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    "So, just what is it that you like so much about building ships in bottles?"  For me, this question is often the most enjoyable to answer allowing me to express my creative freedom, as opposed to the all too common question of "how did you get that ship in that bottle?"  That question, though easy to answer, is frustration to some extent.  You dictate a series of steps, almost set in stone, like a science project, lacking that creative spice, which is the real reason we miniature model builders spend hours upon hours of careful focus and attention, stressing our eyes to the extremes, and testing our patience to the level of near insanity!
    So, what do we like about it?  Now, that is a question
to answer!  Why, it’s exploring the world of critical problem solving.  Figuring out just what medium to use, how to apply it, and the distance you can delve into the miniature world with basically no rules to restrict you.  Our craft, allows us to explore a world of mimicry, turning a toothpick into a mast, a watch gear into a steering wheel, a shard of glass into the lens of a lighthouse, or even turning a medical injection needle into a stanchion of a railing. And once you’ve figured out what material to use, you’ve got to determine what you’ll use to put it together, whether it be glue, clear nail polish, epoxy, a length of string, a couple dowels, or a combination of those things.  This is what it means to
build ships in bottles, and the reason why, I’m so addicted.  
    Over the course of my building, I've created a list of tips, tricks and material usage.  These are ideas to explore.  You'll come up with many of them on your own, but I have found, that aside from building, the best part about ships in bottles is sharing with other builders, just how you created what you did.
 
Some Tools:
•   Create a tiny hoop at the tip of a piece of thin wire, which is attached to a flexible, long, piece of metal (clothes hanger length, flexible shish kebab stick, etc.). This will be used to suspend the super glue so that it can be applied to your object.  The smaller the hoop, the smaller the quantity of glue.

•    Make a pair of long tweezers with a coat hanger, but make them even better by strapping on two small, wooden slats (shaped the way you like).  These are better than those long model store tweezers which in the end are too bulky to really use inside the bottle.

Handling and Using Glues:
•     I use super glue to attach nearly everything on the ship, but it can be messy if you squeeze it straight from the bottle.  So, always dab super glue with a paper towel.  I cut paper towels into small squares and have a
pile of them accessible at all times when working.
•     Soak fine veneers in super glue before cutting with a blade (exacto knife). This helps to avoid splitting down the grain of the wood and breaking of very fine pieces.

•     Use super glue to stiffen lines so that they hold their shape in a bottle.  For instance, allow the sheets to your sails to absorb the glue so that it becomes stiff.  In this way, you can set your sails further out from the hull.  This allows you to display a boat sailing downwind.

Random Materials and Their Uses:
 •    Collect that flexible plastic that many items are packaged in from the stores.  Keep the flat sections and use these for making windows or anything that needs to be transparent on your models.  (Note: do not glue these with super glue, it will create a horrible haze on its surface!)

•    Watercolor paper is a great medium for mimicking wood.  It will take stain well, is flexible, and can we stiffened with super glue. I’ve used it to make the ribs of a canoe once before and rub rails on large boats.

I'm certain to have more tips in the future, but until then, I've provided you with some ideas to think about.

Skipjack Marine Gallery in Portsmouth, VA is now selling some of my ships in bottles.  There you will find my quality ships in bottles awaiting to be purchased and taken home as the ultimate display piece for the home or office!

You'll be able to see some of the local tall ships that have been placed inside the bottle (all pictured above).  These include Pride of Baltimore, A. J. Meerwald, or the beautiful Schooner Virginia passing by Wolf Trap Lighthouse.  Others include some or our very own Chesapeake Bay boats from times passed including the four masted schooner "Purnell T. White," known to be the prettiest of her type on the bay,  the attractive Norfolk Pilot Schooner of 1805, "Swift," and two crabbing skiffs placed together inside a small bottle.

As a sailor myself and lover of all things nautical, this is my way of preserving a bit of history.  I can share an art form the sailors of the old days created, as well as some of the magnificent ships that once graced our waters.  My passion of the Chesapeake Bay is evident, and all six of the vessels in Skipjack Gallery have a strong connection to the Bay in some way.  

So if you get a chance, head on out to Skipjack Marine Gallery, or find my items on thier website if you live too far away.  

Hope all of you have Happy Holidays!

Great news!  My ships in bottles have recently been accepted into Annapolis Marine Art Gallery. 
Upon my return to the US, I visited Annapolis Marine Art Gallery, in Annapolis, Maryland, where I was kindly welcomed and my ships in bottles evaluated and accepted within the gallery.   The Gallery is located just next to the harbor and is a pleasant stop for anyone interested in nautical art.  Take a visit, and afterwards see some of the local yachts tied up to the harbor walls.

