Fireweed: Eating Steak

Distortion

-in progress

A Place Setting

We are what we eat.

Copper has been used by the indigenous here for thousands of years. In trade, ceremony, tools, cutlery and generally showing affluence. We’ve melted copper onto the blades, before hardening, intentionally distorting the blades. The distortion comes from what we have seen here living in the bush in British Columbia for 20 years. The impact on the indigenous peoples and environment is distorted. The distortion in the steel follows the organic lines in the moose antler handles.

Custom Made Crossed Steak Knives

4 1/2 inch blades. Long 4 1/2 inch handles.

Our son, Kai, runs in the forest on a trail he made. One morning his dog, Jack, jumped out of the bush in front of him. Jack was being pursued by 2 wolves. They jumped out close behind Jack. Kai and the 2 young wolves, less than 10 feet apart, stopped and stared at each other. Moments passed. The wolves turned and went the way they had come. At 100 feet into the bush the two wolves stopped and turned to watch Kai and Jack watch them.

3 Handmade Steak Knives

The blades are made from a steel we’ve recovered and repurposed. A high carbon steel with a cobalt content. You can easily get a razor edge that holds..

Custom Made Steak Knives Point a View

Three steak knives in a condo window look out at Canada Place.

We’ve used moose antler off cuts we saved from our knife shop, bent and distorted. We boiled the pieces, straightened them with clamps and vise. They are the scales that hold the razor sharp blades.

Melted Copper Close Steak Knife Blade

Bears are all around us. We meet them on the road. The older ones leave fast for the bush. The younger ones want a look. That could get them killed. We use to honk and yell but that only made them more curious.

Melted Copper Knives Closer

A bear will come into the yard every 5 or 6 years. They smell chickens, our food, the dogs food, apples, berries and lots of dandelion and flowers. I step out of the cabin and they leave. Jack, our dog, makes sure they stay away. They don’t want trouble, we don’t want trouble.

We are amazed bears don’t come more often.