In our previous blog, we shared how it all began: a moment during Todd Howard's tai chi practice, where drawing a bow resonated so strongly he knew he needed one of his own. That instinct led him into carving, and eventually into an idea he'd take on with his daughter, Ela Harper: Todd would carve alongside bowyers around the world, and Ela would document it through photography.
What followed was a year-long journey across 4 continents, 10 countries, and 14 bowyers, resulting in the book Quiver: The Art of Life through Bowcraft, with a foreword by Paul Comstock, co-author of The Traditional Bowyer's Bible.
Now, we're sitting down with Todd and Ela to hear the story in their own words: What it was like to carve alongside master bowyers, document it all through a camera for the first time, and spend a year on the road together as father and daughter.
Craft & Legacy
Todd, you spent a year carving bows in workshops around the world. Looking back, was there a bowyer or a moment that genuinely changed how you think about craft, or about your own relationship to archery?
The one that stands out was being with Stefan Tim making a Japanese Yumi bow. That's not something that most bowyers will ever do, and as a matter of fact, I think only one other person in the book had ever made a Yumi bow. It's a different bow in the sense that it's not even made from wood; it's made primarily of bamboo with a slight wooden core. Unlike all the other bows that I made, the Yumi bow is a laminate: multiple pieces glued together. So, we have bamboo layers glued around a wooden core, and then the bow is 8 feet long versus 5 or 6 feet long. It has all these asymmetries to it, and it's carved with a 2,500-year-old tradition using bamboo wedges.
Stefan Tim. Arnhem, The Netherlands.
Tell us a little bit about when you actually shot the Yumi bow.
I can't tell you about that one, because I've never shot it. The reason being that to make a Yumi bow properly, it needs to be left strung for 2 weeks before you finish it. I wasn't with Stefan for that long, so we got it up to the point where it could be strung and had to be rested in that position for two weeks. Then he shipped it to me in Canada, where I was able to finish it.
Finishing a Yumi bow is quite different, because unlike other bows where you're carving the outer layers down to a shape, this one is basically just tapering in the edges a little bit. So, I did finish it, but additionally, a Yumi bow needs to be drawn back way behind the head. That's like another 6 or 8 inches from where it's normally drawn to, and I don't have arrows that are that long, so I've never shot it.
I would love to go to Japan and learn how to do this, because in Japan, archery is truly a martial art still to this day. The practice of Kyūdō, as they call it, is ceremonial, and I don't know any other place in the world where it is still ceremonial like it is in Japan. So, if I do it, I want to go there, and I want to go to a dojo, that's where they do archery, and I want to learn.
Yumi Bow carved by Todd Howard.
How did Paul Comstock come to write the foreword, and what does that connection mean for how you hope the traditional archery community receives this book?
Paul is one of the authors of the Traditional Bowyer's Bible, which most people will credit with being the book that kind of put bow carving back on the map.
The bow and arrow is no longer necessary for humanity, but for nearly 10,000 years, it was what humans used as the main weapon for survival. Then in the 1940s and 50s there were all these new materials and assembly lines and factories, and the bow became this fiberglass thing made in a factory, where they could just kick out bow after bow. So, the way of the bowyer was obsolete completely, and the only thing that kept it alive was the human spirit of reverence for this amazing weapon.
I have an obligation to all the bowyers to not have mistakes in this book, so I really wanted someone who could make sure everything was accurate. I asked Paul if he would be our technical and historical advisor, and he was happy to do so. During that process, I had this idea that maybe we should have a foreword, and who better to do it?
Behind the Lens
Ela, how did you get into photography, and had you and your dad worked together on anything before this?
Photography has always been something I enjoy, but I didn't actually own a camera or know anything professional until we decided to write Quiver. So it wasn't that I was a photographer and then Quiver happened, it was Quiver first, then photographer. I got my camera around December and worked with Katherine Calnan (a family friend) as my mentor. From there it was this six-month whirlwind of figuring it all out. She actually taught me roller skating before that, and she's just been such a great mentor and support to me, she's taught me so much.
Left: Short Osage orange hunting bow. Right: Ela Harper.
Between fourteen bowyers and ten countries, walk me through your overall experience and strategy for photographing everyone.
At first, my process was just to get it all—overshoot and there's going to be something good in it. But the process developed after we got a couple of people in.
Because we were there for 3 or 4 days, normally, the first day I would take photos of all the bows, and that sometimes meant just doing it in their yard, or walking down the road, finding a nearby landmark, forest, lake.
The second day was their workshop, their tools, personal items, and other specific things they had that were special to their personal craft.
And on the third day, once I got to know everyone better, we were all more comfortable, I would take portraits and do anything else that we hadn't got already after we checked the photos we had.
Talk us through the editing process, how did that go with these photos? Were you owning all the editing yourself?
