Profiles
in Shooting: Master Engraver Barry Lee Hands
Master
Engraver Barry Lee Hands Hunting in South Africa Credit: BLH
Barry Lee Hands was introduced to the skills that
would lead him on a life-long journey at a young age. “My mother was an Art
instructor, and I spent many hours as a child learning to use chisels and files
in jewelry applications and other artwork.” In Bigfork, shooting was a family
affair. “She was a Montana girl and taught me to operate a model 61 twenty two
repeater from prone position when I was six, and I was given my first deer
rifle at 14 or so.”
Barry’s grandfather gifted him all of “America’s
Greatest Gunwriter” Jack O’Conner’s iconic books on guns and shooting. “He [O’Connor]
suggested that when one could afford it, you may want to have a custom stocked
rifle built, with a bit of engraving.” The seed was planted.
Shortly after high school Barry was offered a
position as an engraver with a California jeweler. “It was there I studied a
copy of The Winchester Book of Engraving by
R.L.Wilson, the first of many books that would have a big impact on my career.”
Each year in the fall, Barry would guide elk hunts where he would form his own
opinions on rifles, cartridge selection and rifle hunting. He added, “Of course
skinning and quartering a couple of elk a week helped with the wildlife
anatomy.” The die was cast. A unique blend of a hunting and shooting background
melded with an interest in art. Barry was well on his way towards his goal to
be recognized as a master engraver.
Master Engraver Barry Lee Hand’s
Artwork Credit: BLH
Barry’s apprenticeship path brought him under the
tutelage of prominent engravers like Ethan Jacczak and Colt factory engravers
Steve Huff and Don Goodwin. His work was beginning to be recognized and even
was displayed at the Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 1991 he set out on his own
forming Barry Lee Hands Engraving freelancing gun and knife engraving work to
the public. “I went independent as a firearms engraver. I visited Bob Swartley
and he gave me some pointers and Bob Evans shared some of his curved punch
tricks when I saw him in ‘95 or so.”
A
Bird-Hunting Scene by Barry Lee Hands Credit:BLH
Winchester, Colt and C Sharps Arms made him a vendor
and yet Barry still found time to instruct engraving students at GRS and Ithaca
Gun Company, a practice he continues to this day.
“In 1996 I was deeply honored when I received Master
Engraver status from the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA),” the
organization he now heads up as president.
A
Gold Inlay Decorates A Custom Firearm Credit:BLH
Barry has since traveled the world in order to study
examples of master engravers of antiquity. “In 2004 I went on Safari in South
Africa to hunt and took a detour to Cairo to study the damascene on the doors
of the Ali Hussein Mosque.” He viewed gold inlayed bronze daggers in the Athens
museum, met the best of the Italian engravers in Rome, Florence and Brescia. “I
picked up what knowledge I could as I continued my journey.” While visiting Ken
Hunt in London, his mentor advised, “If you really want to see this [damascene
techniques] done properly, go to Japan”
Within a few years he found himself in Kyoto to
observe and learn from 25th generation Samurai Master Sword Maker
Katsuo Kato who “is a quite good engraver, and uses some very interesting
tools, including the largest engraving block I have ever seen.” His love for
travel, hunting, and art has culminated into prolific career embellishing
firearms and knives with beautiful engravings.
For
Centuries, Engraving Has Been the Preferred Decorative Technique of Our Most
Treasured Firearms
Credit: BLH
Hands’ artistic wanderlust has never faded. “I have
some upcoming engraving travels and studies planned. Lately these have taken a
mathematical bent, in the quest for self-similarity it seems to be taking me
back to the rules of classicism, order and decorum et al, it is truly a never
ending story, this thing we call simply, engraving.”
Engraving, as a form of artistic expression is as
old as mankind itself. In Java, Indonesia, alongside the remains of the first
Homo erectus, chiseled shells were found that date back a staggering 540,000
years. Hatched banding etched on ostrich egg shells were found in South Africa
and dated to 60,000 BC. Man’s desire to decorate his most cherished possessions
has followed his technological accomplishments and found a natural home on
firearms often depicting hunting and animal scenes in elaborate detail. Master
engravers like Barry Lee Hands are preserving that artistic legacy in grand
fashion by creating beautiful works of art and by teaching what they have
learned to future generations of engravers.
An
African Elephant Seems to Walk Right off the Serengeti on one Of Barry Lee
Hands’ Designs Credit:
BLH
Even
a Gripcap Offers Space for Embellishment Credit:BLH
A
Client’s Dream is Realized in a Barry Lee Hand Composition - Credit: BLH
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