Dirk Heinemann: Sandblasted Dora with Mahogany Tobacco Pipe

When creating new ideas for shapes, Dirk starts with pen and paper. By sketching out several iterations of a basic idea before ever going to the shaping wheel, he's able to more freely experiment with different aspects of the design, such as playing with the overall proportions or tweaking orientations and lines to suit his goal. It's through this process that the Dora was born. Over the course of myriad sketches, Dirk took a Tomato bowl and experimented with the size of the shank, eventually resulting in the tall, blade-like configuration that's come to characterize the now signature shape. While many makers and marques stretch the shank out to emphasize breadth, the Dora takes the opposite approach, featuring a condensed, cinched cross-section which works quite well with the plump curves of the bowl to imply an impressive degree of dynamism and implied movement in profile. This sandblasted example is an excellent rendition, lending even more visual weight to the shank's dramatic flare through its contrast between the mahogany mount and the jet-black, sandblasted stummel. Beautiful ring grain at play as well!

- Andrew Wike