Erik Nielsen is a relative new comer to the carving industry; however he has been refining his work in private over the past three years. A former Railway worker, an unfortunate accident at the workplace left Erik unable to perform his job in 2000. Finding himself with some free time on his hands and a comfortable pension, Erik turned to pipe carving to pass the time. What began as a hobby as became a career after Erik Nielsen's early work caught the attention of Kurt Balleby. Balleby informed him of the opportunities available to profession pipe carvers and ended up taking Erik under his wing for formal training.

Erik Nielsen's tutelage under Kurt Balleby has certainly improved his engineering and has influenced his aesthetic. Having developed a firm grasp of proper engineering techniques, Erik has started developing a style of his own of late. It seems that Erik has taken to using stylistic elements often used by Rainer Barbi, such as elongating and heightening the shanks of traditional shapes, however, comparisons can still be made to his mentor, Kurt Balleby. It is still too early to properly classify Nielsen's styling; however, his determination to improve with every pipe certainly has us impressed and excited about his work.