During the summer, I went hiking with a few friends and realized that despite crafting and selling all sorts of staffs and hiking sticks, I had failed to make myself one. That’s when a long, thin, dry piece of pine caught my eye on the side of the trail. I broke it down to size and part of a twisted root at what would now be the top.
After I got it home, I debarked most it, shaped the root a little, and gave it a good sanding. I opted for keeping some of the bark in places because I ended up really liking the texture; I had never worked with pine before, but found it very enjoyable. The bark nearest the top wrapped with a simple pattern of black rawhide lace serves as the hand grip.
The twisted root now holds a “stone” of green glass and several marbles I f(strangely) found while hiking, or on the way to go hiking. It’s also wrapped with waxed hemp and a small amount of copper wire, both for their aesthetics – it really pulls the ornaments together as single section- and for keeping said ornaments securely fastened to the staff. The bottom of this section is boarded by tan rawhide lace which also serves to attach a number of small charms and beads: an Egyptian scarab; a red bead depicting the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen, a double sided charm depicting Quetzalcoatl on one and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan on the other, a ring that accompanied it, and a stragate pendant.
The pyrography displays the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, Thoth; my name in a cartouche and hieroglyphics; and my name in cuneiform-like symbols. It stands at 65.5” tall and is coated with several layers of polyurethane.
Artist: J.R. Goslant
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