Project Quiver begins in USA!
Our journey to carve bows with the best bowyers in the world, and to document their craftsmanship and lifestyle in a stunning coffee table book, is underway.
After much planning, the journey of Project Quiver began in June in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with master bowyer Weylin Olive of Swiftwood Bows. After 4 days of southern hospitality and meticulous teaching, we left with a gorgeous Osage orange flatbow with sturgeon backing, water buffalo horn nocks, a buckskin handle, and beaver tail arrow passes.
Next was a visit to Correy Hawk of Organic Archery just south of Omaha, Nebraska. Inspired by the beautiful, simple, and highly functional bows that Correy carves, under his guidance we crafted a stunning Neolithic hackberry longbow - a close replica to the bow found 5300 years ago with Otzi the Iceman - with a leather-wrapped handle and jute string nocks.
The final stop of this first USA leg of Project Quiver was with Heartwood Bows in Salt Lake City and bowyer Chuck Loeffler, an expert of primitive North American replica bows and flight shooting. We carved an Ishi-style sinew-backed juniper bow with a wrapped leather handle and water buffalo horn nocks. (As the hide glue for the sinew backing needs to dry, this bow will be completed in July.) And we ventured to the Bonneville Salt Flats for some flight shooting with horn bows and Chuck’s record-holding juniper bow.
The final product of Project Quiver will be a stunning coffee table book known as Quiver: the Art of Life through Bowcraft. This book will feature in-depth and intimate profiles of the world’s 15 best bowyers, showcasing the artistry of each through captivating narratives and beautiful imagery. Follow our journey to 10 countries on 4 continents on Instagram @projectquiver!
First 3 bows of Project Quiver: (L to R) Osage orange flatbow from Swiftwood Bows, hackberry longbow from Organic Archery, and sinew-backed juniper flatbow (in progress) from Heartwood Bows
Our Bowyers.
Pete Woodland, Canada
Jamie MacDonald, Canada
Ryan Gauthier, Canada
Weylin Olive, USA
Correy Hawk, USA
Dan Santana, USA
Chuck Loeffler, USA
Nacho Marco, Spain
Stefan Tim, the Netherlands
Erich Streichsbier, Austria
Per Frieden, Sweden
Simon Kehl, Switzerland
Enrico Maraggi, Italy
Johnny Snyman, South Africa
Jiri Tengri, Kyrgyzstan
Gratitude.
We want to extend our most sincere gratitude to our friends, the Buehner family, for hosting us for the final 3 days of the USA trip for some relaxation, inspiration, writing, photography, and archery at one of the most magical places anywhere: Hi-Ute Ranch in Park City, Utah. This oasis feels like 100 miles to anywhere while only 2 minutes to everywhere. Moose, beavers, and deer are included.
Next.
In July Project Quiver visits more bowyers in the USA. North of Pittsburgh we meet with Jon Houk and Jeremy of @selfbows_at_waters_edge who have kindly invited us to come see their bow carving school in Portersville, Pennsylvania. After, we travel to Cumberland, Maryland, to meet with Roy Brown who used only stone tools to carve a replica of the Sudbury bow that was taken from a Wampanoag warrior by a settler who shot him in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1660.
In August, we pick up the book trail again, this time in coastal British Columbia with 3 featured bowyers: Pete Woodland of Heritage Bows, Ryan Gauthier of @wizard_goat, and Jamie MacDonald of Ravenbeak Bows. We are thrilled to see their craft and excited for the bows we will make with them: a Coast Salish-inspired Scandinavian flatbow, a Pacific Northwest paddlebow, and a yew English longbow, respectively.
Newest Bowyer.
We have recently added a 15th bowyer to the Project Quiver lineup: Enrico Maraggi of Arcaica Bows of Brescia, Italy! Enrico carves 100% handmade historical and non-historical bows. We are excited to add Arcaica Bows to our European agenda and to visit Enrico in his workshop in northern Italy.
Salish Wolf Podcast.
#51 Correy Hawk
Correy Hawk is a professional bowyer who comes from a long line of outdoorsmen. He grew up in a small village in Southeast Nebraska, where, along with his siblings, he was raised to hunt, fish, forage for wild foods…
#52 Weylin Olive
Weylin Olive, husband and father of two, is a professional bowyer based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Through his company, Swiftwood Bows, he sells world-class handmade primitive bows, offers bow carving…
#53 Chuck Loeffler
Chuck Loeffler is a professional bowyer specializing in the replication of sinew-backed and self wood bows of North America and around the world. For more than 30 years, he has been meticulously conducting…
About us.
At 15 years of age, Ela Harper has chosen to pursue passions such as photography, Brazilian Jiujitsu, and drama instead of conventional schooling. When not working on Project Quiver, she is employed part-time at her former school in Nosara, Costa Rica, as a photographer, web designer, and social media coordinator and does freelance photography in the community.
Todd Howard is a traditional archery instructor and an acupuncturist living in Nosara, Costa Rica. Traditional archery came into his life a decade ago through his dedicated practice of Qigong. Soon after, he began carving bows with 2 renowned teachers (who are featured in Project Quiver), and feels honored to be carving bows under the tutelage of all the bowyers of Project Quiver.
