Hello fellow engravers

[joseph engraver]

Thank you Steve Lindsay for inviting me to your very well put together website.
My name is Joseph, once master for the Custom Shop of U.S. Repeating Arms Co. I received my fair share of awards while a member of Fire Arms Engravers Guild. I was an engraver who specialised in totally restoring and engraving old classic Winchesters and worked with push power when using a burin.
I ended my engraving career in 2002, retired on Social Security, sold my tools to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, and moved south of the border where I have had the atmosphere and time to write my memoirs and catch bunches of big game fish.
The fifteen years that I lived in Cody, Wyoming, were the most productive years of my profession as an engraver and my initiation to sculpting. I specialized in projects that transcended an untrained person’s imagination. None were commissioned projects. I would choose the gun and the theme.
However nothing in my life was more demanding than putting my life on paper and transforming it into a readable book. It is a small book of 170 pages with photos. I am sure that Ken Hurst will find it entertaining, and so will anyone else willing to spend $16.95.
The title: A Gifted Man, memoir of an artist and is available from: www.iuniverse.com.

Here is the introduction to the book, by Herbert Houze:
“All too often memoirs written by living artists are little more than thinly disguised
advertisements. Consequently, when Joseph asked me to review the following
pages I expected something along those lines. Happily, I was greatly
mistaken.
Joseph has written an accurate account of the long and often tedious process
of becoming a master engraver. His story is not always pretty, but it is honest.
Some will no doubt find parts of this book disturbing and as a result will
quickly put it down. That would be a mistake. Those who read the entire work
shall be richly rewarded since it reveals the driving forces that compelled Joseph
to pursue a most difficult career.
This memoir is an intensely personal account of a dream and two loves.
Joseph’s dream of becoming an engraver was not easily achieved and it is unlikely
that when he commenced on that journey he realized it would become a love.
Yet, as is common with those who follow their own path to produce work for the
shear joy of its completion, engraving seduced Joseph. It also becomes clear in
this account that Joseph would not have achieved success had it not been for his
other love, Franca. She supplies the stability, support, and understanding that
allowed him to perfect his craft.
To describe the pursuit of any dream in words is a difficult task. One must
therefore forgive Joseph for the occasional awkward sentence or unvarnished
comment. His story, however, is compelling for no other reason than he achieved
his dream. That in itself is a happy ending.”

[Steve Lindsay]

Welcome Joseph :waving:

Steve

[john88]

I purchased the book and found it great I would hope that all you out there would find this a inspiration to your own engraving career. It will insprire you engravers that are just starting out a great push in the right direction for it shows if a person is serious about his future he will sacifice much to suceed
I have just finished the book and I would like you all to read it. I would hope that I could start a system so that the book could be passed around to all that would be interested. Say for example I donate the book to the forum aand Mail it to a engraver and he in turn after he reads it to mail it to another engraver. my e mail is jack010720@sbcglobal.net just to know something about me I'm approaching the 90th year and started engraving as a young boy around 1936 sincerly john88

[john88]

I purchased the book and found it great I would hope that all you out there would find this a inspiration to your own engraving career. It will insprire you engravers that are just starting out a great push in the right direction for it shows if a person is serious about his future he will sacifice much to suceed
I have just finished the book and I would like you all to read it. I would hope that I could start a system so that the book could be passed around to all that would be interested. Say for example I donate the book to the forum aand Mail it to a engraver and he in turn after he reads it to mail it to another engraver. my e mail is jack010720@sbcglobal.net just to know something about me I'm approaching the 90th year and started engraving as a young boy around 1936 sincerly john88

[john88]

I purchased the book and found it great I would hope that all you out there would find this a inspiration to your own engraving career. It will insprire you engravers that are just starting out a great push in the right direction for it shows if a person is serious about his future he will sacifice much to suceed
I have just finished the book and I would like you all to read it. I would hope that I could start a system so that the book could be passed around to all that would be interested. Say for example I donate the book to the forum aand Mail it to a engraver and he in turn after he reads it to mail it to another engraver. my e mail is jack010720@sbcglobal.net just to know something about me I'm approaching the 90th year and started engraving as a young boy a round 1936 sincerly john88 I shoud let you know that the name of the book is a gifted man by joseph sometimes i get ahead of my self

[mckeenh]

Welcome Joseph, I hope you will hang around here and give us some sound advice as we struggle to accomplish some little part of what was your life. We all feel the need to create and would like and need all the help we can get.

Neil:yesnod: