My name is Travis Anderson. I am a Colorado native but I have lived in several different places throughout the country. I am a self taught flint knapper. I started with this hobby when I was seventeen years old while living in Missouri. Recently my work has been accepted into an art gallery specializing in glass art. I learned knapping using strictly traditional methods but have since adopted modern tools to create finer blades and points. My goal is to take flint knapping to an apex in the contemporary art world. I want to see just how thin and excellent I can make my blades using what ever means I can. After all if Native Americans had modern tools they most likely would have used them. Also I am able to make the best use out of the material that I have. I have been working with some obsidian that I found in Oregon on the way back from the expose in Portland and have been pleased with the results. My main piece in the gallery is a three foot long broad sword that i knapped from a large piece of glass. At nearly three feet long and two inches wide it is an incredibly large knapped piece. I was so proud of this gigantic thing that I carved a stone box to contain it. After finishing this project I can tell you I don't EVER want to do this again! It was down right nerve racking to the point of borderline insanity! Flint knapping is not my only interest in rocks I also am a member Mineral Union. My best friend Joseph Cook and I go traveling and hiking all over the place looking for precious gems and minerals and have the time of our lives on our trips that take us anywhere from rappeling down abandon mine shafts to the steep rocky faces of fourteen thousand foot mountains. We enjoy seeing just how terrified we can get. Our philosophy is if no one else has had the nerve to go to some of these places then we have first dibs. What can i say rocks have been in my blood since i was a little kid my father was a prospector and avid rock hound and still is. Many people know Ernie Anderson due to his knowledge in geology especially in the uranium industry.