... Teddy and Tokutomi
Sharing the joys of playful improvisation (concluded)

"Lamplighter"

I’ve only recently noticed similarities of line between this pipe (carved early in 2005) and Toku’s "Gondola" (a pipe Teddy admired greatly when he saw it in the spring of 2004). I’m also sure that the bowl-shape resonates with forms Teddy has had in his mind (and under his fingers) for many years. But would Teddy’s imagination have responded in quite the same way to the extraordinarily graceful curve of the bone and pictured the beautiful freeform shape at its tip … had not Toku’s work been stirring up a "creative buzz" in his sensibilities?

Left:  Tokutomi, Gondola  (2004).

This pipe's shape proved to be extremely important for Teddy’s recent work. It marked one of the first manifestations of a new wave of creativity that has been flowing through his briar carving during the past two years.  Called "Alien" because it seemed different from anything Teddy had made previously, the pipe opened the way for future exploration of the "peapod" form ... eventually and leading to a range of wonderfully-graceful, beautifully-wrought "aquatic" shapes, like the "Seal" and the "Whale."

Teddy carved "Alien" after admiring Toku’s "Gondola" and elephant’s foot.

Top:  Tokutomi, Gondola (2004)

Teddy continues to play with the "Seal" design, moving into some beautiful and fascinating variations.

Top/down:  Moby Dick and Starweeper

Moby Dick [top/right, not pictured in show photographs] mixes themes found in some of Teddy’s fluted, rectangular horns with the Seal’s fluidity and jauntiness. (The pipe also provides a superb smoke.)

A most innovative and engaging shape, Starweeper [bottom/left] provides a Master Class on how to read grain with creatively and integrate it organically into a composition. Not simply "painted on" like a wall decoration, the rippling straight grain and explosive birds-eye in Starweeper bubble up from the heart of the briar and add a shimmering energy to the sides of the pipe. This visual pulse supplies a counterpoint to the tactile pleasure of our fingers flowing across the rugged plateau and around the swelling bowl … and in the end, we almost have the sensation that Starweeper is breathing within our hand as we smoke.

Post-show note about names:  The name Starweeper comes from the original StarTrek series; it was a small, carnivorous plant that inhabited the atrium of the Starship Enterprise.  Teddy remembered the character but couldn't remember its name ... and during this time of uncertainty, I started to incorrectly identify the pipe at shows as Moby Dick.  Teddy had always intended that name to be applied to the large, upright Whale/Seal variation, carved around the same time.  Eventually, after some Internet searching, we re-discovered the name Starweeper and now both pipes are securely established in their proper identifies.