Smooth Fused Blowfish (Elephant Slonim) Tobacco Pipe

While this pipe has "blowfish" in its title and, looking at that painfully pretty left panel there is no denying the "family", this composition has a rather different aquatic inspiration. The "sun source" for, and primal energy of this pipe comes from the salmon, as they commit 100% of their remaining life force to conquer white water in order to complete their life cycle. The movement of this composition is palpable, within the return arc of the "tail" one can almost envision a snap shot that is taken at the nanosecond before the potential energy, that is stored in the curl of the tail, explodes into the kinetic energy that propels the subject onward. Holding this pipe, one marvels at the pipe as a whole, and that marvel becomes more acute when viewing the myriad of compound angles that are only achievable with chisels, files, and the "right" man at the other end of the tools. The grain of this pipe is a world unto itself. One hundred percent of the compound center bevel, and its return, sports a fabulous cross cut grain. Anywhere that is not cross cut grain is a dense birdseye. Yes, that wonderful, that "cut and dried". Bravo, Alex!

--Bear Graves