Emerging new-genre artisans today

ByPaul Sellers

It’s often hard to convey the transition hand tool woodworking enthusiasts go through to become competent creatives in the unique world of working wood by hand. I dwell on this as I walk between the benches and think of the people who will come to the school this morning as I have for over two decades now. It’s all too easy to see my school as mere teaching and fail to somehow cross over into the sphere of the student standing opposite my bench. Why they are there cannot be answered easily. Sixteen students have sixteen different reasons. One unifying factor becomes the mechanism for their nervous anticipation. Wood is a substance medium that no other material growing or existing has. Millions of cells held together with cellulose and lignin creates a tangible substance that can be worked by hand with a dozen tools. The tools are designed and made to cut, shape and smooth wood and mastering these tools results in producing items of function and beauty. This is what my students and I want. We want mastery over wood, tools and our physical bodies. The result of this mastery becomes evident in how we work and in that which we produce.

 

It was good going in to the workshops at Penrhyn Castle today. It takes a lot to get ready for my classes, but having taught this class since the mid 90’s, I know exactly what’s needed for the physical teaching. But I have learned that there’s more to workshops like this than just teaching someone to cut dovetails or plane a piece of wood smooth. Every student comes with expectations; hopes that we might not always realise affects our future. As we launch into this new phase of craft training, the hope of most is to discover whether they have an inherent or inborn skill as yet unknown, dormant and undeveloped. This unknown quiescent skill, hoped for in practice, becomes an important focal point in an emerging artisan. Failure at this juncture is not an option. It’s important to overcome fear of failure, lack of acceptance and doubts of every kind. My skills are masterable with time and patience. My goal is to dismantle false assumptions and disabuse those who have been abused by prior failure. I do this by paving the way to understanding how it is to live and work as a practising craftsman or woman.

Let’s see what happens over the next three days.

2 Comments

  1. Failure isn’t an option, especially when we are enjoying ourselves. Not encapsulated in ear/eye/lung protection all day, it is a pleasure to work the wood. The worst that can happen is that I’d have to begin again and enjoy those same movements,the smell of the wood and the tactile feel of its warmth and smoothness.
    I bought a very old Stanley Bailey no 4 off ebay. I already have an Anant A4 but wanted to finally have some old iron in the stable. The handle is loose and after close inspection the handle and the screw/nut both will need replacement. Upon a bit of fiddling, I found that the Anant’s handle and hardware fit perfectly. An email to Anant and we’ll see if I can buy the parts from them. Not a failure, just more time enjoying myself bringing it back to useful life again. These aren’t problems, more challenges. Each challenge is an oppotunity to do something special and real.

  2. Paul,
    what you are doing is very important. It’s lovely working with sharp tools, and no whine of motors or the tension that comes when you are not sure about how to use a power tool. Thank you

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