The Artisan | Jeff Nelson

Jeff Nelson is passionate about fishing. And not just any type of fishing. Jeff enjoys the challenge of tying his own flies and then using them to land bluegills, bass, wipers, strippers, muskies, crappies, and bass. Jeff started fishing in his teens. “For some reason that I can’t fully explain, it (fishing) just clicked with me. It was like I was born with a fishing rod in my hands.”

Jeff began tying flies when he was in his mid 30s. And once he learned the basics of fly tying there was no turning back. “I love the idea of making my own flies and the elegantly simple truth is that flies are easy to tie and are very effective at catching fish.”

““O, sir, doubt not that Angling is an art; is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly?””

— Isaak Walton

Fly fishing is an art form. “The first challenge is tying a fly pattern that works. That is, it has to fool the fish into trying to eat the fly. The second challenge is presenting the fly in a way that triggers the strike.” Years of experience and practice have helped Jeff hone his skill.

Jeff does most of his fishing from a one-man kick boat at Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area. Jeff likes fishing from a kick-boat as it’s a very effective platform for fishing modest sized lakes and ponds. Because Jeff can control his boat with the fins on his feet, it frees his hands to fish.

Jeff’s favorite fly rod for warm water fishing is a 9 foot, 7-weight rod. He has caught several muskies that were in the 40 inch size class, weighing around 20 pounds. “It takes a good half hour to wear out and land a muskie of that size when you are using a fly rod and kick boat. The only way I can land a fish that size is to beach it on a sandy beach.”

For Jeff the thrill of fly fishing is “taking dominion over a wild creature.” Jeff like many fishermen, practices catch and release fishing. “Once we have the fish in our hands, or on the beach or boat, we have taken full dominion.” The vast majority of the fish that Jeff catches are released to fight again another day,

This Artisan project has focused on people who produce something of value in limited quantity with their hands. Jeff is a true artisan. Jeff creates flies that are simple, beautiful and effective. And as any true fisherman knows, the most beautiful fly is the one that catches fish!

The Artisan | Schultz Strings

John Schultz has turned his passion for the violin into a thriving eastern Iowa business. John and his wife Rebecca founded and operate Schultz Strings, a Cedar Rapids business that “provides exceptional string instrument service, sales, rentals and instruction to eastern Iowa and beyond through our highly accomplished team of string specific professionals.”

John and Rebecca launched their business out of their Mt. Vernon home in 2009. “We had 8 violins hanging in our home closet. Before we knew it we had violins piled up in most rooms! We purchased a bigger house hoping that would solve the problem, but the violins kept coming!”

Today Schultz Strings located at 1190 Twist Town Road NE, Cedar Rapids offers instrument repair and restoration, rentals, student through professional instrument sales, lessons from 14 teachers, chamber music, master classes and performances. They service about 30 music programs in eastern Iowa representing over 150 teachers and thousands of students.

John Schultz began violin in the Waukesha Public Schools in Wisconsin during 4th grade. “I was really taken by the fiddle tunes the teachers played at the demonstration and wanted to learn how to do that.” He was not serious about violin until the end of high school when he started to take private lessons. “I then started to play 6-8 hours a day and fell in love with the violin.” John went on to earn a Bachelors of Arts and Master of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he studied with Dr. Myron Kartman and performed as a member of the Arreaux String Quartet. 

John’s crown jewel is an amazing early violin made in Brescia, Italy around 1550. It’s a prototype of what would become the modern violin. “It came to us when its previous owner could no longer play and the violin needed a new home. We did a full restoration on the violin which took 18 months to complete. It’s a spectacular example of early violin making.” This is the violin that John is playing in the photos below.

The thing John loves most about his job is “working with an amazing team, getting to know amazing teachers across the state and midwest and seeing the joy on students and players faces when they make music!”

This Artisan project has focused on people who produce something of value in limited quantity with their hands. John and his entire team are true artisans. They restore valuable instruments, make beautiful music with a whole variety of stringed instruments and introduce others to the instruments and music that they truly love.

The Artisan | Bob Kettelkamp

Bob Kettelkamp is an Iowa dairy farmer who milks around 160 Holstein cows twice a day, 365 days a year. You might say it’s a labor of love. Bob has been in the dairy business with his twin brother Bill since 1987. They began with ten cows and have never looked back. Today their herd consists of 190 head of milk cows plus another 100 heifers.

Today with the challenge of finding qualified labor, Bob’s wife Cindy has been helping with the twice-a-day milking duties. This is what real love looks like - showing up faithfully day after day to serve the one you love. And this is also what dairy farmers do every day out of the love for their animals.

Bob breeds and raises his own Holsteins. He used to name each one until the numbers became too large. Now he doesn’t give them names but he still knows each individual cow along with its unique personality and preferences. It’s Bob’s love for his cows that motivates him and keeps him going. It’s the thing he loves most about the dairy business and probably the thing he will miss the most when he finally retires.

