“Arrow scores a two”. Beautiful work from Nick Auskeur on Flickr.
Archives For arrows
Putting the romance back. Photo by Chloe Bailey.
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
High definition arrows. From the photostream of Leigh Feaviour over at Flickr. Wish I had a camera that good.
Over at that fine blog of the Company Arc de Senlis-Montauban, someone has made some arrow biscuits, together with a step by step guide on how to make them yourself. It’s in French, but if you don’t speak French I’m sure you can figure it out one way or another. Enjoy!
Poor Folk Bows is the journal of Sam Harper and his quest to build his own bows – and to teach other people how in the process. There’s lots of goodness here, but I particularly enjoyed his arrow build-along.
His writing is shot through with warmth and humour. I’d like to try some of his builds someday, although my woodworking skills are basically non-existent. I am always, always impressed by people who have the chops to do things like this. Looking forward to more from him at some point.
If you enjoy this kind of woodworking p*rn, there’s a website called TDPRI about Fender Telecaster guitars where they have a competition every year to build a guitar for $210. Some of the build-alongs are absolutely staggering: this one is a particular favourite.
Just the thing for finishing a round in failing winter light: Lumenoks.
(via Akademie für Instinktiven Bogensport)
Apparently they only ‘fire’ when subjected to 20-40lbs of pressure. Clever. Full marks for making them sound like something Dr. Who would have to deal with, too.
Following on from last week’s NYT article about the archery ‘explosion’ in the US – which appears to be replicated in many other countries – someone alerted me to what Louis Vuitton has been up to. For the last seven years LV has been the world’s most valuable luxury brand, and it appears that someone there has been noticing which way the wind is blowing.
From the pitch… “LV releases a pair of archery-themed accessories to complement their men’s Fall/Winter 2012 runway collection. The feather pendant decorating the brooch comes in two color combinations and resembles arrow fletches, imparting a seasonal outdoors feel to whichever garment they accompany. In addition to a silver arrow-shaped pin, the brooch features a Louis Vuitton logo bangle attached to the pendant. The brooch pins are now available for purchase at Louis Vuitton outlets.”
But that’s not all. At LV’s Boston store, amongst others, someone has been building arrow based window displays in order to sell, um, handbags.
pictures from The Savvy Bostonian.
Does it stop there? Hell no. Hermès has been sticking archery on the runway recently – as, naturally, the perfect accessories to accompany a decidedly Robin Hood-ish winter collection.
Not to mention a variety of Olympics themed / tagged daftness, flogging beauty products and accessories. Google Images is now full of models/actresses/whatever wanging bows, posing dramatically with compounds against moody skies, and, famously, shooting sighted recurves as if they were barebows…
As to what to make of all this, meh. Archery has been sexed-up this year – rather against its will – by a now familiar combination of films, TV and the Olympics coverage. The fashion world of course has no interest whatsoever in archery as a sport. If, say, fencing had been similarly treated, you’d be seeing sabre brooches and models badly wielding foils on the runway (actually fashion runways are a bit like fencing pistes… this could work…).
On one hand, the aesthetics of archery is a big thing for me. I think bows (particularly recurves) are beautiful things both in use and in their own right; and that’s one of the things I wanted to bring to this archery blog. I can understand why someone would want a piece of that. And if it brings more people into archery, or indeed any sport, all the better. Everyone has to find some route in. It’s not like people don’t quickly find out that ‘being Katniss’ is difficult. On the other hand, it trivialises and reduces an ancient tradition and a modern sport into something – anything – to flog handbags and monograms with.
Still, maybe I could pull off one of those brooches…
Archery on the beach of Pina in Recife in Brazil. Don’t they know it’s freezing out here? I mean, just look at this jammy lot, teasing us.
Anyone ever hunted for arrows in the sand?
Source: World Archery Facebook page.
