Eric Gorges

A book for makers, for seekers of all kinds, an exhilarating look into the heart and soul of artisans—and how their collective wisdom can inspire us all.
 
"Despite our technological advances, we’re busier than ever, our lives more frazzled. That’s why the handmade object, created with care and detail, embodying a history and a tradition, is enormously powerful. It can cut through so...

Host Eric Gorges visits a friend, April Wagner. April is a glass blower who works in abstract art. Eric learns how hot a glass studio is and how to make a glass cup. Eric and April discuss the connection between making a sacrifice when starting up a business and the give and take that successful craft people have to make and the rewards that eventually come.

Best foot (ware) forward! Host Eric Gorges picks up the hammer and nail to try his hand at being a shoemaker. Master shoemakers Jesse Moore and Marika Verploegh Chassé give expert guidance along the way.

Mike Brooks builds long rifles based on designs over 100 years old. Host Eric Gorges discovers the history of a long rifle and shoots one. Eric learns that the old ways of the gunsmith are alive and well. Building skills that brought the long riffle to the American south and heartland are the same methods that are used today.

With intricate flourishes, filigree, and a lot of magnification, host Eric Gorges and metal engraver David Riccardo create a breathtaking metal engraving.

Host Eric Gorges visits a goldsmith in the mountains. Susan McDonough works in a small studio on her family's farm. Eric makes a silver ring using a technique over 3000 years old. The conversation turns to the paths that craftspeople take in their journey. It's neither straight nor connected. Some people take years to end up doing what they want. Along the way skills in Kitchens, Bakeries, School Bus Driving, EMT, Firefighter and Librarians are not...

Experienced naturalist and wilderness survivor, Greg Anderson is also a master bow maker. Host Eric Gorges learns how to craft a traditional bow with Greg as his guide and tests his skills with the bulls-eye.

Host Eric Gorges visits potter and musician Akira Satake. Akira discovered his love of pottery later in life. Eric makes a ceramic teapot. Eric and Akira discuss the serendipity that leads craftsmen to their craft. Akira started his career as an accomplished photographer in Japan, then another successful career in New York as a recording studio owner and a session banjo player before, at the age of 42, deciding that Pottery was his true passion.

Host Eric Gorges visits with Walter Arnold. Walter is an accomplished stone carver who started his career at a very early age. Eric learns a little about what it takes to carve limestone and marble. We learn the history of stone carving and early days of Walter's apprenticeship in Italy, including kicking around the same quarry that Michelangelo went shopping for his marble.

Charon and Tom Caldwell changed the horse saddle industry. Host Eric Gorges visits the Caldwell ranch and learns how saddles are made. Charon and Tom Caldwell embody the craftsperson who knows when it's time to strike out on their own. After years of successfully working for a top saddle maker, they charted their own paths and created a revolution in the way that saddles are fitted to the horse.