Project Quiver Arrives in Europe!
After visiting 7 primitive bowyers in North America to document their craft and lifestyle, the father-daughter journey that is Project Quiver has crossed the Atlantic into Europe.
From the Canadian Maritimes, home of Jake Fenwick and Fenwick Bows, we flew to Edinburgh, Scotland, to take in the sites before hopping over to Amsterdam.
Our first bowyer stop was just east of Amsterdam in the small city of Arnhem, the Netherlands. This is home to Stefan Tim of Bamboo Bows, a renowned craftsman of Yumi bows of the Japanese tradition and bamboo-backed horn bows. Here I made the first laminate bow of the Project, a traditional Yumi bow with madake bamboo belly and back and a wenge-bamboo core. The tips of the 89-inch long bow are overlayed with olive wood nocks. After its mandatory 2-week minimal time resting while strung, Stefan will finish the tiller, bringing the bow to around a 45-pound draw weight. I will then do the finishing touches of rattan wrapping when I return to Canada.
Next we traveled by rail through Germany with a stop in Nuremberg before continuing on to magnificent Prague in the Czech Republic. After a great visit there, we made our way south to northern Austria for our next bowyer. On route we stopped in at Ceske Budejovice and enjoyed a puerh tea ceremony at an authentic teahouse in the loft of a centuries-old building near the town square.
In Reinberg-Dobersberg, Austria, a flight arrow shot from the southern forests of the Czech Republic, we enjoyed the incredible hospitality of Erich Streichsbier of Sparrow Bows, and his wife. In his handcrafted gorgeous workshop adjacent to his 250-year-old farmhouse, I carved a neolithic-inspired elm bow with cow horn nocks and a birch bark handle. The bows draws 56 pounds at 29 inches.
We then journeyed to mountainous Innsbruck for some family time before heading westward to Switzerland. There we spent 4 days visiting Simon Kehl of selfbow.ch just outside of St. Gallen. Under Simon’s guidance I carved a Bodman bow replica from a laburnum stave. This stunning bow is 63 inches nock-to-nock, has unique cow horn insert nocks, and is finished with a handle wrapped in laburnum cambium from the original stave. It draws 60 pounds at 29 inches.
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!
Top photo: Clouds shrouding the mountains of Innsbruck, Austria.
8th-10th bows of Project Quiver: (L to R) handle of Yumi bow with rattan wrapping from Bamboo Bows, birch bark handle of elm bow from Sparrow Bows, cow horn nock inlay of laburnum bow from Selfbow.ch.
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
Phil Rockhauser, Austria
Johnny Snyman, South Africa
Next.
Soon we are heading north to Sweden to visit Per Frieden of Nordic Selfbows. Then we head back to Austria for our newest bower, Phil Rockhauser (see below), before traveling south to Brescia, Italy, and Enrico Maraggi of Arcaica Bows.
Our Newest Bowyer.
After losing Jiri Tengri of Tengri Bows from Project Quiver due to an injury, our great community of bowyers made many recommendations for our fifteenth bowyer. We are very pleased to announce that Phil Rockhauser of Rockhauser Archery has joined Project Quiver. He is an Austrian-based bowyer and author of the book Bogenbau.
Above photos from the Chamber of Arts and Wonder from Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, Austria.
This carving from 1519 is of a skeletal figure with bow and arrows. Known as Todlein or Small Death,
it is carved from a single block of pear wood.
Salish Wolf Podcast.
#60 Erich Streichsbier
Erich Streichsbier is a master bowyer and proprietor of Sparrow Bows based in Northern Austria. He lives in a 250-year-old farmhouse along the Czech Republic border and carves magnificent bows in a beautiful workshop that he built by hand. He uses digital methods to research and recreate historical bows, analyzing metrics such as vibration behavior, construction methods, and specific tensile weights.
#61 Paul Comstock
Paul Comstock is a legendary bowyer who began carving more than 40 years ago. Along with coauthors of The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible, he helped spark a resurgence in primitive archery and bow making. Prior to contributing to all 4 volumes of the Bowyer’s Bible, Paul wrote the popular book The Bent Stick.
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.
