing, crabbing and exploring. During her time in college in Colorado she honed her guiding skills while earning her degree in biology. During this time frame she took a summer opportunity to visit Alaska, which began a lifetime hook to the state and the fishing.

Now – regarding the topic question “Is a fishing guide an artist?”

About ten years ago Patty was back in New Jersey for a visit and while getting the grand tour of the latest updates to our house she mentioned a few times her appreciation for the skills required to restore a house, build furniture, and admired a few of the carvings around the house. Meanwhile she was describing her travels, and at the time lack of any real roots or base to personalize as her own. Of course my comments focused on her lifestyle, mostly being a bit jealous that she is literally living day to day what the rest of us have to save up for a year to experience for a week every so often.

Now that I mentally revisit these conversations, read some of Patty’s profiles, reviews, and listen to podcast interviews, well it’s actually very clear that being a successful fishing guide requires the same mindset that an accomplished artist achieves. I can’t claim to have a fraction of Patty’s knowledge and experience with fishing, she’s fished around the world. I on the other hand occasionally have the time to spend a few hours losing lures and catching “stick fish.” Fishing requires a dedication and commitment to observation, patience, and practice that I have already chosen to direct towards mastering the art of woodworking. Anyone can venture out for the day and get lucky, coming home with a bucket of fish and bragging about their prowess. There are however only a lucky few that repeat that performance on a regular basis.

(Here’s an interlude question: Given that my brainwaves are focused on woodworking, maybe catching “stick fish” aligns with my true calling?)

Patty and I have bounced off the subject of our lifestyles a few times over the years. We’ve been profiling artists and craftsmen boasting a variety of skills and an assortment of mediums. Learning the environment, habits, feeding, tolerances, and hundreds of other detailed facts and techniques about a fish, or any creature, is much the same as mastering the skills of carving, metal working, or stained glass. Until now I actually hadn’t realized the correlation between these unique activities.

Patty has chose King Salmon, AK as the place where she established her personal habit, and as the place where she will fine tune her skills – and it seems she’s already achieved a masters level credential in the art of fishing. Take about twenty minutes aside and listen to this great podcast interview (click the link to the left it’s a link to a specific place on www.internetangler.com) Throughout the interview Patty provides a first person description of how she found her way to become a fishing guide and describes her life and home in Alaska. The only warning we’ll provide is that if you are into fishing … you’ll really have the burning desire to book a trip to Alaska that may not quench without taking the journey. You’ll find the depth of her skill and passion for fishing and guiding as she touches close, but stops just short, of revealing a secrete method of attracting trout. Patty’s personality is pretty well summed up with an anecdote where she describes just running down to the dock with a can of bear spray; much like the rest of us would grab a can of raid and knock out a few rouge bees.

Let’s not forget that Blue Fly’s focus is on fly fishing – for those who are addicted to this activity you are certainly not disputing the claim that it is an art form. I’ve personally tried a few feeble attempts at fly fishing, the net result landed me a few hats, a couple large trees, and on more than one cast (more than a dozen) I firmly hooked into the boat. I’m thinking it will be a bit of an embarrassing display to start, but figuring that Patty can stare down a bear and win, she’s likely equipped with enough tenacity to teach Teri and I how to fly fish!

We’re looking forward to our chance to venture to Alaska – which hopefully won’t be too far off! We’ll give a first hand perspective when the time comes. If any of our friends, clients, families, etc. are planning a trip; make sure you check out Blue Fly Bed, Breakfast, & Guide Service.

My conclusion – I’ve not only justified the blog feature of a fishing and guide service on our “Artisans Blog,” but I’ve likely given many of you an increased appreciation for the efforts your fishing and hunting guides go through to master the skills that are often responsible for your (our) success on the waters and in the field. These folks dedicate their lives to the environment, our natural resources, the preservation of the species that supports their lifestyle, and on a more selfish level they provide those of us who do not have the time to scout, study, and observe a chance to experience the life of someone who does!

Blue Fly has recently received some attention from Outdoor Life Channel’s Adventure Guides hosted by John Dietsch. Adventure Guides – Alaska Trip Trailer watch the Outdoor Channel – look for Episode 9 in the 2009 season! For the rest of us that do not have this station we’ll be posting a link to an online video stream ASAP! Those of us that have known Patty since we were kids are all very proud of her achievements. We are not remotely surprised at her success;  I think most of us expected it. Now its time to wonder what she’ll pull off next!

Extract from http://www.outdoorchannel.com/

Adventure Guides: Fishing Edition features the world’s most colorful fly, salt and bass fishing guides in a fast-paced “reality TV” format. Host John Dietsch travels the globe and goes behind-the-scenes of outfitters, lodges and fly shops. As we learn about the waters these guides fish and the techniques they use, we also get insight into the trials and tribulations of the guiding lifestyle as well as the rewards of living life every day close to the fisheries they love and protect.

Episode 9

“King Salmon Alaska: Trout and Char” (Preview Images Above!)

This episode highlights the amazing fly-fishing available in King Salmon, Alaska. We join professional guide and owner of Blue Fly Guide Service, Patricia Edel, her father Rick Edel, and guides Will Cranz to fly fish for trophy rainbow trout, char and grayling. They take us out on their home waters of the Naknek River, followed by the Brooks Falls, and lastly they take a bush plane out to search for salmon run in the Ugashik Narrows. This episode showcases the beautiful Alaskan wilderness, the local brown bear population, and includes several amazing fishing sequences in which the Blue Fly crew bring in the record size trout famous to this region.

Marc Udell, owner of the Queenstown Gallery, recently completed the final steps of mounting Eric’s Master’s papers over Memorial Day weekend! This set the stage for the finishing touches on Eric’s “Framing Papers” project. Those of you that are followers of our newsletter already know that Eric decided to commission a hand illuminated parchment to commemorate the transition of Artisans of the Valley and the completion of his tenure as a journeyman which formally established his certifications and status as a Master Craftsman.

Eric, Teri, and Stanley all worked on the design, construction, carving, and finishing of a custom New Wave Gothic shadow box frame to display the parchment, a true work of art in itself by Rosemary Buczek. What these artists did not possess was the knowledge, technical skill, and the required equipment to properly mount the parchment within the wooden structure.

For this task we commissioned Marc Udell of The Queenstown Gallery (Pennington & Hopewell, NJ) to install an acid free suede background and employ the appropriate museum style tactics to fix the parchment in place. To give you an idea of why we all stay in our niche; Eric’s original idea of flocking the interior of the piece was quickly shot down. Marc’s experience and standing keeper of the simple fact that flocking is not acid free certainly trumps our knowledge of handling this type of artwork. This again is where we emphasize the value to an extensive network of artists and craftsmen who combine their unique skills to complete the highest caliber of projects.

So the acid free suede was mounted to a foam board backing and secured into the shadow box. Our traditional rope moldings were put in place around the perimeter of the suede mat board, and the parchment was glued into place using a proprietary silicon adhesive. The face of the frame wraps a panel of museum glass, providing 99% UV protection and an almost invisible presence.

The Queenstown Galleryis made up of two long standing business’ in the Hopewell valley area. The Pennington location was established in 1964 by Rosemary Wetherill and George Koeppel, the Queenstown Gallery (which derives its name from the original name of Pennington) has developed a tradition of cheerful, experienced service and the finest quality workmanship and materials available. The second location in Hopewell formerly The Hopewell Frame Shop opened and operated in 1978 by Abigail Frantz, also had a fine reputation for providing quality work and service to its customers. In October of 2005 Marc Udell purchased the Pennington location from Jack Koeppel and then in March of 2008 acquired the Hopewell store from Abby. Both Shops now carry the name of The Queenstown Gallery and Custom Picture Framing.

Queenstown Galleryoffers its customers a full range of picture framing and all related services, from ready-made and standing photo frames to custom-made, museum standard framing. From assisting in the selection of correct colors and styles to delivery and expert hanging in your home or office, we can do it all. Under the new ownership of Marc Udell, professional photographer and custom picture framer. The Queenstown Gallery has gone through some very positive changes starting with a bit of a facelift as well as an update in equipment and technology employing the use of computers to input your order as well as a computerized mat cutter that will cut a perfect opening in the mats used to frame your piece of art. The Queenstown Gallery includes among its clients: historical sites like the Old Barracks Museum, The New Jersey State Museum, Rutgers University, Princeton University, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, art collectors and dealers, as well as the general public.

