building the body

I got an interesting email from a reader noting  the value of my new book to his newest passion, playing semi-pro football at the age of 58. He was introduced to my writing by a football coach and former shop teacher who was providing insight into the hand/brain/body connections essential to success in athletics.

It fascinates me as I watch my students learning to saw with a hand saw, that developing a smooth motion with the saw involves developing smooth motion in the underlying infrastructure.

A friend with whom I work out regularly described a coaching tip from a golfing companion, who suggested having watched his swing, that when his arms were pulled back, he would cock his wrists slightly, giving extra force to the swing, but interjecting that additional motion required compensation that made the results  more variable and less controlled. And so, yes, the wisdom of the hands is not just about woodworking. It is about how we engage intelligently as bodies in the real world. Can sawing help your swing? Perhaps.

My Kindergarten students (our Rainbow Group) were shocked and dismayed that yesterday was to be their last day in the wood shop. One asked, "Will I ever see you again?" This is my retirement year from teaching at the Clear Spring School, but I plan to stay involved. And I'm attempting to plan one more lesson for my Kindergarten students before the end of the school year. They are too precious to ignore.

The photo shows my K students with Froebel Gifts number 4 which consists of a box holding 8 flat tile blocks. Froebel distinguished between "gifts" and "occupations" as follows. Gifts were manipulative learning objects that were unchanged by their use, whereas "occupations" would be permanently changed or altered in their use. Examples of occupations  are paper folding or cutting with scissors. Once cut, paper cannot be uncut. But the blocks can be  built with and then put back in the box.

Make, fix and create...

Box making at CSS and beyond

We've been making a series of small boxes in wood shop at the Clear Spring School and the photo shows but one example. This one is made to display student made tops. You show a student a box and the student says, "I want to make one." 

Students will be finishing another type of box today.

The second photo shows boxes of a higher standard made by Ray Taylor's older students in NWACC's Construction Technology program. More photos of Ray's student boxes can be found on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdW6pbpI_9p/

Making beautiful and useful things should be a part of  every student's school experience.

Make, fix and create.

Harington

In 2003 we finished the construction of Fanshaw's dwelling and invited Arkansas author Donald Harington to visit it. Students from our middle school and high school attended.

In addition to being one of Arkansas' most prolific and acclaimed novelists, Harington taught Art History for over 22 years at the University of Arkansas. His presentation might have been over the heads of the students gathered at his feet and at the feet also of two towering pine trees, that for Harington served to illustrate duality in nature and in art.

The two young men sitting at Harington's seem to not be paying attention. After the event was over, I noticed that they had taken notes, recreating with small stones and pine needles a forest scene complete with wigwams and teepees.

What was the value of this exercise? Can one ever determine such things? Will my students have memories of the experience? I do.

Make, fix and create...

Fanshaw's dwelling #2

These are additional photos of the making of Fanshaw's dwelling in 2003. The students loved working together outdoors and the framework of the double dwelling came together quickly with bent saplings lashed together with twine. Gathering the material to form the roof took longer. 

Unlike modern homes, Fanshaw's dwelling decomposed into the earth leaving no trace but these photos and the experiences remembered from making it.

Make, fix and create...

Making Fanshaw's dwelling

Back in 2003 and as students at the Clear Spring School were studying our indigenous peoples, I had observed Arkansas' nearly famous novelist Don Harington's illustration of Fanshaw's Dwelling in his classic book, The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks. 

Don and I had become friends at that point so I asked him if any high school students in the world had built a replica of Fanshaw's dwelling. Learning that none had, we offered be the first. 

As our current group of older students is currently working on a wilderness survival structure, I'll share photos from an earlier time at the Clear Spring School over the next few days.

Fanshaw's dwelling was an unusual one, in that it had two chambers side by side, each with its own entry. Other than that, it was built in the traditional wigwam style of the Osage. It was built with the tools and materials we had at hand.

I will share more in the coming days.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.

Two reviews

 I got two magazines in the mail today and each featured a review of one of my books. Here they are:

Make, fix and create... Thereby reshaping the world in which we live.

Front Porch Republic

This review came out yesterday. https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2022/05/your-brains-are-in-your-hands-doug-stowe-on-forming-mind-hand-and-culture/

It is written by fellow woodworker Josh Pauling.

Make, fix and create...

A visit and more...

Yesterday I had a visiting woodworking teacher from Indiana who had come to observe classes at the Clear Spring School. Glenn Smith teaches wood shop and Chess at Forest Ridge Academy in northern Indiana up near the great lakes. I put him to work assisting students while he was here. It is always rewarding to commune with other woodworkers, and with other teachers, and when with both, it's a special treat.

