This blog is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making.
Monday, May 11, 2009
textures in walnut
The walnut bench is finished and I like the way the textured edge turned out. This was done with an angle grinder and sanding disk with the edge of the disk bounced into the wood in a haphazard, random fashion. It is a great way to restore a bark like natural edge where an edge has been cut with the saw. The edge shown below was cut straight on the table saw and then restored to a more natural look. What do you think? Is it a successful technique?
Yes, Doug, it is quite beautiful and natural. I so much enjoy seeing the fruits of your labor.
ReplyDeleteI am reading some Eric Sloane books: "A Reverence for Wood" and "Seasons of America Past." You probably are familiar with these, but I have just discovered them--delightful.
Good work, Doug. These are beautiful pieces of art...
jd
Sloane's books are beautiful. A Reverence for Wood is a real classic. I think it would be a great book to inspire a 5th and 6th grade integrated curriculum. It is literature, science, art, crafts, history and more. I'm glad you have discovered them, and I can imagine you will be sharing them at some point with your grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteYes, I will be doing that. I tell you, when I read them I am in a whole new world...a world filled with hope and optimism and just plain old pride in our ancestors...there are some frightening things too, e.g., comparison of nutritional values of food then and now.
ReplyDeleteI think we will get to a point at which we realize that nutritional value is not just a chemical content, but an emotional one as well. Why is it that the things grown in our own gardens taste so good?
ReplyDeleteMy intern and I were talking about the universe, and string theory. Isn't that an amazing thing to be talking with a 17 year old kid about such things? But we know that the universe as we know it is completely improbable. Known scientific theories don't address the absurdities of its origins. How can such a thing as infinity of time or space exist?
At some point, I believe we will come to a completely new paradigm that proves the improbable connections that exist between us. (not just the human species) Just like we look at blood letting in the 19th century as barbaric, we will look at what we do to the land in the growing of our food as being completely inhuman.