Neill Roan was in Lancaster county on a business trip last week and stayed out here in quiet Marietta with us in our pile of brick and stone by the Susquehanna. Before he left on Friday morning, I prevailed on him to hand over one of his pipes, promising that I'd do a drawing or two and return the pipe to him on his next visit. He pulled this one, out of his bag and handed it to me, a big, bold chunk of sculpted briar, ivory, and vulcanite. I've done several drawings of it and believe it or not, I have NOT fallen to the sore temptation to load it up with my best vintage tobacco and pretend that it's mine. But the thought has danced with evil glee in my mind.
Rather than to humiliate myself by stumbling around with words trying to describe this grotesque, beautiful object of functional art, I'll refer you to Neill's article, just posted this afternoon, about this fascinating and gifted artist from Russia: http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/2011/10/4/michail-revyagins-transfigurations.html A drawing done on Sunday afternoon appears with the article. Here's what I did after reading it this evening, left with a deeper appreciation of Revyagin's work. One of these days, probably after I finish limping my way through helping my children get their college degrees, I'll own one of Misha's extraordinary pipes myself.
Michail Revyagin Troll Bulldog, 11 9/16 x 8 1/4, 9B graphite and watercolor pencils
Scott A. Stultz
