We love history - especially living history. From the Colonial era through to the mid 20th century, we constantly create and collaborate on projects for house, home and hobbies using wood, metal and glass. There is special interest in heat and light that is seated in living history, but is equally at home and practical for off-grid living, camping and emergency preparedness. British Firearms are a specialist subject, having worked with them for over 40 years - this formed our business foundation and Commonwealth food and field gear has come along to help put the complete package and impressions together. We love to collaborate and continued to search for partners, sources of the best gear and components. We represent many "cottage industry" makers from the UK and maintain their inventory on hand in the US. We hope you find information, inspiration and hopefully parts and service here - we love to hear about your projects and their stories.
My Story
I am Henry Baxter - born in the middle of England and raised with an appreciation of history and rural lifestyles. We had little to no electronic gadgets while growing up - all tools were mechanical and hand driven, live fires were a source of heat and some cooking (baked potatoes etc.) My home town in the Midlands region was the epicenter of the Industrial Age in Great Britain - with many car manufacturers, coal mines and cloth mills. I was fortunate to be accepted into one of the last 4 year Apprenticeships in the UK, with evening classes for a degree. I went on to become a Mechanical Engineer and provide my expertise around the world. In my career I have supported Aerospace, Oil Field and Medical device design and manufacturer, whilst maintaining a healthy hobby interest in technology. The compiled skills and workshop come in handy at my 1830's Pennsylvania Dutch farmette for projects and restoration / upgrades. I love to fuse history with preservation and modern technology. I hope these can also help you with yours.
Why "ArtioZen"?
Artio is derived from the Celtic Bear Goddess, bears feature in the hometown of the UK county (Warwickshire) and the US town (Macungie) where I have lived and still live. Its also a hybrid of Art and Artisan. Zen is derived from Chinese word for thought or meditation - to perfect creation and innovation.