Elie
For more images of Elie's artistry, please visit his website: Elie's Freehand Pipes
I am Elie, living and working in France and in Belgium.
There's not that much to be told about me. I'm a mostly self taught pipe maker who is passionate about this art. As you will notice from the images: I don't stick to one style, one material.
I love to work with briar (at this moment Algerian, Italian and Spanish), and sometimes with olive- and strawberry-wood, that I have harvested, cut, selected and dried myself in Portugal.
My emphasis is on form and color. And quality, of course.
About quality : I have 5 grades.(CHANGED!)
A+ : Highest grade which you will rarely see on this site. 'A+'means to me: 'can't be better'.
A: Technically OK. Be it that my A can be someone else's A+.
B: Small flaws, hardly noticeable.
C: Something went wrong, but it is perfectly smokeable. Maybe the flaw won't mind to you.
R: Reject. In this case, something went horribly wrong, but I hate to throw away a perfectly smokable pipe. I won't forget the times, when I couldn't afford myself a freehand. Today there are still a lot of people in that situation, and their number is growing. I will lose money on this grade, but I don't mind.