The Queenstown Gallery, now has a full fledge gallery at the Hopewell location, the wall art is comprised of local artist’s work and we have added glass and ceramics by national known artisans. We also are now holding show openings every 8 weeks of our local artist’s work. Please call or check our calendar for specific detail. Rumors are starting that Artisans may be putting some of their work on display at the Hopewell location soon!

Technical experience and equipment

Owner, Marc Udell has a degree in Commercial Photography and has worked for clients like Lockheed Martin, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Janssen Pharmaceutica. Marc has been trained in custom picture framing by Larson Juhl a leading manufacturer and distributor of custom picture framing moulding. The Queenstown Gallery is marketing, partner of Larson Juhl. We utilize computerized mat cutting equipment manufactured by Wizard International as well as Point of Sale software by Specialty Software Systems a leader in custom picture framing software.

When the time comes to display your treasures, consider a custom made frame or shadow box!

Queenstown gallery Contact Information:

http://www.thequeenstowngallery.com/

43 SOUTH MAIN STREET | PENNINGTON, NJ 08534 | 609-737-1876
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24 WEST BROAD STREET | HOPEWELL, NJ 08525 | 609-466-0817

A Sneak Peak at Hopewell’s Gallery Interior!

Art exists in on canvass, in sculpture, and we’ve obviously established that it comes in the form of furniture. It comes on parchment; you know that if you’ve been paying attention to our blogging and newsletters! Our question is: How many of you would figure that art comes in the form of a blade?

The full story of this amazing custom hand crafted knife, known as “Artemis,” by Jay Fisher – Named “The Best Living Knife Maker” in the 2007 Best of the West Sourcebook by True West Publications – exists in a two part article: Part I of the story is featured in Artisans Quarterly Review Vol. 2 Issue 2, Part II will be released in Issue 3 this August.

“Many fine knifemakers exist in the world. Some Excel at making weapons, others at creating art. At his Enchanted Spirits Studio in Clovis, New Mexico, Jay Fisher does both. In the blade business since 1988, Fisher makes knives, many featuring gemstone handles, for collectors, museums and people who really know how to use ’em (101st Airborne, Special Forces, USAF Pararescue).”  –from the 2007 Best of the West magazine

Those of us that put our blood, sweat, tears alongside a mix of creativity, passion, and often obsession into what we produce tend to gravitate towards others with the same tendencies. We understand each other, and we have a true appreciation for what goes into creating a unique object, painting, sculpture, or … come to think of it even a Novel.

(Interlude … Novel … Yeah we’ve done that too … Stanley D. Saperstein’s “Sharpshooters” is the offspring of several years of writing, research, editing, more editing, and oh did we mention more editing? – Dr. David Martin of Longstreet House Publishing is responsible for the editing, and nearly his own strangulation by Eric when he announced the book would be manually “Type-Set” after all the iterations Eric went through in digital formats. Don’t fear though, Dave is alive and well and now appreciates the benefits technology and camera ready printers have to offer!)

Anyway – here’s the point: Knife making is one of the dirtiest, most difficult, tedious, and in many steps dangerous trades. On a daily basis the exposure to silicates, high temperatures, extreme noise levels, abrasives, presses, and a host of other dangers (can you say sharp objects?) takes its toll on the body of the artist. Your day as a knifemaker is spent in breathing apparatus, head phones, welding masks, and other protective gear. You’re often vibrating and wet … not so much fun.

Part of being a Master in the trades of woodworking is learning to make carving tools. This follows many of the same steps as knifemaking. I’ve tried my hand at a forge, pumped bellows and hand cranked blowers standing beside a coal forge. (At some point I’ll publish stories from growing up on a living history farm.) I’ve run many of the machines involved in knife making, both modern and historic. I’ve had metal shavings in my eye, burned myself on glowing metal, and ground my thumb on a wheel. I’ve even had a buffer snatch a piece from my hands and fling it at me; obviously I lived to tell about it. All this has taught me that I don’t know my ass from a hole in the wall compared to what a master knifemaker understands about metalergy & stone and how to work it; it also gave me a true appreciation for what it takes to craft a knife like Artemis.

