Unique Rings & Things
Guy Derry. He's the fella smiling and waving at you on the left. I've known Guy for better than 60 years. That's because, well..., he's my brother. I have had the pleasure of being the recipient of his wit and wisdom over those many years. Nothing about this gentleman is typical, or even normal. For myself, this has been a good thing. He has taught me to think outside the box.
Not long ago, about 3 or 4 years, he mentioned to me that he was learning a new trade. Knowing him as I do, I knew that was nothing out of the ordinary, because I know he is always finding new and unusual things. This, however, was quite unusual. Let's forget for a moment that it was he who taught me the art of steeplejacking. No, steeplejack has nothing to do with horses.
That would be Steeple Chase. Not even close...Unless you climb tall structures on horseback. Yes, that is me on a flag pole taken back in the late '80's. Okay, back to the new trade. It was October of 2013 when I made a trip back to Alaska. He was excited to show me this new trade he had learned and wanted to teach me. For some of us, things just come naturally. This was one of those things. In his living room, was a work bench with all the tools necessary to create these works of art. It only took a little more than a few minutes before I took tools in hand and began practicing this new art. There were plenty of practice rings to use. These being mistakes made that could not be corrected. I used a lot of them practicing and making my own mistakes and perfecting my own style. After several weeks, I got to be a pretty fair hand at carving letters and hearts.
Alaskan humor is that we only have two seasons; Winter and the 4th of July. Most southerners (meaning those not from Alaska because everything not Alaska is south), just grin when we say that. The truth is, we do have 4 seasons. Albeit, two of them are fairly short. Nevertheless, there are always things to do and places to go see in Alaska no matter the season or weather. During my learning curve of carving rings, Guy and I had been consturcting a "kiosk" from which we could both sit and carve rings at the same time. It was a cabinet we constructed in his living room. The cabinet
stood about 42 inches tall, 24 inches wide and about 6 feet long. We covered it with carpet and put handles on it and made a four wheeled dolly so we could make it portable. Which was the whole idea in order to take it to different venues. The lockable door was hinged and doubled as a display countertop for which we eventually made a leather cover. Inside the cabinet were all the tools and things necessary to make these unique rings. Our first venue was a mid-December art show at a strip mall (inside a photography studio) just outside of wasilla. We didn't sell any rings, but we quickly became educated as to how to load and unload this huge portable work cabinet. As you can see in the photo above, it actually was really cool once it was set up. We made several different shows including
the Willow Winter Carnival. For which there were thousands of art creations all Alaskan Made by Alaskan Artisans. There were outside activities as well, including Jr. Iron Dog Races (snow machines) and Dog Pull Championships.
(Below, a collage of photos at the Willow Winter Carnival)
We even took our Kiosk ring making cabinet to Elmendorf Air Force Base at the Base mall for several weeks. On a number of occaisions, manning the booth alone. Guy and I made a lot of rings at this venue. We also learned a lot about dealing with AAFES. The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is the retailer on U.S. Army and Air Force installations worldwide.
We were getting ready for the summer long venue known as the Anchorage Saturday Market. Now named Anchorage Market and Festival. It begins in May and lasts until September. This is a large venue with hundreds of Alaskan Artisans and farmers from all over Alaska that sell everything Alaskan to Alaskans and tourists from all over the world. Guy and I were quite busy making rings on weekends. One of my nieces made jewelry and I included a few of my hand tooled leather belts.
For the first few weekends, we used a tent that we rented from the Market (shown in the photo near
the top with Guy waving). Guy acquired a camper trailer that we converted into a kiosk on wheels. These photos were taken on a cool, rainy day when one of my dear friends came to visit us at the market. Even still, the business was brisk.
I look forward to returning and doing this again. It was a lot of fun and I got to spend some quality time with my brother.
Go check out our Custom Ring section here on the web site and have Guy create a unique, one-of-a-kind, ring for you.
