hiking – Astrolabe Arts

Viking Serpent and Vines Staff

I had a lot of fun creating this piece. It combines two motifs I’ve very much enjoyed doing in the past, namely the Viking Serpent and vines, both coiling around the length of the staff. Serpents are found in mythologies from around the world and often symbolized rebirth, renewal, and knowledge, whereas vines represent a return to nature. The natural winding curvature of the wood itself enhances the overall design. It’s made of sumac wood, stands at 57.5 inches, and has multiple coats of sealant and boiled linseed oil.

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August 15, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: hiking, mythological, natural, nature, Nordic, Norse, serpent, snake, staff, stick, Viking, vines, walking Leave a comment

Second Star Trek Hiking Stick

Just a fun fan art piece for Star Trek. I wasn’t sure what to make with this piece since it’s relatively thin thus making it harder to display something with any detail, but eventually I landed on a Star Trek combadge and colored bands representing the different areas of expertise onboard a starship. The iconic words “To Boldly Go” are also wood burned onto the side. It’s made of sumac wood, stands at 57 inches, and has a coat of sealant to protect the ink and a coating of boiled linseed oil to protect the wood.

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July 18, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: Artwork, com badge, combadge, handmade, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, next generation, pyrography, staff, star trek, stick, tng, to boldly go, walking, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

King Ezekiel Hiking Staff

King Ezekiel is one of my favorite characters on “The Walking Dead” and recently the idea came to me to place some of his most iconic quotes on a large walking staff. I chose “And yet I smile” followed by“Drink from the well, replenish the well” on one side and “We will mine glory from the rock of struggle this day” on the reverse in stylized lettering. Above the quotes are a leather rawhide hand grip accented by a large bird feather. At the top of the staff, both sides depict a crown, sword, and bird feather in continuing with the same source of inspiration, but all aspects of the piece serve it well interdependently of their source. The staff itself is made of maple wood, stands at 66.5 inches, is finely sanded, and coated in boiled linseed oil for protection from the elements.

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July 17, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: crown, handmade, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, king, king Ezekiel, kingly, pyrography, regal, staff, walking, walking dead, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

Hobbit Hiking Stick

I just wanted to make simple, minimalist hiking stick perfect for a walk in the woods. Nothing complicated, or requiring the spray sealant, just natural wood along with an aesthetic and subject matter I find personally appealing. It’s made from a lightweight, sturdy piece of sumac wood standing at 50.5” and has the famous phrase from Tolkien “Not all who wander are lost” burned into the side along with a recreation of the Elven leaf clasp from The Fellowship of the Ring. The well proportioned staff was entirely hand crafted from sanding to burning. The wood itself is also coated with a varnish of boiled linseed oil to protect the wood from the elements.

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May 27, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: Elven, Fellowship of the Ring, hiking, Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, nature, staff, stick, Tolkien, walking, Wander, wood burning Leave a comment

Flowers and Vine Hiking Stick

I’m actually quite happy with how this turned out.

I had some issues with how the wood burning initially looked, I had paint smudging issues, I had a second round of paint smudging issues when the sealant I use to keep the paint from smudging, unbeknownst to me, made the paint wet – and this smudgeable again, but with some extra sanding and patience I was able to overcome those issues.

This is the second flowers and vine hiking stick I’ve made, but I created more variety within the flowers both in shape and color. It’s made from a piece of sumac wood -one of my favorite woods to work with and very underrated- which stands at 60.5”, or just a half-inch over 5′. The flowers and vine were created with a wood burner and filled in with paint pens. I then applied two coats of spray sealer to protect both the wood and the paint. Finally I gave it a coat of boiled linseed oil for final layer of protection and polished sheen.

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May 13, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: art, flowers, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, nature, pyrography, vines, wood burning Leave a comment

Planets of the Solar System Hiking Stick

I’ve been trying to get back into making my staves and hiking sticks – I seem to always make a few, then fall out of it again.

But, I’m back at it once more and here’s another solar system themed stick! It’s got your basic planets plus Pluto and its moon, Charon; I also included Earth’s moon, a radio satellite, Sputnik, and a UFO. It stands at 55.5″ and is made of one of my favorite and underrated woods -sumac- which is lightweight, yet surprisingly sturdy. I used gel pens for the illustrations, a spray sealant, and finally some boiled linseed oil for some extra protection and an added sheen.

