Yowza! ... What am I reading now ??? Hmmm ... Im all over the map these days. Click the pictures to enlarge them ... Upper left corner is David Mathiass excellent new book on Greene & Greene furniture ... Im kind of picking my choice through it, savoring it a couple pages at a time, admiring his detailed photos and written observations on both the Greenes and the talented makers of their designs, the Hall brothers. Without the brothers talents, the Greene brotherss furniture would, in my humble opinion, have looked assuredly different.
To the right there, a classic from my design library that I visit over and over and encourage my guys to consider from time to time ... It was written by David Pye, I believe in the 70s and has been a sort of guide for me over the years. Its all about the mark of the hand and how a design without that mark is different from one with it ... Keeps us all from obsessing too much, and helps to eliminate the danger of a perfectly executed (dead) object. Its many other things too ... design + art, seeing beauty, seeing in general ... its all there ... try it, youll like it ...
ahh Carl Haiisen ... this one had characters from The Ocean Reef Club, a place on Key Largo where I lived for the winter of 1970...classic light, humorous entertainment ... suspend disbelief, laugh ... Classic Carl ... See here too ...
The New Yorker article on the new surge in uranium mines. A psychological mystery about people who actually
want to have uranium mines in their towns even though some of their relatives died early and horrible deaths from the last round of it .. go figure...
And then a serious article in Rolling Stone on glacial melting ... absolutely frightening ... ditto with BP and bankruptcy ... These folks are digging pretty deep and doing some excellent writing about it ... Im a returning RS subscriber who lapsed when Hunter Thompson died a few years back ... Now I remember .... They are good.
And, Islands in the Stream, a Hemingchoice classic I missed somehow. Some of the finest writing on deep sea fishing, family, friends, war .... the big picture ... For the first time, I got a serious linear connection between Hemingchoice and another of my favorite storytellers, Cormac McCarthy ... A fine piece of writing that stirred some deep thoughts on the creative process. Phew! Those folks drank a lot though ...
And lastly .. one of my clients sent me this one ... Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford. Crawford is an educated man with several advanced degrees who has gone from working in a think tank (knowledge work), to working with his hands as a motorcycle mechanic and electrician. He compares knowledge work with manual work and makes the point that the manual kind has been somewhat demeaned in todays hierarchy of education goals. He discusses the kind of diagnostic thinking and brain action that come with working
and learning with your hands ... Hes preaching to the choir here, and it was a bit of a heavy sled, but I stuck with it. Hes got a point. I find my work as a designer/craftsman/builder/maker/customer relations person totally and completely engaging. I didnt need to read the book to know that, but its nice to have it pointed out to me and my employees by an obviously very smart person, that we are indeed on the road to intellectual fulfillment if not that big pile of dollars in the sky. I cant imagine myself behind a desk full time, or in a situation where, at the end of the week, I couldnt point to some concrete evidence of the effort I had put in for that week ... Its Friday; it was a good week; we worked on a ton of different stuff and I feel really good about all of it.
This is one in a series of post I have written on this subject. For others, heres a link ... and here, another ... Get out of the shop from time to time ... read a little
A couple of weeks ago, Sam installed the balcony he was working on back in September and October ... It was a very cool project with some somewhat daunting challenges. Build it here ... install it there, 15 in the air ... Make it safe ... That kind of stuff. I swung by last week and took some pictures ... Looks like it was made to be there .. Click the photos to enlarge them ..
The platform with its expanded steel floor and outline of the rails
Sam had made a couple of sketches but mainly, on this one, worked as the spirit and his vision moved him ..
Until he had had basic decorative design figured out ...
Next were the support brackets with some ideas sketched in ...
Back to the circular elements of the main railing
and then a test assembly on the wall of the shop ...
All welded up and ready to prime and paint
One of the fishies on the floor of the balcony ...
From afar
From below
From the end, showing the 4 supporting brackets
You lost me there for a minute .... Ive been reading ... And, actually, I am pleasantly surprised at the flow of new inquiries and project design requests trickling in ... Were currently working on a walnut slab table project, the ladderback chairs, a new vanity project inspired by Dean Martins Bar, a couple of steel and walnut tables, and my website, where we have added a new section called client testimonials. Theres a recent one in the Updates post below. Over the years, clients and friends have suggested that I post some client letters, but, somehow, it seemed a little shameless to me ... Ive been converted recently by a persuasive consultant, and now that I have them up there, it feels pretty good.
Also, one of my friends/clients has written a book about his familys experience. Its called What Else But Home, and the subtitle is Seven Boys and an American Journey Between the Projects and the Penthouse. As a family who had two different guests in our home for Wills junior year and most of his senior year in high school, it particularly resonated with Kit and I. The Rosens journey, however, was much different. Its another testimony to education and support rather than discipline and (attempted) control.
And, finally, a revisit to a favorite author, Jim Harrison, who we have been reading for at least 20 years now. This guy can get you thinking with every, and I mean every, sentence. I borrowed it from a friend but Im going to get my own copy. Some sections are so beautifully written and thought provoking they just take your breath achoice .... You find yourself opening to earlier sections to reread the best parts before opening to where you left off. A historic saga of family life and nature on the American Plains ... Try Dalva too ...
The figured are at the crotch end of the slab
looking down from the crotch end
from the stump end
I started my woodworking career in 1974 as a logger for a local timber contractor ... I lasted about 6 months ... After that, I spent the next 23 years cutting and splitting firewood to heat my house and shop in Arlington .... I got back into the wood heat thing last year and Ive become pretty good friends with my chain saw again. When we had to cut this slab to size, I thought that my Stihl might be the best tool for the job as the log had already been chain sawn to rough shape before it was milled into slabs .. Ta Dah ... The edges actually will look like before we cut it .... Dont try this at home ....
Click the photos to enlarge them .... Previous post on this table ...
It was a bit of a reach
This was actually really fun .....
Cutting to 10
All done ... ready to smooth ....
