Paul Tatum

Paul doesen't make many pipes, though I wish he would. His style is unique, to say the least. He pours his own acrylics for his stems, sets them with taxidermy eyes, sandblasts with frightening detail, and drills his pipes with a wonderfully open draught. This example exhibits striking grain, with an hypnotic display of needle-like birdseye on the plateau top. The profile is narrow, making it quite light in weight, and quite aerodynamic. The fin on the bottom has an organic quality to it, bringing this piece of remarkable sculpture to life, while also providing a resting place; yes, it sits. Photographing the pipe presented quite a chalenge, to show the unique features, while also capturing something of the wholeness of the piece. On top of all that, it's a hauntingly wonderful smoke, especially when filled with one of the deep, dark, almost sinister Latakia mixtures that I favour on cold and rainy nights...

Also shown are some of Paul's unique tampers. The "Guppy" shaped one on the lower left was poured with some Haddo's Delight, making this a very special tamper, at least to me and Mr. Haddo. The gnarly Shoggoth was included in the photo because it told me it would visit me in my nightmares if it wasn't. It sports 10 eyes all round, and can somehow stare at me in the darkness through all of them at once. For more, visit Paul's very own little shop of horrors, Tatums Workshop.