Alex Florov: Sandblasted Morta Ryukin Tobacco Pipe

Alex Florov has been a long-time contributor to our yearly American Carvers Expo, and each year has managed to both meet the requirements of the project, as well as provide something fantastic in the process. As with the last two years, Alex has here crafted one of his Ryukin designs — a shape that would seem wild from any other maker. A minimalist off-shoot of his Disks and Circles on the Water, it features two gently-rounded and asymmetric nodules, the larger of which forms the bowl, while the latter makes up the whole of the shank, paired by a cinched transition between. It actually bears some resemblance to the Ryukin goldfish, with its humped back making it immediately recognizable.

2018 brought something different to the table, however. Alongside his daughter, Dasha, Alex worked with morta for the first time, a material that gives this piece an extra touch of depth. The semi-petrified oak can be a difficult medium due to its pure strength, making such complex designs as this tricky. On top of that, the grain of morta is markedly different from that of briar, requiring an extra level of attention to achieve the concentric rings brought out by the sandblast on this piece. It's these kinds of details that make it so remarkable that this piece maintains so much of Alex's signature style, despite the challenges of the "alternative mediums" theme put before him.