WHY HAND ENGRAVING?
Legacy?
Because it’s beautiful?
Investment?
To honor?
Memorialize?
Yes.
While these reasons may seem obvious, perhaps the most significant reason to hand engrave your bamboo fly rod cannot be seen or even carefully explained…it can only be felt.
Let me say this…throughout the years here at Oyster, hand engraving our bamboo fly rods has been one of the most rewarding experiences imaginable.
Personally, I consider it a privilege to speak with you and hear stories that mean so much so I may convey these narratives to Bill. While it may seem like a simple conversation…a work of art is taking shape that is then passed on for generations.
Whether it is simply your initials or a favorite fish, beloved hunting dog, recreation of a meaningful memento, family crest or an homage to your life or another’s…the entire process begins with the desire to pull back a layer and add some virtuosity to an already very special piece of “equipment”.
What goes into an engraving?
Loaded question.
So much.
Hand engraving is the oldest form of art and communication.
Before Bill even makes his first cut, there are hours of consideration, design, sketching and layout. And because he digs deep on an emotional level at this phase of the engraving project…it solidifies the trajectory of the bamboo fly rod.
We care. We care about your story, it’s preservation and are forever humbled that you chose Oyster to play some small part.
I could bore you to death with the intricacies of hand engraving yet I have chosen to enlist my 8th grade diagramming skills that I finally get to use…
BEHOLD
ANATOMY OF AN ENGRAVING
And then there is Bill.
ANATOMY OF AN ENGRAVER
editor's note:
Cutter is now 14 (insert cliche about time flying by here) and has become (or perhaps has always been) the local philosopher. He mysteriously peels back the layers of most adult scenarios and gives the situation a good whack. This one made my head almost spin off because while writing this blog, we were discussing the coexistence of art and kindness in our lives.
“If legacy is something that matters to you, know that whatever you leave behind in this world…somewhere, something or someone is better off for it and the effects will linger in some form forever.”
-Cutter Jude Oyster
Applause.
Pause.
-slo
EDITOR’S NOTE: Oyster's original blog was on the oldie but goodie platform, Blogger, in 2009, before moving to WordPress. You may find a copy of this post on “The Bamboo Fly Rod Maker’s Widow” blog HERE. I have tried to preserve the integrity—or lack thereof—of each “Widow” post, especially to reflect the resources—or lack thereof—available at the time, as time and technology continue to freak me out evolve.