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April 29, 2024August 14, 2024 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: art, astronomy, gel pen, hiking, hiking stick, nature, science, solar system, staff Leave a comment

Dinosaur Fossil Hiking Stick

Dinosaurs are always fun to work with!

I believe this is my third fossil staff, but it has a slightly different style than the first two as I’m working with a new pyrography machine. On the previous iterations the fossils came out solid black rather than outlines and although I like the way it came out, I’ll probably try some of the other tips on the new machine to replicate the previous style.

This is another piece made of sumac wood which is great to work with: it grows fast, has an almost ivory like color and texture, is surprisingly sturdy, but soft which makes lets the wood burner cut through like butter. The height comes to just under 52″ and it depicts the fossilized skeletons of three dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex, Edmontosaurus, and Stegosaurus from top to bottom. The staff itself is sanded smooth – made easier by the type of wood- and varnished with boiled linseed oil for a deeper sheen and protection from the elements.

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October 6, 2023 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: dinosaur, dinosaurs, edmontosaurus, fossil, hiking, hiking cane, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, rex, stegosaurus, t rex, tyrannosaurus, wood burning Leave a comment

Painted Flowers and Vines Hiking Staff

While it took a fair amount of time, patience, and a steady hand to make this staff I enjoyed working on it and am pleased with the final result. Red and orange flowers are joined by a leafy vine wrapped around the body of the staff. It’s a 60″ piece of maple wood with a faux ladybug attached near the top. The images were wood burned onto the staff and the colors come from paint pens which give better control than a typical brush. I then used a spray on acrylic sealer to keep the paint from smearing and wearing off as well protecting the wood from weathering. I also used boiled linseed oil for an extra layer of protection which had the added benefit of giving the piece a subtle shine.

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November 30, 2020November 19, 2020 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: flowers, hiking, hiking staff, hiking stick, ladybug, nature, nature staff, pyrography, vines, walking, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

Bird Feathers Hiking Stick

Measuring only 49” or 4’1” this piece falls more into the cane or walking sticking category. The wood I’ve had for a while and can’t recall its origin, but it’s sturdy and is probably a local hardwood. It’s smooth to the touch and has been adorned with various bird feather patterns and a series of small bird tracks made with various paint pens. Near the top are a few strips of tan rawhide where several small eagle charms are affixed along with a blue jay feather weighted down with a dark turquoise bead. I sprayed with an acrylic sealer to keep the paint from running and for overall preservation and protection from weathering. Because the acrylic seal is so thin I tried an experiment and polished it off with some boiled linseed oil as an extra measure and it came out surprisingly well. However, in the interest of full disclosure, during the process, as sometimes happens with these projects, some linseed oil got onto the rawhide leather strips. It darkened them nicely, but is generally not supposed to be applied to leather as it can cause problems like stiffening down the road. However, stiffening, shouldn’t be a problem since the leather serves no functional operation and furthermore most of what I read said a single application shouldn’t be too problematic anyway, it’s with repeated applications that issues tend to arise.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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December 5, 2019November 18, 2019 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: bird feathers, bird prints, blue jay, cane, charm, eagle, handcrafted, handmade, hiking, hiking cane, hiking staff, hiking stick, walking staff, walking stick Leave a comment

Solar System Hiking Stick

Artist: J.R. Goslant SOLD

To celebrate the arrival of Juno to Jupiter and the profound progress we’ve made exploring our nook in the cosmos I decided to make a hiking stick depicting our solar system. Or, in other words, if taken hiking, it depicts the part of the universe you’re exploring while you do it!

From top to bottom: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Sorry, no Pluto. Each celestial body was done using metallic ink, then coated with several layers of polyurethane to preserve both the stick and images and for overall protection from the elements. While debarking the wood, the innermost layer remained leaving the staff a reddish-brown copper color and comes to 56” tall.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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July 17, 2016March 24, 2017 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: astrolabe arts, Earth, handmade, hiking, hiking stick, J.R. Goslant, jrgoslant, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Neptune, planets, Saturn, solar system, space, staff, universe, Uranus, Venus, walking, walking stick Leave a comment