Belles Firm of Architecture, Inc.

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

We were TOTALLY tourists. We booked a HAL excursion, curated by the History Channel. Part of this was an "historic" Lumberjack show. It was fun and entertaining. Like Disney or Medevial Times.

"The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show reflects upon southeast Alaska’s rich logging history and comes to life with thrilling displays of strength and agility. These world champion athletes wearing spiked boots & hard hats compete in 12 athletic events that utilize seven-pound axes, six-foot razor sharp saws, tree climbing gaffs, and souped up chainsaws."

09/02/2026

Laughing a lot in the office today - a client just wrote on Rob's monitor with a sharpie! lol... never a dull moment! Rob - runs upstairs for an alcohol wipe to clean the monitor... Client puts the cap on.

08/17/2026

Russ Blahnik a couple more.

08/15/2026

The second stop on our Ketchikan was at Saxman Village. Saxman Native Village is a small, culturally rich Tlingit community located about two miles south of Ketchikan, Alaska. Established in 1894, the village is famous for the Saxman Totem Park, which features one of the largest collections of standing totem poles in the world. More notably though were the Beaver Clan House & Carving Center. At the heart of the village sits the traditional clan house, which serves as a gathering place for cultural events and tribal government. Just down the hill visitors can watch master carvers at work in the carving shed, keeping Northwest Coast traditions alive.

We found the construction of the “Clan House” to be interesting. We couldn’t quite figure out what was bearing on what, or was decorative as opposed to structural.

In the carving house, we met the resident master Carver Nathan Jackson, and enjoyed looking through his scrapbook of work! I photographed a drawing hanging on the wall that was the plan for a future piece. These custom totems run thousands of dollars a foot.