© 2012 Tainted Rose by Bob Child Made with Xara #1      “ETENOHA” Turtle carving in Wormy Chestnut by Moses Oocumma (Eastern Cherokee) F#4 drone in Makore, block in Papua New Guinea Walnut Inlay:  Malachite vine, Turquoise lettering...“ETENOHA” is Iroquois for “Earth we call Mother”, symbolized most often by the Turtle totem. ADOPTED! #2    “RUNNING BEAR” Walnut carving by Allen Blue Welch (Eastern Cherokee) Flute is a butter-melting D4 in curly Ambrosia Maple,  ~27” long   Unlike #1 above, I bought this carving before I had any idea for a flute...it was just too cute not to get.  The carving was ideal to use a block itself, with only holes to be tapped for the leather tie, and a slight chimney indented to the front.  Given the size of the block, I figured it would look best and more proportional on a slightly lower key flute. The flute tells a story of unrequited love, made popular by a song written by “The Big Bopper” (J.P. Richardson), who’s life untimely ended on the same plane as Buddy Holly in 1959.  Johnny Preston recorded the famous song, which you can find for free on Grooveshark.com : “Running Bear loved little White Dove, With a love as big as the sky, Running Bear loved little White Dove, With a love that could not die.” The curly maple and big ambrosia line mimic the water enough...the paw prints (notice they’re hind prints, only!) have been carved into the flute and stained brown, and the White Dove inlay is made with Magnesite.  A truly one-of-a-kind flute! ADOPTED! I love how my Journey takes me to new places, basically out of serendipity (but NOT coincidentally).  I live next to the Qualla Reservation of the Eastern Band of the Cherokees, and on occasion go there for various reasons.  Basically, what I’m calling my “Soco Series” of flutes are flutes of mine in which I incorporate art (so far carvings) by tribal members there, that help bring very special flutes to life.  Sure, I can carve, and do at times...but this is a small way to highlight a native carver and create a really cool, unique flute.  I drive over Soco Gap into Soco Valley and go along the Soco River into Cherokee, hence the name.  Befitting.  There is no set, pre-conceived idea as to what I’ll make...these flutes will be few and far between, and will only be made when the proper inspiration and item appears to me.  I pay full price for the tribal art, and prices for these flutes are a bit higher, but all come with papers for the artwork, and are worthy of being put in the category of ‘playable art’. #3    “JOURNEY BEAR” Walnut carving by Davis Welch (Eastern Cherokee) A client emailed me about possibly making a flute from a log they had from a very special tree.  I drove to Asheville to talk further with them, and get a feel for the tree and place that was so special to the young girl.  “Grandmother” tree, she called it...and they said it wasn’t like any other tree around.  While I first thought it was Pignut Hickory, I soon ID’d it as Shellbark Hickory, which is not common in the NC mountains.  The curving log had been cut and on the ground for a few years, so I took it back and slowly began to dissect it.  In the upper left photo, I was working with the piece on the left, cutting off the smaller arm and going with the main flow of the log.  Immediately the intense spalting jumped out...and kept jumping out as I skinned the log down.  Truly the most phenomenal spalting I’ve seen, but not so rotten I couldn’t work with it.  The bear cub reminded me of the young girl, on a strong spiritual path, the curving log looking like a road itself...and the spalting, especially near the foot, looked like “Grandmother’s hair” flowing down.  It keyed out at Eb in Verdi tuning.  It took a lot of work to get it all just right, but oh so satisfying to start with a big ol’ log and work it into a gorgeous piece of ‘functional art’ as I like to call it.