[An inspiration to me] was a great-limbed poplar tree that I could see even lying in bed. It was suddenly lopped and mutilated by it's owner, I do not know why. It is cut down now, a less barbarous punishment for any crimes it may have been accused of, such as being large and alive. I do not think it had any friends, or any mourners, except myself and a pair of owls.
– J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy-Stories
Master of the (Dead) Stick
Hello. I make Canes, Staves and Wands.
Canes are not just for when you need one.
They used to be "walking sticks" and were as common as hats used to be. "Gentlmen" would carry them,
and they used to also be as common as umbrellas, which too, alas, have come out of favor. Many a home
had an umbrella stands (which doubled for
holding walking sticks). Many people were proud to have a large collection of canes.
King Louis XIV of France is said to have popularized them, having one, "whose eagle knob was set with
twenty-four diamonds."1
Voltaire owned eighty sticks. Rousseau owned forty. Benjamin Franklin received as a gift a gold-headed
walking stick as ambassador to France, bequeathing it to George Washington. It is now in the collection
of the Smithsonian Institution.1
Famous antique canes have values in the tens of thousands of dollars. (With Fabergé canes topping the list.)
I make my canes and walking sticks from long dead Eastern Red Cedar trees (Juniperus Virginiana). Each stick is
meticulously (and painstakingly) hand crafted. Source material is found by wandering
old undeveloped land (New England) and coming across fallen trees.
After hours of pleasant scraping, trimming, filing of edges, and rubbing
and polishing...
I start to see actual canes and (walking) sticks. Each one is unique though they share
traits, like the purple heartwood seeping out in places, or places where insects made a
meal... All my canes are named, like "Long Time Sally". She's really tall,
smooth and colorful... (She took a long time to make, though she is tall,
she's about time...)
People are like a bundle of dead sticks. No two are ever the same.
Making Canes on Youtube
@masterofthedeadstick
7 subscribers • 25 videos
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The Videos are extremely boring! But I put them there to show that I do
make them - laboriously - by hand.
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The Canes
Here are a few of my canes...
I give a name to them all as each and every one is unique and can never be
duplicated. They all have unusual an special features that make then "stand out" so to
speak.
Each cane is for sale, of course, yet I am way behind producing good photographs.
All come with a wrist strap. (Which is what that thing is.)
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Dead Stick Walking
| Mr. Mosaic
| My Condolences
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A Wardstone is not the literal object; a Wardstone is an association between
humans and their world. (Though Wardwood
might be more technically accurate,
"technology" is not usually associated with these things.)
The Dogs
These dogs... Wait! What are they doing here?