You'll find the following two bottles within the Gallery:

Annapolis is probably one of my favorite small cities because of its warm atmosphere, pleasant charm, numerous boutiques, stores, and restaurants, and of
course, it is accesible by boat with numerous places within the harbor and creek to anchor or tie to a moring safely.  Stefan and I have taken our boat "Wabi" there on numerous occassion and have always enjoyed our stay thoroughly.  We always find it hard to leave.

So if you are in the search for the perfect, nautically inpired gift, that is completely unique, for the Holidays, take a stop by Annapolis Marine Art Gallery.  Or, check out the website and contact them at: http://www.annapolismarineart.com

Woah!!  Where has time gone!  Updates are in order and some have already been made:
If you go to the New Bottes tab on the website you'll notice that I've got four new projects posted with lots of detailed descriptions of the images: Flying Scot, Schooner Virginia with Wolf Trap Lighthouse, A J Meerwald (Deleware oyster schooner), and Barque La Neptune passing the Geneva Lighthouse.  Yes, I have been busy.

In other news, the World Expo was a flop, although I sold one ship in bottle, the HMS Bounty; she is a real beauty.

After that experience, I participated in a small festival in Rolle, Le Fete des Canot.  This was a festival of small ships and the organizer, being a friend, asked me to display a few ships in bottles.  All was excellent, and what a great atmosphere or friendliness and overall good cheer!  It is certainly worth participating in if you have a small boat.  People came from Italy, France, and Germany. 

At the end of the two day event, there is an awards ceremony organized around some good humour.  This year's prizes consisted of the worst collection of maritime related paintings I have ever seen in my life.  It took two years to collect this jumbilation of failed attempts at painting, and with their huge quantity each participant was so greatly overjoyed when they found out that they would receive not one, but two of these glories!  A bottle of wine also accompanied each prize. 
Aside from the silly gifts, some more serious awards were made to a few individuals and I was surprised and honored to receive the "Challenge du Leman."  This is a half hull model of J. de Catus's canot, given to the person who has completed the best restoration.  Everyone enjoyed my ships in bottles so much, that they decided to offer me the award.  What a great way to welcome me into the community...I was speechless and  not because my French is limited.
So it was a great weekend and we hung around for the taking down of the event and a spaghetti dinner...oh I almost forgot, the fish soup, made by local fisherman, on Saturday evening is delicious and a yearly event.
So leaving with a warm feeling in my heart, great thanks to the kindness of everyone's welcome, and a full belly, I say it may have been one of the best weekends I've experienced here in Switzerland.

So here's some photos for all of you to enjoy.  I also didn't pass up the opportunity to make a canot in miniature to dedicate to the fete des canots and deliver to my friend Alain who welcomed us aboard his boat and made possible our participation.

I was coming out of the Migro (Swiss super market) the other day and spotted a booth with guys painting those miniature figurines.  You know...the sorts that might be used for those RPG games.  Their quality was unbelievable and they saw my interest.  Well, one thing led to another and I was invited to the upcoming Swiss World Expo.

There's an expected turnout of 10,000 - 15,000 visitors in the Montreux Music and Convention Center.  Three zones will be dedicated to the event, and I am sure, a range of different types, subjects, and scales of models will be available for view and purchase.  I'll be the only one displaying ships in bottles.

I'll be there demonstrating how to build my ships in bottles and displaying my current fleet, and hopefully making a few sales.  So come on out and maybe you can spot me inserting one of my miniatures into the bottle!  Or better yet, purchase one!

Valora
By: H. G. Rogers

       When an exceptionally bad storm swept through Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 2010, the worst nightmate of any boat owner occurred.  The much beloved, wooden sailboat Valora came to a tragic end.  Valora was no ordinary boat, but then, what classic boat is ordinary.  They have personalities, qualities, and characters just like a dear friend or family member.  Boat owners may even call a boat their "child" and grace their transoms with a very personal name.
      Valora like a chersished person, had many friends since the owner shared her with as many people as he could.  Weekend sailors raised her sails, held her tiller, and tied her to her mooring after joyful sailing trips.
     On the dark day of the storm though, she say helpless and alone, as very rough seas broke into the anchorage.  Her mooring lines parted and a scattering of bits and pieces was all that remained of her after she broke up on the beach.  Valora's existence may be over, but the ability she had to create bonds and friendships between people came to a new light.  Her end has paved the way for a new boat to be build, to carry on her tradition of friendliness.