When you meet a knife maker at a show, you see the person; you look over their display in most casing having no true conception of what this artist put into his or her work. When you are ready to read and learn about the life of a knife maker, visit to Jay’s website site, www.jayfisher.com. Plan to spend the time you would put into reading a novel. Oh, BTW, just as a head’s up; once you’re finished reading over a hundred pages of detailed information about his art, his life, and his business, you’ll have discovered Jay is likewise an author; pending publication in about a year you’ll have time to finish reading through his website before it’s time to buy a copy!

(http://www.jayfisher.com/Table_of_Contents.htm … this will give you some perspective on the depth of Jay’s website.) To the untrained eye some of his content may seem sarcastic or even arrogant, this is strategic in nature as it filters out the individual that is … I’ll state it bluntly … unworthy of the efforts that Jay will put into a commission. These are my words, my interpretation. Visit his site and read with the perspective of someone who is looking for the best man for the job and you’ll find that his words quickly morph into earned confidence and a sincere pride in his work. If you still don’t get it … well … walk away.

The following is an extract from Jay’s website; we look forward to releasing more details of this project in our next newsletter. If you’re interested in reading Part II of “The Birth of Artemis” please to our newsletter by clicking here:  Artisans Quarterly Review – Newsletter Subscription.

The following text and images in this blog entry are republished from: http://www.jayfisher.com/artemisredriverjasper ; and are the property of Jay Fisher & The Enchanged Spirits Studio. All rights reserved. Check back soon we’ll have some in use photos and cooking projects published shortly!

“Artemis” Fine Hunting Butcher’s Knife

• Size: Knife: Length overall: 16.75″ (42.5 cm), Blade Length: 11.75″ (29.8 cm), Thickness: .170″ (4.3 mm)
• Weight: Knife: 1 lb. 6 oz. (624 gm.) Sheath: 1 lb. 5 oz. (595 gm.)
• Blade: CPMS30V High Vanadium Powder Technology Stainless Steel, Hardened and Tempered to Rockwell C59
• Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel
• Handle: Red River Jasper Gemstone (India)
• Sheath: Burgundy Ostrich Leg Skin inlaid in hand-carved Leather, Suede tension bindings, Copper, Brass
• Knife:  Named for the Greek goddess of the hunt and wilderness, Artemis is a stunning knife. Custom designed with my client for butchering large game at the hunt, the blade design is the venerated historic Hamburg pattern from Germany, with a long straight cutting edge and a narrowing belly with a strong dropped point. The steel he chose is CPMS30V high vanadium crucible particle metallurgy stainless tool and die steel for tremendous wear resistance and high corrosion resistance. I hollow ground it extremely thin at the cutting edge for a superb slicing geometry and razor keen action. The steel is hardened and tempered to a hard, tough 59HRC, and has a useful satin finish for easy cleaning. The blade has a fully tapered tang for good weight control, but there is no denying that this is a large knife. The client wanted a nice vine filework on the spine only for increased tactile grip, and none on the handle for easy cleaning. The balance point is just behind my maker’s mark. For improved control when necked up in close cutting chores, I extended the front bolster about three inches, which gives a great place to grip in chopping or dicing. The sculpted and polished bolsters are all 304 austenitic high chromium, high nickel stainless steel, mirror finished for zero care with the high toughness and extreme corrosion resistance. Three sets of bolsters mount on the nicely contoured handle of the knife, with the central pair at the mid-quillon for durability. The rear bolster has a 5/16″ through-tang lanyard hole for security and hanging. The handle is tight, bedded, and sealed, smooth and polished, with dovetailed bolsters and brightly polished Red River Jasper gemstone from India. This jasper is one of the toughest and hardest I use, with bits of hematite inclusions and fine veins. It’s solid and comfortable and the color is strikingly natural red.
• Sheath: You can bet this special knife would have a stunning sheath, so I created this unique art in leather and skin. The sheath body is 9-10 oz. leather shoulder, tough and durable, hand-carved with inlay areas to set the burgundy Ostrich Leg skin. I used broad, bold pieces of the skin, designed to accentuate the large scale pattern nicely. The sheath profile and belt loop shape echo a hunting bow form. The massive belt loop and edge welt are stitched with tough black nylon in a zigzag pattern for great strength and to match the tension bindings on the sheath. The bindings are red suede leather, mounted to hint at Artemis’ bow strings, accented with hand-formed copper rings. The sheath has a brass snap at the flap, which secures and completely covers the knife handle for protection. The sheath is dyed, lacquered, and sealed. I knew the owner would want to keep the sheath pristine, so I made and included a custom matching embroidered and double-stitched cotton-poly blend storage bag for the convenient carry.

