a lucky balance

Yesterday I sanded a large table top and then because of limited space in my small shop, used that table top as a platform to apply Danish oil to boxes. I was reminded of my early days. Despite having a large number of tourists, Eureka Springs is a limited market. Tourists only rarely carry home furniture. And there are not enough residents in this small town to buy boxes. So making boxes to sell tourists and to export to galleries and furniture to sell locals within the state provided a balance that enabled me to survive as a craftsman. That's not an easy thing in small town America. These days it's not easy in big cities either.

Even my children in school know that most of the things that fill their homes and inhabit their lives are from China and are not made to last. In fact, you can go to  any Walmart and find it chock full of things that they want you to buy, but that will be discarded in landfills or floating in our oceans in five years or less.

We could cut out the middle man and give people in our own communities the opportunity to create the things we need. We would save on packaging and transportation and give people the chance to grow in character and intelligence. We would also provide employment that would be incredibly rewarding.

The things that have been made by people we care about are of greater value than the things that were made carelessly by others and that are detrimental to the environment.

https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2009/01/mindfulness-of-crafted-objects.html

Make, fix and create...