Welcome to Chris Hyde Online!
Visit my blog here: KNIFE NOTES
Do What You Love...
"Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life." I've heard this attributed to various people including confuscious and Gene Autrey. Regardless of who can be credited with this phrase I have always liked the ring of it. On the other hand it really burnt me when I was working a job I hated just to make payments on my student loan! But I kept at it and I am fortunate to be doing what I love and making a living doing it.
What I love:
I have found that I am not truly happy unless I am being creative. Throughout my life this has taken many forms. I have been a performing musician, a composer, watercolorist and woodworker. All creativley satisfying activities, but never very lucrative.
After spending a few years selling vintage, well, junk on ebay I rekindled my childhood hobby of knife collecting in the form of a website called www.worldknives.com. The company took a few years to get up and running, but it is now my bread and butter and has a worldwide following. World Knives allows me to be creative with web design, writing, photography and graphic design. As it has developed and I have hired employees I also have some spare time to follow some other pursuits.
What I do:
I spend my professional (and some of my personal time) buying, selling, designing, collecting and researching knives.
In addition I do consultation and appraisal work relating to ... well, you guessed it; Knives! I also love the treasure hunt aspect to finding other interesting objects that "tell" a story.
As my career has developed my interest in knives has focused on their historical significance. At the end of 2006 I decided to document the history I was researching on film. Please click the link-tab at the top of this page to learn more about my first documentary (in progress) called the THE SOLINGEN PROJECT
Art:
After designing a piece of jewelry for a museum project I was left with a load of beads and jewelry parts ... and Fimo. I hated to waste the "leftovers" and began pushing beads into Fimo in designs. Before I knew it I had become obsessed with the little "Micro Mandalas" I was creating. After a time they became more thematic and intricate. The ones I am creating now can take from 25 - 45 hours and include beads, micro beads, studs, found jewelry parts and anything tiny that serves the piece. Click here to see the art.
Other Experiences:
Some of my past experiences have included working as a stage hand, buying and selling antiques, website promotion and design, running an audio production studio, playing both bass and guitar professionally, community building, supporting a year in Paris when I was 17 playing street music, video editing, producing promotional films and television commercials, music composition, photography, working with developmentally disabled adults, house painting and landscaping.
Just For Fun:
I spend much of my free time gardening, running, writing, woodworking, reading, making devious plans to overthrow the world and spending time with friends.
Charitable Contributions:
My favorite charitable contribution is to our local foodbank. The Thurston County Food Bank does a great job with keeping expenses low and serving our community.
They feed the elderly, children, destitute families and anyone who does not have the income to feed themselves. They were a Godsend for the many people who lost everything in the terrible floods in this area Winter of 2007.
I do matching employee contributions with my World Knives, Ltd. business. I call the foodbank to see what they need and make a trip to Costco.
Also, please check out The Olympia Seed Exchange. The idea is based on encouraging extra vegetable growth to donate to the needy and build community.
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[As an aside:If you define a knife as a "weapon" consider replacing that word with "tool".
I have spent years researching the history of our oldest tool and have found that the use of knives as weapons is infinitesimal compared to their utilitarian uses.
Think about how many times per day a knife is used for food preparation, box cutting, wood carving, eating, medical and horticultural uses (and on and on) compared to any nefarious use.]
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