Artemis will have many great adventures and turn many heads, custom made for a great client and fellow artist.

Thanks, E. S.!

I actively scan the Internet searching websites, blogs, news, images, etc. using a series of keywords to help determine who out there is talking about us. It’s often a fascinating venture and every time I take some time to do some specific searches I find something new.

I figured it would be interesting to share some of the results with all of you. This of course is bragging rights for us as there are lots of links pointing to our website or extracts taken to illustrate educational points, provide examples of period designs, woodcarving, restoration, sculptures, or folk art.

The second point to make here is to all of you who are involved in marketing your business, orgaization, cause, whatever … it’s a critical to run searches for your business name, your website, your products, your name, your affiliates, and your competition. I’d bet you’d be amazed what you find – and I’m sure it will turn out of value.

Here’s a few interesting results of sites that creatively employed our content towards mutually beneficial goal. The more interactive content you have with the appropriate link backs from sites with logical connections the better your search engine ranking gets, the more traffic you draw, and the more online credibility you will build for your website and your business.

Here’s a few tips for Google that usually work with most search engines:

1) Search for your website: www.artisansofthevalley.com

2) Search for link backs: link:www.artisansofthevalley.com

3) Search for your business name: “Artisans of the Valley”

4) Search for YOUR name: “Eric Saperstein” & “Eric M. Saperstein”

5) Search for your phone numbers: 609-637-0450

6) Search for your email address: eric@artisansofthevalley.com

7) Don’t forget – especially in Google – search websites, images, blogs, and news separately to find your top results in each category.

Links to Artisans Plugs:

(This only took about 15 minutes to find)

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Home decor: coffee table will let you play chess
Arpita Mukherjee | Oct 8 2008

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Mohawk Finishing Products – Newsletter Feature of Artisans of the Valley

(Mohawk is an RPM Company)

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Waterlox – Features Artisans of the Valley

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Furniture Planners does a Product Feature (Pricing is a bit out of date!)

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Horton Brasses Blog Site + they feature our Philosophy of Restoration Article

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Hopewell Valley Central School System Features a Chainsaw Carving Project

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Phoenix Masonry Museum features “The History of Fraternal Walking Sticks”

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Decorati Access – Interior Design Magazine –

Noted us as a product & information resource for their article

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TODL Featured us in their public news blurbs.

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Master Craftsman Stanley D. Saperstein is always whittling away at what often seems like random sticks and blocks of wood. A few hours later – the transition between raw material and folk art walking stick begins to become apparent. We’re just a little bit behind on updating www.customwalkingsticks.com (to say the least … the last “real” update was in 2006) so we’re going to blog a bit about our walking stick portfolio.

All of Stanley’s canes, hiking staffs, and walking sticks are custom made, one-of-a-kind originals. Each is signed and personalized by commission for each individual client. They are sized per your height and weight requirements and intended use. Each staff portrays the life and accomplishments of its owner, featuring interests, crests, family, fraternal symbolism, and military service as applicable.

If you’re considering a commission – please click the following link: “A Cause for Walking Sticks” It will bring you to a feature article that will not only show you more of Stanley’s sticks, but it will explain Rory Fanning’s walk for Pat Tillman and how Artisans is supporting this worthy cause. Don’t forget to mention your support for Rory’s walk when you contact us about your commission. All you have to do is mention Rory’s question and we will then contribute 40% of your commission to this cause!

