Yes, It’s My Birthday!!!

ByPaul Sellers

This should be a quick blog to answer the best wishes you all sent to me today. I am hoping everyone on woodworkingmasterclasses will read this too. There is no way I could answer them all so I want to tell you how much your well wishing has meant to me.
I started to blog only three years ago not knowing if what I had to say was of any value or interest to anyone. Joseph, who I think you all know, was the one to suggest the whole thing to me and we had no idea what would happen but it happened.
It’s not really the statistics I measure the successes we’ve had by so much as your unreserved support. I wasn’t sure if woodworkers would understand my hope for a new-genre woodworker, but I knew it was important enough to halt the progressive loss of crafting artisans and old world craftsmanship to reestablish standards they once held in the future lives of fully trained and qualified amateurs. My thought then was that we could help people strike out in a new direction, discover adventures in woodworking and break away from machine-only methods and trends for working wood. I’m not alone in this work. Others have volunteered and now work full time with us. In the midst if our work we are able to also meet marginalised sections in the larger community of possibilities. All of this has become a living reality.

So today, as I celebrate my birthday and read all of your messages and emails, I feel truly happy.

Thank you all!

22 Comments

  1. Long may it continue. I am loving this journey, you have opened up a very content and mindful life for me that i allways dreamed about but now am living it .

  3. Happy Birthday!

    You’ve made a difference with your contribution and we like all your free posts and videos (for those who can afford and follow the masterclasses, congrats).

    Chuck

  4. Paul- your generous gifts of sharing your knowledge, expertise,philosophy and integrity are gifts to so many of us everyday. May the joy and delight you share with others come back to you ten thousand fold! Xoxox – cynthia

  6. Here Here, and Cheers!
    You have certainly shaken up the corporate woodworking industry in the US.
    Heres to many more years of awakening the artisan in all of us.

  7. Paul,

    From one baby boomer to another, happy birthday. It was nice of Joseph to let us all know.

    Andy

  9. Congratulations Paul,

    I would also like to thank you for sharing your knowledge and the inspiration you give.

    Cheers, Michiel

  11. Many happy returns for yesterday. And many thanks for all that you have done. With your continued guidance my woodworking is getting more fulfilling every day. Pass on my appreciation to the entire crew.
    Mark

  14. So, Paul, you spent your last birthday in the glorious city of Baltimore – with double vision, to boot. I’ll bet you’re glad you don’t have to do that again! But, for the rest of us, the show this year is kind of dull. We do miss you and your common approach to woodworking. If only you had been my old shop teacher – I might have gone a different way. Happy Birthday !

  15. Happy Birthday! Thank you for the teaching you do in the Masterclasses and for your blog. It is inspiring and very helpful. Wishing you happiness and good health

  16. Happy birthday Paul. I check your blog every couple of days for updates. Your projects are what my old dad would have called a ‘proper job’. Woodworking done with skill, care and showing indispensable techniques all along the way. I love it and long may you continue.

  17. Happy Birthday Paul and as I have mentioned before I thoroughly enjoy your blog, http://www.woodworkingmasterclasses.com and everything you do to preserve this all most lost art. But with your willingness to help others I think more and more people are finding the benefit of working wood with Hand Tools. I have learned so much from, thanks again for what you and your staff do.

    Steve

    PS: I am right up there in the Baby Boomer Age Group and so enjoy this new endeavor of my life.

  18. Paul,

    You’ve been a terrific inspiration to me and many of your loyal viewers. I myself have been re-inspired by your commitment to hand tools and teaching us all how to use them, I myself have decided to abandon most power tools (tough to give up my table saw) to focus on the art of crafting things by hand. I hope you had a happy birthday and look forward to you pushing me further in the use of hand tools. (from Stouffville, Ontario, Canada)

  20. Awesome, Happy Birthday Paul! Just like to mention all you have done with the blog, the videos etc. is a joy to watch and read and learn from. I’m sure you have a lot of followers that have not yet commented that truly enjoy learning from you and actually putting what you teach into practice. You’re a true Artisan indeed. Thank you for sharing, keep it up!

  22. Happy birthday, Paul, and thank you so much for your patience, kindness, generosity, and for your commitment to the idea of craftsmanship.

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