The Grand Masters Re-Visited

[Andrew Biggs]

Well, I’ve just got home from my trip to the Grand Masters weekend (more like 10 day that I was away) in Emporia, Kansas. I don’t have a portable laptop so keeping up with things is a bit difficult and I apologise to anyone whose e-mails I haven’t answered yet and for nor responding to postings on the forum. I think I’ve been up for about 36 hours now with only some fitful dozing on the plane.

First I would like to say a big thank you to Kim, DJ and the rest of the Glendo/GRS crew for inviting me and showing me such warm and generous hospitality. All of you guys are just great and I very much appreciate the time spent and effort that you guys made for me and everyone else that attended!!!!! You have created a truly unique and magical thing with the Grand Masters programme.

Secondly it was great to catch up with old friends and a real pleasure and delight to meet some of you from the forum. I can’t name you all as my heads a bit fuzzy right now and I don’t want to leave anyone out. All of you are just magic.

All I can say is……….what a time it was!!!! The sharing of techniques, ideas, information, inspiration, enthusiasm and philosophies was just wonderful. The good natured banter, jokes, music and singing was an absolute delight and pleasure to be a part of. Meeting people from all over the world with such varying cultural backgrounds and accents like the USA, England, Austria, Germany. The different aspects of engraving that were represented on guns, knives, jewellery and stone setting was simply mind blowing. There was a kindness and openness about you all that I can’t even begin to describe. It was more like a family gathering!!!!

The Grand Masters, Winston Churchill and Ken Hunt are indeed just that. Grand Masters………….in every sense!!!!. Talking to the students that were in the classes and meeting them myself, you picked up just how good these guys really are. The knowledge they are passing on is going to be invaluable to future generations of engravers and will lift the bar even higher. Artists in their own right, still passionate about their engraving after all these years, warm and approachable human beings with a very good sense of humour.

So to everyone I met, old friends and new, and all the good people at GRS.

THANK YOU.

Yeah!!!!

Andrew

 

[Mike Bissell]

Andrew - I would like to second everything that you said. Also I would like to thank DJ & Kim for the invitation to attend it was truly a great time. Exchanging ideas with new people who treated me like a family member or an old friend. I don't know how it could of been any better.

Mike

 

[Marrinan]

Andrew, In addition to what Rex and John say in your pic I might mention that we don't put an e on the end of program and we spell apologise with a z. You guys not only have problems with the water in the john but spelling seems to be.... Fred

 

[fegarex]

Good cartoon Andrew! That reminds me of something I said during breakfast on one of those days. We had a big table of people and the poor waitress was having a heck of a time understanding a lot of the people. I told her we were blessed with having people from 5 countries represented at the table... Untied States, England, New Zealand, Austria and Tennessee.....

Sorry Scott... You know I love to pick on you!

 

[vilts]

It seems just so much fun you guys had there. I wish that someday I'll be at the level when I could be accepted to this event...

Sam's Balding Wax is already in shipping, maybe that helps to speed up my progress