Sam Adebayo: Sandblasted Asymmetric Bent Apple with Bakelite Tobacco Pipe

Sam Adebayo and Micah Redmond have been doing some interesting things with Bakelite recently, having sourced a large batch of the antique medium in a range of color palettes we just haven't seen used in pipemaking previously. It comes to no surprise then to see the two carvers each incorporating that more colorful medium into their various entries for our 2017 American Exposition, which focuses on the art of the accent stem in American pipemaking.

For Sam's entry, he's presented us with a lovely bent Apple, featuring a lengthy, slightly curling shank as well as a touch of diagonal asymmetry to the rounded bowl form. For his accent stem, he fitted the tanblasted stummel to a unique saddle stem of violet and cream colored antique Bakelite — offering a striking bit of color contrast as well as an almost horn-like pattern in its swirls and striations. What's more, if you look at the actual base of the saddle, you'll notice a layer of discoloring that he's left on the outside, giving you an idea of what the rod looked like originally and what it looked like after he cut it. Excellent work from Sam, here.

- Andrew Wike