We’ll be announcing the completion of the first four sticks commissioned under the “Cause for Walking Sticks” project … and revealing more details about their destiny next month; for now it’s a clandestine operation. Meanwhile think about someone in your life that may benefit from a walking stick. We’re constantly running into “stubborn” people who refuse to carry a cane as they feel it’s a … well a crutch … Here’s a few thoughts on that.

Rory Fanning walking for Pat Tillman

#1 – YES … one view of having to carry a cane due to an injury or medical need is that it is a crutch; that said get over it! It’s a fact of life that there are times when we all need a little support.

#2 – Think about it there’s no rule that you have to carry an ambiguous looking metal pole or clearly obvious medical device.

#3 – A personalized cane or walking stick makes a statement about your personality, it can show a concise accounting of your life, and it opens the door to conversation and meeting new people.

#4 – For generations canes have been a fashion statement, not a sign of weakness.

#5 – Hikers and serious walkers are never seen without their staff in hand. A staff is not only a mechanism to establish balance, it’s a means of defense. Those on the trail may come across snakes, animals, or worse yet an ill intentioned person. I wouldn’t recommend the average person taking a stick to a gunfight – but I will make a very confident statement. If you walk up to me with a knife, and I have a staff … you are going to loose the fight!

The image shown to the left is Rory Fanning – carrying his personal staff. We should note – he is NOT carrying one of Stanley’s sticks. We made the offer, but Rory is attached to his stick, and rightfully he will not relinquish it for any replacement. Rory is a former Army Ranger, he’s a leader and in great shape. You’re looking at someone that just walked clear across the United States in the name of his friend and brother in arms.

In the approaching 25 years that Stanley has been carving custom walking sticks, staffs, and canes we have never had a client who didn’t absolutely love carrying a personalized cane. Many have offered us the feedback that they alost never go out in public without someone commenting on their now prized possession, asking about it and sparking conversations and often finding them new friends. We’ve also been told that Stanley’s canes have saved our clients from many a fall, saving a great deal of pain!

We’re also expecting to hear from a lot more people to continue to extend our support for this cause for many years to come. The walk may complete, but the mission of the Pat Tillman Foundation will continue, our nation needs to instill wisdom, integrity, and leadership skills into the next generation.  Check back very soon – as the first four sticks commissioned under “A Cause for Walking Sticks”are in progress and will be revealed soon.

Anyway … here’s a short gallery of four new walking sticks – completed within the past year or so.

 Visit www.customwalkingsticks.com for an more of example’s of Stanley’s sticks, and be sure to check out Artisans support for Rory Fanning’s Walk for Pat Tillman.

The power wielded by a blog as important as ours should not be taken lightly and we did promise to do more with it than simply promote ourselves. We certainly did not promise we’d handle the task of providing technical and other useful information to others ourselves, actually – if I remember right we planned on just the opposite. By inviting guest bloggers, re-blogging, or otherwise creatively attracting material to our blog we can provide our followers more content.

We’re kicking off with four technical Tips on the use of Mohawk’s new Waterborne (Greenguard) finishing products.

Artisans (Eric & Teri) are both Mohawk Certified Technicians – each with experience in performing furniture repair and touchup procedures. We’re in the process of testing out some of these new waterborne stains and finishes now, and we’ll be reporting our own findings and techniques directly back to Mohawk, then to all of you, through our newsletter and our blog.

 Technical News Flash

Mohawk Finishing Products

Waterborne Product Line

Original Release by Mohawk was on May 8, 2009

Tip 1: Spray the sealer or first coat of the Waterborne Pre-Catalyzed product on as a light wet coat.  This may look hungry and need more material but you will find that it dries faster and sands smooth, which creates a very nice base for additional coats.

You will have much better results by applying a lighter seal coat or first coat.  After that, apply the subsequent coats in medium wet coats.

It is very tempting to apply a heavy wet coat because you can but it can cause poor results.

Tip 2: For best results using the Waterborne Dye Stains, always dilute the stain with the Waterborne Dye Stain Reducer/Base by at least 40%.

This will give you much more control of the color and the best results.  I like to demo the stain by letting the customer spray straight from the bottle on one side of a panel, then dilute it and let them spray the other side.

They will see immediately how much more control and how much cleaner the end results are.

