As an undaunted woodworker I have made most of my musical instruments over the years. I could never justify purchasing a high-end, high-quality instrument but I could make a reasonable proxy. My interest has been rekindled in the last couple years, making my third banjo for myself and reviving one of the mountain dulcimers as my partner has decided to take an interest in it.
Bodhrans.
Bodhrans.
Cocobolo finger board.
Flame maple neck, walnut rim.
Mountain dulcimer.
Early banjo.
Cherry and walnut peg head.
Cherry and walnut banjo with hickory laminates.
I find that there is never enough time to play an instrument properly with a regular day job, a relationship, and other interests. It seems that it’s time for a change in the schedule to put music back into the center of life.
And this is just one facet of this all American genre.
“The blues used to be dangerous, then it got packaged into an adult contemporary box and organized into TAB charts. Luckily, nobody has passed any laws demanding pure traditionalism. I’d rather be a blues liar.
You are more than a guitarist. You are a musician, a creative force. You have the right to take several opposing styles or influences, feed them into the Veg-O-Matic of your mind and come up with something totally unique. If people accuse you of straying from the fold, be proud. Be bold. Create your own freak flag and wave it high.”
My strange tendency, as an art-admirer, is to sometimes over-analyze a painting, not only as the Art itself, but also as a documentation of time and place. In historical paintings, it’s fun to look for the details and pick up some lost history along the way. There may be interesting clues in what the artist chose to depict … or not.
By William Sidney Mount.
Anybody else notice the left-handed set-up? Makes me wonder if the artist or model didn’t know the violin well. Although I expect it would be rare, I think it’s just possible a self-taught individual might learn this way. It’s a great picture and study but looks like a mirror image if you are intimate with the violin. Maybe the clue is in the title Left and Right.
This got me thinking about another of his excellent works, The Banjo Player. I had to look again but I seemed to recall it as a lefty too. And sure enough, a lefty.
The Banjo Player
The Sweeney style banjo strikes me as legitimately left-handed as the drone string is reversed. As a folk instrument it’s easier for me to imagine some variety in design and setup. But really, there’s not much point in this discussion other than some odd notes about two paintings I’ve thought about for some time now. If his art appeals to you, a lot more can be found by clicking the self portrait of Mount below.
A few weeks ago I stopped by to visit Don Salvador and his son Fernando Cisneros.
They proudly showed me that they had recently been featured in a Mexican style magazine and told me how a photographer had come all the way from Mexico City to take pictures of them.
They are very nice photos and its a pleasure to share them.
You can reach Don Salvador and Fernando by telephone at Tel. 372.426.0318 – Cel. 342.103.3152, or visit them in very traditional, pretty and authentic small town of Concepción de Buenos Aires in Jalisco.
To see more photos of their Huarache styles visit the Huarache Directory WebsiteHERE, or simply search “Cisneros” in the “The Huarache Searcher” bar on the right side of this page to also see how their exceptional Huaraches are made.
Via Andares Magazine Grandes Maestros by Montserrat Cardona and photos by Erick Guevara
However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poorhouse. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town’s poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any. Maybe they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it oftener happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable.
Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society. If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me. The philosopher said: “From an army of three divisions one can take away its general, and put it in disorder; from the man the most abject and vulgar one cannot take away his thought.” Do not seek so anxiously to be developed, to subject yourself to many influences to be played on; it is all dissipation. Humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights. The shadows of poverty and meanness gather around us, “and lo! creation widens to our view.” We are often reminded that if there were bestowed on us the wealth of Croesus, our aims must still be the same, and our means essentially the same. Moreover, if you are restricted in your range by poverty, if you cannot buy books and newspapers, for instance, you are but confined to the most significant and vital experiences; you are compelled to deal with the material which yields the most sugar and the most starch. It is life near the bone where it is sweetest. You are defended from being a trifler. No man loses ever on a lower level by magnanimity on a higher. Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only. Money is not required to buy one necessary of the soul.”
From the Conclusion of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Emphasis and layout are mine.
I slaughtered a goat a couple of days ago for meat and used the opportunity to make this video on proper skinning. I’ve skinned hundreds of animals to develop this simple strategy, which works well for me. It could be streamlined by anyone with enough practice and experience, but I think the approach is pretty solid. Yes, some of you aren’t as big or strong as I am and may think this method is not possible for you. It may take quite a bit longer and you may have to do a little more cutting, but don’t give up too easy! You may have to use the knife a little more, but use it only where you really actually have to and do your best to muscle and technique your way through the rest of it. Get all up in that carcass and use your bodyweight, and you may be surprised…
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 