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Hi, Alan!
'Art on the back burner'? nope, still at it hot and
heavy every chance I get! engrave silver & gold, carve dance masks for
relatives at Potlatches, do commercial NWC designs for conferences, exhibitions,
wrote a book on the NWC art called 'The Totem Carvers' - and even though long
out of print (1982) it is still required reading for a number of enthnography
courses at several universities in western Canada, Washington and Alaska. ( you
can sometimes find a copy on Amazon used books, but awful pricey!)
Although I stopped carving commercially while I was
still a teen-ager, I kept up my involvement in the native community ( I'm what
is called a 'Metis' - my native forebears are from the great plains area of
southern Manitoba)- but I was born on the west coast of Canada and was adopted
into the Kwakiutl ( now 'Kwak'waka'wakw ) at an early age - risen up thru' the
Potlatch system and now host Potlatches, etc. I'm very pleased to have a number
of my pieces in various books on native art - traveling exhibits,
etc.
Bruce Beasley has a number of NWC ceremonial pieces
in his personal collection and the hydroclave he mentions as being used for his
first large acrylic castings had a huge Haida-style design on it - that he
did himself!
Phil
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 3:32
PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Casting
acrylic
Hi Phil,
I'm an artist & found your
connection with Bruce interesting.
I purchased a book
on acrylic sculpture by "Frederick Hart" several years ago.
And had experimented with clear casting
polyester resins well before I had
an interest in submarines
& viewports.
Bruce predated Hart & possibly there was
a passing on of knowledge.
I suppose your art has been on the
back burner for a few decades now.
Look forward to the Curasub pics
Regards Alan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 4:45
PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Casting
acrylic
Hello, all:
Nice to see Bruce Beasley getting some
recognition in the sub biz - he's an old friend and a real pioneer in
monolithic acrylic casting (he made the hulls for our 1000 meter sub 'Deep
Rover' nearly 25 years ago).Everbody currently involved in that sort of
thick wall casting owes him one! Coincidentally, he's an avid fan of
Northwest Coast native art and I apprenticed in that art form for a number
of years - so we got on like old buds right off the bat! Kind of ironic, a
technical marvel of the time was taking shape in front of us and Bruce and I
were busy talking totemic art, form lines, masks, etc. - an art form several
thousand years old!
The 5 person, 1000 foot 'Curasub' hits the
water in Curacao, tomorrow. Jeff Heaton and Mike Reay are there to mother it
- and teach it toswim! More on this when the U/W pix come in!
Good luck at the convention! ( maybe we'll have
to host one in Curacao!)
Regards
Phil
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:40
PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Casting
acrylic
Here's an article by Bruce Beasley on casting
acrylic.
It covers his first experiments &
problems.
Bruce was the pioneer in this field
that Jerry Stachiw turned
to, to produce large cast domes for view
ports.
Enjoyed the video on drug subs. They should
show that
at the Psub conference.
Alan
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