Many who knew her came together to generate the proceeds necessary to spend on a gift, and as a ship in bottle builder, I was commissioned with the task of creating a miniature replica in a bottle of the "brave little ship."
     I became aware of all the endless possibilities we possess as ship in bottle builders.  Hopefully, I have helped the owner of Valora settle his mind of the terrible disaster, or maybe I have just given him a unique piece of memorabilia.  Either way, I have shared an art form that has graced the hands of the toughest sailors, warmed the hearts of inquisitive children, and tantalized the minds of the craftsmen who carry on this tradition.

View more pictures of Valora within the Gallery section of the website.

David Luna De Carvalho of Portugal has provided an excellent blog about ships in bottles and maritime related information.  He has posted an extensive list of links for blogs and other maritime related websites, specifically ships in bottles. Here's the link:
http://mardasgarrafas.blogspot.com/

Recently he has posted an article about S & G Ships in Bottles complete with many images from my growing fleet.  He was even so kind enough to post it in english.  The article describes how I became interested in the craft and where I hope to take it.  So have a look at:
 Os "mares" de Heather Gabrielle Rogers

By: H. G. Rogers
                 To choose the proper bottle to house your ship or scene, the builder needs to think about how the art will appear when it is complete.  How is the relationship between space, shape, and overall atmosphere represented?  A lonely sloop, built to scale, and placed inside a wine bottle is most likely going to appear visually awkward.  The model may be of the highest quality and perfection, but the quantity of empty space that would exist in such a bottle, would create a visual tension between the two.  Focus first, on collecting bottles of different shapes and styles and then creating an atmosphere of harmony between ship or scene and bottle shape.
             Finding bottles for your art is an easy task and doesn't necessarily mean finishing off a bottle of whiskey to do so.  Search your local antique stores, flea markets, and second hand boutiques and you will be surprised at the treasures they hold.  As a bottle artist, I have only a small collection of some 25 bottles, but a relatively wide range of styles and shapes that are suitable for most any ship or scene.  Any glass vessel can serve as a house for your art.  Decanters of numerous shapes, pharmaceutical bottles, clear wine bottles, light bulbs, chemist bottles, lamp globes, etc., all of various sizes make up a good collection.  In addition, be very critical when selecting a bottle.  Evaluate its quality as best you can with clarity being your biggest concern.  A good test is to hold a bottle up into the light, making sure it is dry inside.  Is it hazy, scratched, shows some iridescence from chemical exposure, or have rings from liquid once sitting inside it?  If yes, set it aside and move forward with your search, because these things are generally unchangeable.  Blown bottles, without molding marks, will commonly be the best choice.  They may contain bubbles or streaks and can also be slightly asymmetrical in shape, but these things, if not overwhelming, can give character and an expressive quality to your bottled art.

              Most importantly, harmony should exist between the art inside and the bottle itself, therefore choosing the bottle in direct relationship to the ship/scene or vice versa is ideal.  For example, a round, conical shaped, or decanter style bottle would be well suited for a sloop or two-masted vessel, but not a three to four-masted schooner or square-rigger, which would fit better in a pharmaceutical (taller and broader) bottle.  The shape versus the space needs to be balanced.  As stated in the first paragraph, a lonely sloop in a wine bottle would be visually lacking, but add other elements creating a scene and filling the space (lighthouse, other boats, shoreline with houses, etc.) and you've created a balanced composition.  When you pick up a bottle, let your imagination take off.  Ask yourself, what would fit inside this bottle best?  It is almost always easier to develop a plan based on a bottle than developing a plan and then searching for the perfect bottle to fit it.  A design can change with creativity, but a bottle cannot.  That said, you may find after designing yor ship or scene, that another bottle among your collection is better suited, which is just another part of the creative process and the reason why you should have a various assortment of bottles.
             Finally, keep developing lots of ideas for future masterpieces.  Ideas can always be set aside until the perfect bottle is found.  The overall task is to create something visually attractive, that draws the attention of the viewer, and fits harmoniously, all within the small compounds of a bottle.  If you accomplish these things, the attracted onlooker will certainly wonder and ask, "just how did you get that in there?"

In the past I have struggled to figure out how to add more inromation while still maintaining a site that is easy to navigate.  The problem is, I have alot to share, not only new bottles, but my thoughts of the hobby, historical information, plans and designs, tips and tricks, information on specific boats, personal interactions with boats, events, articles, videos...the list goes on.  So, all those things will be going here, so that you can interact with me if you wish.  You'll even be able to search the archives of old posts for that small bit of information you're looking for.
My only request, be patient at the beginning, and soon I will have a great deal of information posted to share with you.

Be ready for my next post:  An article on choosing the proper bottle for your ship or scene.
Until next time, Happy Modeling and Bottling!