Tip 3: Use a chiseled foam brush when applying the Waterborne Glaze to leave accent color around profiles, carvings or shapes.  It makes it much easier to get into corners and crevices.

The foam brushes also work very well to apply the Waterborne Wiping Stains as well.

Tip 4: Use the Waterborne Dye Stain Reducer/Base as a wood conditioner prior to adding a Waterborne Wiping Stain.

Spray, brush or use a cloth to apply the Waterborne Dye Stain Reducer/Base.  Wipe off the excess with a clean rag and then apply the wiping stain.

You should find the wiping stain much easier to apply and wipe clean.  It also helps reduce end grain going darker.

About Mohawk, an RPM Company … (reprinted from www.mohawkfinishing.com)

Our industry is one of the most rapidly changing industries in America.  New techniques in manufacturing, modern color variations, synthetic materials, and new chemical treatments, have all contributed to the complex changes the industry is experiencing.   Old methods of staining and shading as well as old finishing techniques, are being superseded by new methods which must cope with modern and varying standards.

Mohawk is proud that, in the face of these changes, it has not only kept abreast but also anticipated many of these changes.   Our research department is constantly experimenting and testing new methods and devices.   Recent developments have vastly improved Touch-Up Markers, Fillers, Epoxy Adhesives and a complete line of Kits and repair products for wood, leather and vinyl.  Our Tone Finish® aerosol products haven been an invaluable tool for the finisher.  We have also done everything possible to keep up with regulatory issues.  Glance through the hardware section, the most complete line of its kind, designed exclusively with the service technician in mind.

This web site, which includes finishing and touch-up tips, as well as a complete listing of our products and hardware, is designed to assist the Technician as much as possible.  We are confident that it will aid in selecting the proper materials as each item has a brief explanation.

With our modern laboratory facilities, we are in a position to formulate and furnish you with almost any desired item and any special shade and color.  We are always ready to help with whatever finish, patching or repairing difficulties you have.   Write or e-mail us explaining your problems and we will do our utmost to assist you

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook – all these sites I keep emphasizing are becoming great resources to promote business and network. As I come across blogs or other useful resources I’ll be adding them here to pass along the knowledge to our readers.

One of my recent “Twitter Finds” is Alyson B. Stanfield – business and marketing consultant to artists. As an author, consultant, blogger, etc. she provides skills that quite frankly many artists lack! Check out here website: http://www.artbizcoach.com/ for more information. An extract for her bio is below!

“This is the greatest job ever! I completely enjoyed my ten years working in art museums, but this is way cooler. I began consulting with artists informally in the early 1990s as part of my position as a museum curator. When I left museums, my old artist-friends continued coming to me for help and advice. Everyone wanted an agent! A little research into that field led me to conclude that I wouldn’t be doing artists any favors by doing all of the work for them. Instead, I decided to teach them how. You know the Chinese proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  – Alyson B. Stanfield.

Oh – and BTW – I couldn’t resist chiming in on one of her blog entries – “Tips for Survival as an Artist–from Michael Shane Neal: Part 1.”  Yes – go figure me “Eric” … couldn’t resist opening my mouth; yeah I know that’s just so out of character. The link is below if you’re curious what I had to say.

http://www.artbizblog.com/2009/05/tips-for-survival-as-an-artistfrom-michael-shane-neal-part-1.html

Alyson’s general blog home page is: http://www.artbizblog.com/

We’ve just confirmed the first commission under our “A Cause for Walking Sticks” initiative! This is a very special commission for four hand crafted walking sticks by Stanley D. Saperstein; four uniquely personalized gifts that beyond the artistic and forthcoming sentimental value will convey our client’s desire to support Rory Fanning and above all the Pat Tillman Foundation.

We can’t release too many more details about the sticks just yet as these staffs will be gifts, and only a few people are aware of the game-plan at this point. I think it’s safe to say our client comes from a family filled with football players and soldiers; and they are all obviously aware of the sacrifices made on the behalf of freedom. We were very excited to kick off our small part of the Walk for Pat fund raising efforts with not one, but four sticks!

