Project Quiver Completes Canadian Journey!
Project Quiver, the father-daughter journey to document the world’s finest traditional bowyers, continues. In June we made 3 beautiful bows in the USA, and we have just finished making 4 bows in Canada!
After visiting with Ryan Gauthier of Stormcrow Archery in Nanaimo, British Columbia, we headed to Powell River on the Sunshine Coast of BC to the home of Ravenbeak Natureworks and Jamie and Jenna MacDonald. There I carved Jamie’s specialty, a Pacific yew English longbow complete with water buffalo horn nocks. The bow is 74 inches tip-to-tip and draws 65 pounds at 29 inches. It features arrow passes of beautiful knife maker pins on both sides for ambidextrous shooting, Jenna’s artistic engraving, and tung oil finishing.
Next we visited Pete Woodland of Heritage Bows in Brentwood Bay, BC. Pete effortlessly guided me through the meticulous carving of a Coast Salish/Germanic-inspired pyramid flatbow from Pacific yew. This stunning bow features a tip-to-tip belly ridge and tip overlays of cow horn and ram horn for a unique black and white contrast. It is 67 inches long, draws 63 pounds at 29 inches, and is finished with tung oil.
Lastly we left British Columbia and flew across Canada to Moncton, New Brunswick, home of Jake Fenwick of Fenwick Bows. Here I carved the 4th and final Pacific yew bow of Project Quiver, a beautifully charactered warbow that is 77 inches nock-to-nock and draws 83 pounds at 30 inches. It has unique moose antler nocks and is finished with Jake’s maker’s mark and tung oil.
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 3 continents on Instagram @projectquiver!
Top photo: The world’s largest floating breakwater in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada.
5th-7th bows of Project Quiver: (L to R) engraving on English longbow carved with Ravenbeak Natureworks, belly ridge of flatbow carved with Heritage Bows, and moose antler nock of warbow carved with Fenwick Bows.
Our Bowyers.
Pete Woodland, Canada
Jamie MacDonald, Canada
Ryan Gauthier, Canada
Jake Fenwick, Canada
Weylin Olive, USA
Correy Hawk, 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
Next.
We are on our way to Europe via Scotland to begin the European leg of Project Quiver. Our first stop in early September will be with Stefan Tim of Bamboo Bows in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Then we head to Austria to work with Erich Streichsbier of Sparrow Bows. And by mid-month we will be in Buhler, Switzerland, with Simon Kehl of Selfbows.ch.
A New Opportunity.
We are very disappointed to announce that Jiri Tengri of Tengri Bows in Kyrgyzstan has had to withdraw from Project Quiver due to a horse riding injury. We wish him a complete and speedy recovery.
This means we might not be travelling to Asia, but we do now have an opening for one more bowyer to join Project Quiver. We are actively seeking another bowyer who we can visit in October and feature in our book. Send us your suggestions.
Salish Wolf Podcast.
#57 Jake Fenwick
Jake Fenwick is a full-time bowyer based in Sackville, New Brunswick, on the east coast of Canada. Jake has a long and diverse history of bow making, which dates back to 2011 and includes mentors from around the world. Through his family business known as Fenwick Bows, he specializes in historically-accurate English longbows and warbows.
#58 Simon Kehl
Simon Kehl is a master bowyer based in Buhler, Switzerland. He has been making selfbows and laminate bows since 2014, blending physics with aesthetics to make increasingly faster and more beautiful bows. He sells his bows under the brand of Selfbow.ch.
#59 Per Friden
Per Friden is a bowyer based in Sweden who has been carving bows for nearly ten years. He is also a forest manager tending to 3000 hectares of Swedish public land, and feels fortunate to spend so much of his time among trees. Per and his bows can be found on Instagram @nordic_selfbows.
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.
