Category Branch flutes
Join me for Art Festival at Thornebrook, Oct. 10-11, 2015
Hope you’ll come by to see the display of my handmade musical instruments at the 31st Art Festival at Thornebrook, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10-11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can hear the instruments and try them yourself. I’m very pleased to be joining 130 artists for this festival of juried work. My exhibit area […]
From Chestnut tree to Flute Haven 2015 performance
One of the great rewards as a flutemaker is hearing a flute you’ve made play with beauty and spirit and show off the ability of the one who plays the flute. That happened many times for me at Flute Haven, with my flutes sharing their voices in our YouTube Concert, in jamming sessions, and at performances […]
3 surprises in making branch flutes
What surprises happen in making branch flutes! The surprise of finding the right branch to become a branch flute Although I regularly make branch flutes, usually finding branches for flutes is unexpected. I can be walking on the beach and discover branches washed onto the shore and rescue those branches before they become part of a beach party bonfire. I […]
Driftwood Branch Flute
A piece of driftwood from Port Bruce in Ontario has been transformed into a lovely branch flute. I collected the driftwood several weeks ago and started creating the branch flute one Sunday afternoon. You can watch the transformation process by watching the video. The music on the video is the played on the final driftwood branch flute. […]
Wormy Chestnut, Wild Cherry: Car full of Wood from North Carolina
A musical visit and a car-full of wood were part of my drive home from Flute Haven. I stopped in North Carolina to visit with Kay and Dottye and that turned into music making, wood moving, and story swapping. You’ll see from the photos that Dottye and Kay helped me load my car – trunk […]
Enjoying Native American flutes in the Smokies
While hiking in the Smokies, I was able to take a break and meet two women in the world of Native American flutes – Rona Yellow Robe and Geri Littlejohn. I heard Rona in concert, performing a variety of her music, including “Turquoise Blues” A favorite song of mine – and many in the audience […]
6 Reasons to attend Flute Haven 2014
I’m attending Flute Haven Native Flute School as an invited flute maker and hope you’ll join me. Flute Haven is held at the National Christian Conference Center in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Sept. 8-12, 2014. I will be sharing my flutes, kanteles and ocarinas, and will be teaching three classes. • The Joy of Ocarina – Participants […]
Earth, Wind & Fire: Bead Soup Blog Hop
It’s my second time to participate in the Bead Soup Blog Hop. You can read here about the first time. For the 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Hop, I decided to commemorate it by woodturning Mandi (my partner) and myself “bead soup bowls.” Sorry but I did forget to take pictures both of what I sent and […]
Lessons learned from making Branch flutes
I remember very well the first three branch flutes I’ve made. After that, only selective memory. Sycamore Branch Flute In Oct. 2010 I was out cycling and rode past a team cutting down three significant sycamore trees on the lawn of a local bank. I stopped and asked if I returned with my car could […]
Making Dogwood Branch Flutes
Using branches from the flowering dogwood tree to make Native American style flutes has become a favorite activity of mine. The dogwood is beautiful to work with — very cooperative and results in a clear crisp sounding flute. Dogwood is a hard wood (Janka hardness scale 2150) but not as difficult compared to the Florida Live […]
