What is true in food...

[Mike Davis]

Is true in art, is true in music, is true in woodworking.

Everyone starts out following a recipe, working from plans, playing from the score. Over time if you are geared toward greatness you throw out the recipe, burn the plans, play from the heart. You learn to add your own touch, you make the music your own, you grow, and you stand out from the crowd.

Authenticity is worthy of study, well to practice, good to know, but being chained to authenticity holds you back. Making the same thing in the same way over and over takes nothing more than a robot. No thinking required. Respect the old ways, respect the material, respect those craftsmen who came before you, and as they did you should add to the story, build on the history, move up to the next level.

I’m not saying I’m there yet, but that is my goal. To progress while acknowledging and respecting the collective skill set of all woodworkers up to this point is a worthy effort.

 

[Phillip Mitchell]

Great post. I love reading people’s different reflections on the craft and craftsmanship. It usually provides a glimpse into what makes us tick and keep pushing ahead in our pursuits.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[gritz]

Well said Mike!
If I could woodwork like I cook, I'd be very happy. I do more woodturning than flatwork, but am presently building a dovetailed plant stand for my wife's 2017 Christmas present using a 3" thick x 10' long natural edged, spalted, curly maple plank. As my eyesight has deteriorated, I rely more on the tactile messages I get from using my hands and fingers to determine flatness, thickness, curve and motion. Surprisingly, I think it has improved my work, (but maybe that's because I can't see.) I'll post a picture for review when I finish it...hopefully before next Christmas.

 

[Mike Davis]

I used to know a blind piano repairman, went to his home/shop one time to help with something and he was showing me the baby grand he had just refinished. It was stained and varnished better than most work I have seen from sighted woodworkers, absolutely flawless. He was telling me how he had to feel everything as he worked on it, the sanding to raw wood - feeling for any old finish, the stain- feeling for equal wetness, the varnish- again feeling the wet varnish and overlapping brush strokes, sanding between coats, etc. every step totally without seeing what he was doing. Amazing.

 

[KenOfCary]

I guess it's the engineer or technician in me that wants to follow at least a general plan. I will never be a great designer, but may someday be a great technician. I admire people like Mike D that have that creative streak but it is not something I am likely to embrace in my own work. I get by though and since there are so many great tried and true designs out there for me to copy I can make some significantly wonderful things even if not that original.

It reminds me of my two nephews who are twins. One is right handed and one left. One is an Aerospace Engineer and the other is an animator for Sony Pictures. One a technician, one very creative. Both have great careers and are successful in what they do, but approach things from a totally different perspective.

 

[danmart77]

Everyone starts out following a recipe, working from plans, playing from the score. Over time if you are geared toward greatness you throw out the recipe, burn the plans, play from the heart. You learn to add your own touch, you make the music your own, you grow, and you stand out from the crowd.

Mike you certainly made a statement that should encourage lots of inputs.

Over the last 40 years I have studied older pieces of furniture and the details that I think make them special. In some cases I have tried to replicate the unique details as closely as I possibly can to capture the distinguishing feel that impresses me so much. Some say this is "copying" another's work from long ago. Is that the response of an artist or craftsman? I say no. That is most likely the response of someone who doesn't see shadows when viewing carvings and doesn't hear the intentional sharp note in a blues scale. They don't get it.

Once I have understood the details and I can capture the little magic from a piece from the past, I build in the school. I don't "throw the recipe away" when I build in a school of work I modify and work to embellish the earlier work.

Here's where I am.

This is where I am going one day. You don't get here without building an unconscious vocabulary of details in you head. I think?​