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Stefan and I live and cruise aboard our 40' steel sailboat, "Wabi."  Recently, we have Wintered in the Bahamas and made an extensive Fall cruise of the Chesapeake Bay, which we highly suggest to anyone interested in the Bay.  
We started making ships in bottles on our down time in between cruises and fell in love with the whole process.  Soon, we were making our models during any free time we had, while resting in a cozy little anchorage.  I even took out my tools and worked a bit while sailing under light conditions, those Old Salts would surely be proud!

Gabrielle (Heather) Rogers is the crafter of most of the ships in bottles.  She is a small town girl, from Mathews, VA and has a great interest in all sorts of arts and crafts.  She is an artist who studied at Longwood University and Bridgewater College where she received her Bachelors Degree and licensure to teach K-12 Art. 

After college, her interest in sailing really blossomed and she was lucky to meet Stefan and begin sailing on "Wabi."  The only thing she needed was an art form to take along, and after viewing a demonstration on putting ships in bottles while visiting the Maritime Museum in Beaufort, North Carolina, she was set on beginning her new trade.

Building ships in bottles is not the only art she produces.  She is also a competent glass artist, constructing stained glass and mosaics.  She has worked in the field of traditional graphic design, creating signs and lettering on boats, practicing hand painting and vinyl methods. And, she enjoys making her newest artform of highly detailed silhouette paper cuts.

Stefan Auer was born in Switzerland and grew up in Vevey, on the shores of Lake Geneva.  He has been a sailor all his life and has participated in racing boats on Lake Geneva. 
After building his own boat, he sailed over to the United States from Europe and got established on the Chesapeake Bay as a boat builder.  His skill and craftsmanship in the boat building trade have allowed him to complete multiple boats.  One of his latest accomplishments was the building of the "Explorer" for the Deltaville Maritime Museum.  This was a  reconstruction of the barge used by Captain John Smith to explore the Chesapeake Bay and was built as a part of the Jamestown Foundation's, America's 400th Anniversary celebration.  
Stefan took up ships in bottles because he saw it a wonderful way of downscaling his trade and keeping the overhead low, while still building boats that he would never have dreamed of building in real life.

When you purchase a bottle from S & G Ships in Bottles, you are receiving a real piece of art that took time, professional skills, and care to produce.  Our bottles are chosen in direct relationship to the type of ship we are building, to create the most appealing look.
The ships in bottles are completed with a stand in pine or mahogany and a hemp line turk's head around the neck for a real salty touch!  All bottles are corked and sealed with sealing wax stamped with a button from a mariner's pea-coat.

Each bottle has a hand painted label, most commonly on the bottom of the bottle if the surface allows, or on the side of the bottle under the sea of putty. 

Given the space available and ship, the label will contain the name of the vessel, type of vessel, it's year or era of construction, the model builder, as well as the year the model was completed.

Our ships in bottles are completely handcrafted. The ship is carved out of a block of wood using only hand tools.  Deck details are crafted as best as possible from various materials for a suitable appearance.  In the photo to the left, you can see the hand drawn diagram as well as a few of the tools used for the first stage of construction, carving the hull.
Before beginning a model, the vessel is extensively researched.  My goal is to create models that compare as exactly as possible to the real vessel.

Talented Artist: Heather Gabrielle Rogers enjoys working in multiple mediums.  She is an accomplished stained glass and mosaic artist, has worked in the field of Sign and Boat Lettering, dabbles with jewelry making, and currently creates silhouettes, papercuts.

For nearly five years, I was lucky to work for one of the few remaining old school sign painters, Kaptain Krunch of Kaptain Krunch Signs (aka Wino Signs) in Deltaville, VA.  I loved my job!  Through this job I developed my skills learning basic hand lettering, painting techniques, gold leafing, sign layout, and much much more.

Left: One of my favorite signs. The Osprey was designed and painted by me and the nest painted by my friend and employer Kaptain Krunch.

What girl doesn't like gold?  This was one of my favorite techniques to work with.  Above are some examples of machine or hand carved gold leaf name boards.