Yes, I did all the editing myself. Katherine and I figured out the basics, and I did all the editing myself from there. At the very end, about 50 photos needed to be sharpened, which was a new experience for me. Once those 50 were pulled out from the rest of the book, I went back and re-edited them in terms of color a little, since I'd figured out some other things by then. All the photos have a slightly muted, warm tone to them, with more of an orange glow. We tried to add in a lot of grain. It's just very real pictures of these guys and their craft.
Left: String jig inside Ryan Gauthier’s tillering room. Right: Osage orange character reflex-deflex bow with hemp wrapped handle and red rat snake backing.
On the Road Together
Todd, you and Ela have an amazing relationship. Traveling that closely together for a year, both professionally and personally, can you share what your relationship is like? Any challenges or discoveries between the two of you?
A lot of people asked that before we left. They'd be like, "Oh, you guys are going to hate each other by the end of this," or "Ela, how do you feel about going out with your old man?" And we would just, afterwards, be like, what are they talking about?
I've always had the closest relationship with her, and my son as well. They're my best friends. There was no hesitation about doing this.
Ela is so organized that she wanted to do a lot of the planning. Every place we went to, she would download the map on her phone so that, no matter what, we could get around. We wouldn't plan the days at all. We would just wake up, and if we weren't working with a bowyer, we were adventuring. We wouldn't even book accommodations until we were in that town or on the train an hour away. We would probably walk 20 miles every day if we weren't working with a bowyer.
Ela has always been so mature, so if I was working with a bowyer most of the day, I felt really comfortable about her traveling around on her own. She would come and take photos for a few hours every morning, and once she finished her requirements for the day, she had the rest of the day to go explore. Most of the bowyers we worked with weren't in cities, but in the countryside or villages. She really impressed me in just how calm and composed and mature she was, to just be like, "All right, Dad, I'm out for the day," and I would see her eight hours later. She never seemed to have any apprehension about doing it, and I never got any messages saying, "Dad, I'm stuck." She just kind of figured her way around things.
Ela, can you share a little bit about you and your dad's relationship? What was the dynamic between the two of you like during this trip and project?
My dad and I have always had a great relationship and worked together well, so at no point did we get sick of each other. We were in these tiny little rooms, staying in motels. We worked together great the whole time and helped each other out, figuring out where we were going next and what was happening.
It sounds like he really let you take the lead in a lot of the planning and organization. At any point where you like, I need help, or was it kind of just winging it?
We did so much of it together. It was definitely a very mutual effort. We were together pretty much the whole time. We'd have the general plan of, okay, we got to get from point A to point B, and then it was just figuring out the details: can we take a train, do we need to fly, getting on that train and booking a hotel the same day. But it all worked out very well, with only a few little hiccups here and there. And even when something did go wrong, it was just part of the adventure and the journey. We still had a great time.
Ela, what was it like getting to meet the bowyers? They were mostly strangers to you before this. Did everyone open up quickly, or was it kind of hard to get it going?
Everyone was so welcoming, especially being in all these different cultures. We met pretty much all their families, or stayed in some of their houses, and got to try all the food they would make us, including their traditional meals. It was really sweet, such an experience.
Jake Fenwick’s kitchen featuring original red spruce timber beams and ceiling in Sackville, New Brunswick.
Looking Ahead
Ela, now that Quiver is a published book, what are you most excited for with the release?
So much. I'm excited to walk into a bookstore somewhere and actually see our book there. We have one copy right now that we've been taking around with us, so I'm just excited to share it and have it published. We're also going to some archery events in the spring to sell it there.
And Todd, what do you want someone flipping through this book to feel, even if they've never picked up a bow?
I used the word reverence in the book and in talking to you earlier, and that's a big one. It's this feeling of awe in looking at this tool, or weapon, or instrument, or technology that's 10,000 years old and really hasn't changed.
I think a lot of it is because our ancestors did this. There's very few of us who our ancestors probably weren't in some way touched and survived by the use of this tool or weapon. I think it awakens something.
When I started leading men's retreats with bow carving as a core component, I thought bow carving would just be something we could do to bring us together. But what I quickly realized is men would get so metaphorical in carving these bows, like, "I'm peeling away layers to see what lives inside of this thing". And then in the evening, we'd be peeling away our emotional layers, and healing from traumas, and kind of finding our core, authentic self, and that's what we do when we're carving bows. There is a bow waiting to come alive within that piece of wood. But it's up to the person with the blade in their hand to actually bring it to life. It can look like many different things, but each bowyer is going to discover something different. That piece of wood—it's just magical. It's a deep, deep connection back to our past.
Quiver: The Art of Life through Bowcraft is available for preorder and will be in stores November 3rd. Learn more about Quiver here.