At the end of the day, the dairy business isn’t just about cows but about milk. And these Holstein’s really produce! During their peak production, each cow produces 100 pounds or about 12 gallons of milk per day. Bob’s herd produces approximately 10,000 pounds of milk per day.

Bob’s Dutch Girl Dairy is classified as a Grade A dairy, receiving unannounced inspections by the Department of Agriculture every five months. In addition, his milk is tested each time it’s picked up and delivered to Wapsie Valley Creamery. The milk samples are tested for antibiotic and bacterial levels as well as butter fat and protein content.

This Artisan project has focused on people who produce something of value in limited quantity with their hands. Bob is a true artisan! Some may call him a dairy farmer who does manual labor with stinky animals. I call Bob a consummate artisan who is driven by his passion for his animals and producing a quality product that others can enjoy. An artisan in deed!

The Artisan | Ron and Ryan Bentley

Ron Bentley and his son Ryan are passionate about watches and watchmaking. Their business, Bentley Watch Repair located in Hiawatha, Iowa deals with all thing watch related. Their business runs like "clock work" with Ron specializing in fixing old pocket watches from customers across the country, while his son Ryan works on the newer wristwatches.

Ron got started in the business as a result of a serious auto accident as a young man. He was sent to Des Moines for rehabilitation as a result of the accident and it was there that he met his counselor who was a watchmaker. Combined with his love for watches, Ron decided to enroll at the Bulova School of Horology in New York City. Ron graduated in January 1973 and worked for several local jewelry stores including a run at his own watchmaking business together with a partner. In 1993 Ron opened Bentley Watch Repair, an independent watchmaking business.

Ryan joined the business in 2008 after graduating from Lititz Watch Technicum in Lititz, PA. Ryan was involved with the business from the age 12. He began working on time locks and later moved on to helping customers, doing minor repair along with crystals and movement replacements. After graduating from Lititz Ryan decided to come back and join the family business. 

Ron and Ryan love taking an old family time piece that they never thought would run again and making it work like new. "You have taken a person’s treasured time piece that can often be of great monetary or sentimental value that they have entrusted to you. They don't think it can be repaired and you are able to restore and bring it back to its original glory." Ryan loves hunting the problem down and fixing it.  "You may spend hours which in our world feels like minutes. Getting lost in what your doing seems to be very satisfying as well."

Ron and Ryan both got an early start with watches. Ron's father gave him his first watch, a Helbros Invincible that he wore for years. The first watch that Ryan owned was an Armitron with Bugs Bunny dunking a basketball on the dial! His first mechanical manual wind watch was a Caravelle pocket watch that was given to him by his dad. The first watch that Ron repaired was his uncles 23 jewel self-winding Bulova. The first watch that Ryan distinctly remember repairing was a Swiss Army quartz 24-hour watch. This was before he had any classical watchmaker training. "The movement was very different and unavailable to us. So instead of telling them we could not fix it, I took components from this 24-hour quartz watch and stacked them onto a base model of the same movement." And everything worked!

Ron likes working on old rail road pocket watches. "They are so well made and beautifully decorated by damascening the plates in the watch. The solid gold balance screws, wheels and bushings and ruby jewels make them works of art that the general public just does not get to enjoy.  Many of the cases are beautifully engraved as well." Ryan really enjoys working on Rolex watches although each watch has its fun aspects of repair. "Rolex is a watch that was designed for the watchmaker in mind with parts that fit perfectly and a minimal amount of different sized screws. These watches can last for years and years if maintained properly."

Ryan summarizes his passion for watchmaking. "As a watchmaker we like to think we can do it all and there is nothing that is too difficult. Just things that are more of a challenge and more time consuming to complete."

The Artisan | Neil Middleton

Neil Middleton is the owner of Middleton Woodtech in Rockford, Illinois. After working 20 years in the corporate world as a systems engineer, Neil turned his hobby and enjoyment of woodworking into a business. That was over 27 years ago and he’s still going strong.

Even as a boy Neil always had an inclination to build things. He fondly remembers helping his dad who was an Industrial Ed Teacher, build with wood. “In my youth I built many little wooden constructs. However my first most significant wood project was building a boat with my dad that we used for many years on the river at our summer cottage.” Neil’s dad game him his first woodworking tool, a scroll saw

And today Neil still gets satisfaction from taking raw wood boards and making them into something useful and attractive. Woodworking has provided an outlet for Neil’s creative bent to design and build in the medium of wood. “Positive feedback from others regarding the results of my creations has always been fulfilling. I would always rather have a friend than a customer.”

Neil’s woodworking projects include fireplace mantles, speaker podiums, authentic Japanese benches for Anderson Japanese Gardens, custom home cabinets and furniture pieces, theater stage craft, and antique furniture restoration. Most notably, Neil has helped restore and refinish more than a dozen baby grand pianos, bringing them back to their former glory.

Neil’s advice to some who aspires to work with wood … “A woodworker can never have enough clamps!”