Peterson Collectors

'I’ve been a mid-westerner all my life. Nothing out of the ordinary here,' Brian Heydn told me. 'Just an Average-American-Working-Class-Joe-Stiff. But from samples of his extraordinary designs, I had to disagree, and from there it wasn't long until I invited him to share his Peterson pilgrimage here on the blog and become its official Artist in Residence, creating a Pete Geek poster which you can learn more about later. For now, Brian's Peterson pilgrimage: I have a variety of hobbies that I enjoy, one being art & design. I started drawing at a very early age, fascinated by the ability to create or recreate something on paper with graphite (pencil). From art history and the culture, I found it to be an expression of all the things I loved, humanity, life, and everything in between. Be it of one’s own vision, imagination, experience, hopes, or fears – art captivates us and promotes an emotional response. The tobacco pipe is art. The very definition of artisan tells us that it is, ‘a worker in a skilled trade, especially one the involves making things by hand.’ Whether the pipe stands alone or is functional (smoked), it retains an aesthetic that many of us can appreciate for years. While I’ve never been very good at creating three-dimensional pieces, I can say that I enjoy watching artists, sculptors, or artisans create. I try my hand at pipe restoration from time to time (I’ve learned a lot from watching various YouTube videos). It gives me the opportunity to delve into that world, only to catch but a glimpse of what artisans experience from the block up. I enjoy inspecting and deliberating over the angles and grain – possibly discovering something new. Educated and trained in the art of graphic design, I’ve taken to promoting various things of interest. Since discovering Peterson of Dublin in 2006, I have been expressing this discipline in various forms of ‘visual celebration,’ if you will. Peterson has a solid culture and branding history. Much of my work is based on inspiration from that. I typically try to create something I’ve never seen done before. However, from time to time, I like to replicate ‘billboards’ from yesteryear for the sake of keeping it authentic. It is a fun endeavor. What’s the culture of pipe smoking like where you live? Columbia, Missouri consists of a fairly mixed liberal/conservative landscape, so smoking tobacco is treated no different than most cities these days. Then again, this is my best guess. The extremes speak for themselves. For me the mantra of respecting others, so others (might) respect you, seems to prevail (here). Then again, it all depends upon who you might ask. Much of it is ‘banned’ from businesses and public access areas -a good reason to go to places where there aren’t a lot of humans, I suppose (I like my garage). That said, I only know a few pipe & tobacco enthusiasts. I may not be qualified to critique the tobacco-business aspect of…