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Confession: Whenever I visit the home of a fellow fly tyer, I can’t help but snoop around their desk. I find it interesting to see how they’ve arranged everything, which tools and materials they have, what kind of lamp they use. Is tidy or chaotic? Quirky and adorned, or spartan and utilitarian? “Old school” or “new school”?
Maybe I’m so curious about such things because I suspect that the organization, configuration, and state of a tyer’s desk might reveal some interesting eccentricities in the character.
Or maybe it’s nothing more than just a infatuation with the actual things themselves: feathers and fur I haven’t seen before, clever DIY tools someone else made, new types of scissors, the lamp that’s better than mine, or creative storage solutions that give me ideas to improve my own. I’ll be the first to admit, when it comes to fly fishing, I’m more materialistic than Barbie.
But whatever the cause, I’m always instantly captivated whenever someone guides me through their setup and explains precisely why they chose to do it they way they did. If you’re a passionate tyer like me, I imagine you might feel the same compulsion.
So, I’d like to invite you into my home, and give you a “show & tell” of my tying space.
This isn’t quite everything. I have an “annex” dresser with overstuffed drawers of bucktails, sheets of foam, saltwater synthetics, and other materials I don’t use often or surplus materials that won’t fit in my desk.
But what you see in this video is my everyday space. It’s the factory for all of my creativity: fly tying, writing, podcasts, videos, DIY projects. Everything.
My desk is a sacred space–an escape from civilization and the mundane, where I am in control and feel free to create things that are beautiful and unique, where I can take something in my imagination and make it appear in reality. And the inspiration for some of my best ideas came to me while my elbows rested on its edge.
So, I hope you enjoy a quick tour of this tiny space that immensely special to me. And who knows, maybe the state of my desk might say something about my character.
Special thanks to my friend Josiah Faustin for filming!
What’s your fly tying area like?
Please share a photo or video of your space on the TenkaraTalk Facebook page.
Love it! Very nice set up! I too love to see how other tiers set up their tying stations.
Thanks Jason! I’m inspired and will do a video of my tying desk as well. What is your light? I’m looking for something like that.
Hi Kris, the company is called Canvas.