We’ll keep you posted as this project progresses, and meanwhile we encourage each of you to find your own way to help. Please feel free to submit your thoughts and ideas as a comment here, we’ll make certain to forward them to Rory or post your comments directly to his blog or website.

“Pat is an example current leadership can take the greatest lesson from. To have unlimited comfort and security, only give it up for the pain and toil of greater cause is epic. We need those who were closest to Pat, to find more like him. The headlines continue to make this obvious. Please continue to support this walk and the PTF by spreading the word. Pat Tillman’s memory must live on.” – Rory Fanning

Please make sure you keep up your daily regiment of reading Rory Fanning’s Blog for current updates about his journey across the US.

Rory’s latest entry as of today is: http://blog.walkforpat.org/2009/05/13/haydee-rodriguez.aspx

The Facebook badge image below will automatically update with Rory’s current location. Please take a moment to visit his website, learn more about the Pat Tillman Foundation, and make a contribution to Rory’s quest!

http://www.walkforpat.org/Home_Page.html  

Click here to visit Rory Fanning’s

Walk for Pat Tillman Facebook Profile

The Internet has obviously gone well beyond a place to post information; we’ve passed from the information age into the social networking age. The interlinking of personal and business lives with an unprecedented ability to exchange information ranging from the pointless to the severely relevant is at our fingertips 24 hours a day.

 I’ve found that I can now find out what people I haven’t seen since high school graduation had for breakfast just about any time of day I check Facebook. We’re all bantering back and forth like we are sitting in homeroom again – which honestly is kind of fun and often rather entertaining. We already know each other, and we’ve already likely seen our youthful … well … I won’t incriminate myself here.

LinkedIn has emerged as one of the more relevant business networking sites – and it developed into a great way to reconnect with old colleagues and maintain my network. This is all especially relevant in today’s economy! You can connect to my LinkedIn profile by clicking the badge on our blog’s sidebar.

Along with these – and Twitter (we’ll blog that one later) we discovered a great resource in www.slideshare.net which is indexed database containing an amazing array of content consisting of the presentations submitted by members around the world.

Artisans is maintaining our content at http://www.slideshare.net/esaperstein

This information is also on our website – but our website does not give us the ability to quickly and automatically post our presentations to Facebook, LinkedIn, and dozens of other social networking sites. SlideShare also seems to have a jump on search engine optimization (SEO) – we’ve found that content we’ve posted on their site often comes close to, if not jumps ahead of, our own hosted content in various searches.

I haven’t decided if the SlideShare SEO advantage is good or bad for the long term, but given that it works; I’m not stupid – I’m taking advantage of it for our marketing purposes. Our searches have found portfolios from artists, designers, IT consultants, professors, students, accountants, lawyers, environmentalists – well just about everyone is getting in on this!

So here are the points of this blog entry –

#1 If you’re not already engaging in Social Networking – start now or you will find yourself left behind!

#2 Sites like SlideShare are a great aid to marketing any sized business – take advantage of this opportunity!

#3 Take a moment to visit OUR Slidespace, check out our presentations (http://www.slideshare.net/esaperstein) stop to post your thoughts and comments on a few of them, and don’t forget you can share our content on your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networking pages! Don’t forget to follow us too!

Earlier today I discovered a great website when wandering through the referral logs on www.customwalkingsticks.com called Cane News – available at www.canenews.com

Operated by Simon J. Paulson, Editor, and Irene de Leva, Assistant Editor this unique site exists to share the art, the history, the fashion, and embellishment of canes and walking sticks.

The site includes book reviews, listing relevant research and general interest material including links to examine books such as American Folk Art Canes, Personal Sculpture by George H. Meyer, especially notable as one of Stanley’s canes is included in Mr. Meyer’s personal collection. Their consolidated book listings alone are worth a visit.

Also online are spotlight features of artists, events, and a variety of other creative content. Cane News featured some of the hand crated folk art Masonic canes produced by Artisan’s own Stanley D. Saperstein, on display as one of the many examples of the unqiue world of fraternal canes. Feature Link: http://www.canenews.com/?paged=2

If you’re one of our followers that enjoys collecting or carrying your personal canes and walking sticks www.canenews.com is a perfect site for you to bookmark.