-
Rewilding, Dispatched
Rewilding has been picked up by the mainstream and watered down. Peter Michael Bauer gives his assessment of the situation.
-
Bulletin of Primitive Technology #48, Fall 2014
The fall issue of the Bulletin of Primitive Technology is out and has an article in it that I wrote about processing Blackberry Bark for weaving. Learn more or order issues at their website: www.btprimitives.com
-
2014 CBBG Fall Basketry Retreat
This year I attended the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild‘s fall retreat at Camp Magruder, OR. I’ve been a member of the guild for 3 years now, but hadn’t yet made it out to the yearly retreat. A few months back the weavers in Eugene had me come down and show them how to prepare Himalayan…
-
Thoughts on Death
I think about death all the time. Mostly because I am a hypochondriac. I often think about the possibility of contracting some disease or parasite or virus from my rewilding activities. I spend restless nights psyching myself out reading pseudo-medical websites. What if I died from Raccoon Roundworm after picking up a roadkill and skinning it?…
-
Deer Bone Fish Hook Earrings
Birthday present I made for my lady. Deer bone fish hook earrings with mussel shell lures tied on with elk sinew. Utilitarian jewelry ftw. My next batch will be more symmetrical I hope. And yes, her ear piercings are large enough to fit these.
-
Brain-Tanned Nutria Pelt Bag
My brain-tanned nutria pelt murse. Case-skinned. Stitched the bum side with my bone awl and brain-tanned buckskin thong. The opening is where the face is, the shoulder strap is looped through the fore arm holes. Shoulder strap is a 5 strand braided chem-tan deer hide from scrap bins. I have only made one cut around…
-
A Bunch of Bifaces
I’m not that great at flint-knapping. It’s one of my goals this year to be able to make nice arrowheads from a larger core of obsidian. At Echoes in Time this year I made a couple of handfuls of bifaces, a flat stone with one solid edge all the way around, created mostly through percussion…
-
English Ivy Shrinkage in Green Weaving
When weaving with green ivy, I always weave it super tight. Still, like any weaving material, as green ivy dries it shrinks a lot. The basket above is an example of just how much shrinkage occurs. I rapped all the ivy down in a random spot to show how much space is left open. When…
-
Wet-Scraping Nutria Hides With Bone and Stone Tools
So, I have a friend who has property and it is over-run with nutria. About three times a year he will go around and shoot as many nutria as he can see. This may seem cold, but nutria are an invasive species of aquatic rodent brought here during the fur trade era and released when…
-
My Very First English Ivy Basket
This was the first ivy basket I made a few years ago (2009). It was a simple woven basket using only one weaver. No twining. It was roughly constructed. I gave it away to the forest up in Twisp, WA when I was at Lynx’s program.
-
Bow-Drill Busking @ Last Thursday
I’ve been lighting bow-drills on the streets of Portland for 15 years now. It’s still fun, but man were my arms tired!
-
English Ivy Fanny Pack
One of my more recent projects: The English Ivy basket-fanny pack. Tapestry weave. Chem tanned leather scrap for the front flap and belt loops. Deer toe bone for the button.
