Moon Bear
I look to this live material for guidance in finding both its function & its form, because I believe that a useful object can be art. If one sees how the piece holds itself together, how the separate components cooperate, then it comforts the eye & delights the mind. Joinery then serves as ornamentation. With wood like this, you don’t need anything else. I thank you for your interest, & in your support of the handcraft.
Read MoreDrying lumber
The first 9 feet were rotted hollow. Where I cut clean I counted the rings, an eye-crossing effort for they were so tight and close. This tree struggled for light all its life, growing slowly, and when I had them all counted I understood what shook the ground and me so deeply. For 360 years this tree had taken a gesture, and grown thick with intention.
Read MoreTractoring Lumber
There was a maple not far from a path I frequented. A grand sentinel, he stood broad and tall. I first noticed a fungal growth about its base in ’02, and in ’03 I saw it was worsening fast, so I felled it before it could rot out entire. Oh, how the ground shook.
Read More