Changing colour and texture

Today is Sunday. It has been a lovely day all round. I met with friends in the morning and then milled more oak in the afternoon ready for Tuesday.

The coffee tables are coming along well and by Tuesday evening we should have the end frames made and much of the superstructure done. Then we have shaping and tops to do. I lay out all of my projects full size on plywood or MDF; as a storyboard and reference to make sure all of the components are exactly to size. I usually make all of my templates first and then use them to trace shapes onto my storyboard and the actual components of my and the students projects.

In the Castle it was quiet on my own. No mortise chopping or sawing to break the silence, no quests for help. Tomorrow will be normal again and the atmosphere will be recharged once more with anticipation and determination. The tables should be near completion by Thursday and the plan is to start the Craftsman-style rocking chair Friday morning. This is a major advancement in woodworking training. A compression of three serious projects. At the end, when we are all done, we will interview some of the students and they can let you know how they felt via video.

I managed a short stop under the beech trees filled with resplendent colour as sunlight filled the canopied dome encircling above and around me. Such vivid colour filtering the brightness, I felt as though I were inside a kaleidoscope but then more still a tiffany lampshade. I so love Autumn for its mixture of texture and colour. The classes are just like this for me too. People enriching my work, my life and me enriching theirs too. Shared tapestries from different realms discovering more about one another in a shared context of working wood.