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[[Image:trevertalbert4.jpg|thumb|300px|]] | [[Image:trevertalbert4.jpg|thumb|300px|]] | ||
Trever was an illustrator, painter, and designer before becoming a part-time pipe maker in 1996. In 1997 he won the Pipes & Tobacco Pipe Carving contest, which eventually lead to full-time pipe making in 1999. Paul | Trever was an illustrator, painter, and designer before becoming a part-time pipe maker in 1996. In 1997 he won the Pipes & Tobacco Pipe Carving contest, which eventually lead to full-time pipe making in 1999. [[Paul Perri]] was the first mentor, and he has since learned from Al Baier, [[Mark Tinsky]], [[Mike Butera]], [[Paul Bonaquisti]], and many more others than he can begin to name. | ||
Trever moved to France with his wife in May of 2002, but continues to send many pipes to the states through direct sales from his website, and he also sends many of his pipes to the [http://www.pipeandpint.com/ Pipe & Pint]. | Trever moved to France with his wife in May of 2002, but continues to send many pipes to the states through direct sales from his website, and he also sends many of his pipes to the [http://www.pipeandpint.com/ Pipe & Pint]. | ||
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I was born in 1966, an only child, in the small town of Welcome N.C. (about 4,000 people), where I spent most of my life until college. My mother was artistically inclined, though she had never seriously pursued an active career in art, and she spent a lot of my childhood encouraging me toward creative pursuits. In early grade school, I was actively writing and drawing my own comic books and strips as well as writing stories. I was a bit of a weird kid, no doubt, which occasionally caused troubles, depending on the teacher. My third grade teacher was upset and intimidated by my choice of reading materials (Lord of the Rings, Jaws, and piles of fantasy and horror fiction) and had me hauled off to a child psychologist. He deduced that I wasn't warped at all byt was instead reading on a senior high school/early college level. That describes a lot of my education. Really, usually all I needed was some basic understanding of a field, and I'd trek far and wide to learn everything I could about it on my own. If a subject didn't intereest me, however, no amount of pressure or cajoling could get me to exert more than the minimal effort. I worked vest with teacheers who were happy to give me basic instructions and then encourage me to follow my own parths (with the occasional critique), as opposed to those who insisted on forcing me to do things their way. I've always been a vigorously independent thinker. | I was born in 1966, an only child, in the small town of Welcome N.C. (about 4,000 people), where I spent most of my life until college. My mother was artistically inclined, though she had never seriously pursued an active career in art, and she spent a lot of my childhood encouraging me toward creative pursuits. In early grade school, I was actively writing and drawing my own comic books and strips as well as writing stories. I was a bit of a weird kid, no doubt, which occasionally caused troubles, depending on the teacher. My third grade teacher was upset and intimidated by my choice of reading materials (Lord of the Rings, Jaws, and piles of fantasy and horror fiction) and had me hauled off to a child psychologist. He deduced that I wasn't warped at all byt was instead reading on a senior high school/early college level. That describes a lot of my education. Really, usually all I needed was some basic understanding of a field, and I'd trek far and wide to learn everything I could about it on my own. If a subject didn't intereest me, however, no amount of pressure or cajoling could get me to exert more than the minimal effort. I worked vest with teacheers who were happy to give me basic instructions and then encourage me to follow my own parths (with the occasional critique), as opposed to those who insisted on forcing me to do things their way. I've always been a vigorously independent thinker. | ||
I went on to make a few more pipes from pre-drilled kits, but, by the third one, I was already frustrated with the limitation of pre-drilling. I wanted to use different angels and volw relationships than the conventional kits allowed for, plys the kits were't drilled for optimal grain use. I was faced with the fact that I had no source for bria blocks and no knowledge of how to drill them. At that time, there was no Interne, as there is today, and informtion was much harder to come by. Fortunately, I got lucky. I had founded the pipe smokers forum on AOL, and one of the regulars kew a retired pipe maker named Paul Perri. I contacte Paul, who was living in Californial at the time, and he turned out to be a very nice fellow. Paul had retired in the late 1970s with a garage full of briar, and I was able to get both wood and knowledge from him. It was a challenge at first, though, as Paul was reluctant to waste time with me. I did my best to convince him that I was good with my hands, and, after he saw the first photos of my pipes, he bevame more open. I'd never heard of Paul before, but during our association, I gradually came to know that he was the third in a three-generation tier of family pipe makers and had both taught pipe making and imported briar during his life. | I went on to make a few more pipes from pre-drilled kits, but, by the third one, I was already frustrated with the limitation of pre-drilling. I wanted to use different angels and volw relationships than the conventional kits allowed for, plys the kits were't drilled for optimal grain use. I was faced with the fact that I had no source for bria blocks and no knowledge of how to drill them. At that time, there was no Interne, as there is today, and informtion was much harder to come by. Fortunately, I got lucky. I had founded the pipe smokers forum on AOL, and one of the regulars kew a retired pipe maker named [[Paul Perri]]. I contacte Paul, who was living in Californial at the time, and he turned out to be a very nice fellow. Paul had retired in the late 1970s with a garage full of briar, and I was able to get both wood and knowledge from him. It was a challenge at first, though, as Paul was reluctant to waste time with me. I did my best to convince him that I was good with my hands, and, after he saw the first photos of my pipes, he bevame more open. I'd never heard of Paul before, but during our association, I gradually came to know that he was the third in a three-generation tier of family pipe makers and had both taught pipe making and imported briar during his life. | ||
Paul had a freat knowledge of briar and the techniques of pipe making (some of which flew in the face of popular ideas promoted by tobacconists), and I learned everthing I could from him. I would send him long letters filled with questions and get page after page of replies written in a squiggly hand and covered with arcane drawings. A lot of the information he sent me was incomprehensible at first, but, as I worked, I gradually began to see how his instructions fit together. Paul was a perfect teacher for me. He would give me all the basics, answer my questions as I hit roadblocks, and otherwise remain neutral. While he held varied opinions about curing techniques, drilling, and staining, he did not attempt to push these on me as gospel (and, as a result, I gave them much more respect than I would have otherwise). Over he next couple of years, I continued to learn and experiment. I slowly bought my tools and became proficient in the basic skills of drilling and cutting. I reached a plateau faily quickly, for pipe making is reallly not particularly complex, especially compared with painting or programming. | Paul had a freat knowledge of briar and the techniques of pipe making (some of which flew in the face of popular ideas promoted by tobacconists), and I learned everthing I could from him. I would send him long letters filled with questions and get page after page of replies written in a squiggly hand and covered with arcane drawings. A lot of the information he sent me was incomprehensible at first, but, as I worked, I gradually began to see how his instructions fit together. Paul was a perfect teacher for me. He would give me all the basics, answer my questions as I hit roadblocks, and otherwise remain neutral. While he held varied opinions about curing techniques, drilling, and staining, he did not attempt to push these on me as gospel (and, as a result, I gave them much more respect than I would have otherwise). Over he next couple of years, I continued to learn and experiment. I slowly bought my tools and became proficient in the basic skills of drilling and cutting. I reached a plateau faily quickly, for pipe making is reallly not particularly complex, especially compared with painting or programming. | ||