Today my Kindergarten students, (the Rainbow Group) began making Froebel gifts number 4. When the blocks are cut they will have both sets 3 and 4 in their collections. It is obvious when playing with gift number 4 that it was the one most useful in developing Frank Lloyd Wright's love of architecture. I could show you a picture, but it would be so much better if you were to take a set in hand and play with it yourself.

Today, also, we began harvesting bamboo from an area of campus to begin building wilderness survival structures. The students, grades 7-9 were very excited and extremely industrious, even as a gentle rain settled in. The project shows the power of giving students real work to do.

With much of the early publicity out on my new book sales seem to be falling off. I'm hoping that it will take on a life of its own, and you can play your part. Order it. Read it, if you've not done so yet. Promote it to others.

Make, fix and create...

Woodcarving Illustrated

A review of my Guide to Woodworking with Kids should be arriving to subscribers of Woodcarving Illustrated any day now. Watch for the Summer issue, or subscribe at this address: http://woodcarvingillustrated.com

Supplies of the book are in short supply as the publisher awaits another printing that's due for distribution in June. In the meantime Amazon has it for sale at above list price.

We're working on an article about kids whittling in school to be published in the Fall edition of Woodcarving Illustrated.

Make, fix and create...

a city that artists built

Back in the 1980’s in Eureka Springs, local artists Louis Freund and Don Kennett regularly attended Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce meetings, attempting to give voice to the artists of our community in the shaping of our local economy. Their point was that the arts might become recognized as the driving force for a more prosperous future. Their vision fell upon rather stony ground, while in the meantime, Eureka Springs artists, selling their wares at craft shows throughout the US and in galleries downtown were busily promoting an understanding in the world at large that we are first and foremost, an arts community. 

We do, after-all, have far more professional artists and serious non-professional artists per capita than almost any other small town in America. And even from the earliest days of Eureka Springs, that has been the case. Artists were originally drawn here by the beauty of this place, and were compelled to linger by the support and encouragement we’ve been able to provide each other. During harder times, it was noted that friends will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no friends. 

Alice Walton has told how her visits to Eureka Springs galleries with her mother were an inspiration guiding her vision of what Northwest Arkansas would become. And so, while they’re busily building a community of the arts next door, is it not time that we all fully acknowledge who and what we are? 

We are a “city that water built” but we are equally and at the very same time, a city built by the arts and by artists. As we watch what Alice Walton and members of her family are doing, and as it was influenced by what Eureka Springs galleries and artists had done, let’s now take a lesson from her and them (but also from ourselves at the same time). 

 This being May 1, and the launch of yet another May Fine Arts Festival in Eureka Springs, let’s all contemplate the many ways that we can infuse the arts in our lives year round. I urge the Chamber and the CAPC as well as each and every business in the city to invest more time and dollars in the promotion of the arts and in the artists who call this place home.

Make, fix and create...

Fine Woodworking

My publisher placed an ad for my new book in Fine Woodworking as you see here. 

In my wood shop I've been inlaying box lids, a thing I expect I'll be doing even in my 80s. 

Make, fix and create...

We're not the only ones

The Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA has been working with the J.F. Kennedy Elementary School in their town to provide woodworking lessons to all the kindergarten kids. It's a joyous experience that all schools should offer. The screen shot shows a kindergarten class in action. You can read about it here: https://mailchi.mp/eliotschool/read-the-november-eliot-school-newsletter-today-671181

Make, fix and create...

wooden boats

Yesterday in the woodshop at the Clear Spring School, my Kindergarten students, our "Rainbow Group," made toy boats. They loved the project, as did I. The level of enthusiasm they bring to the woodshop is an amazing thing.

Make, fix and create...

Bunny

During WWII, a friend of my father, Lovell Lawrence, Jr. was called in as a consultant to solve a problem with de-icing on the B-25 bomber. Mechanical engineers wanted to solve the problem mechanically, Electrical engineers wanted to solve the problem electrically, and hydraulic engineers wanted to solve the problem hydraulically. And so the problem engineers faced was one easy for Lovell Lawrence to solve. It required asking engineers of various kinds to step out of their disciplines to work together.

Lovell Lawrence, known to my Dad and friends as "Bunny"settled things by telling the various engineers which portion of the project was theirs to do. Portions of it needed to be solved electrically, portions mechanically and portions hydraulically. Bunny who had dropped out of college, his own thinking being far advanced of his professors in various disciplines, later became president of Reaction Motors, Inc., won the Goddard award for rocket engineering, and was head of the Lunar Landing project for Chrysler.

Bunny's story is one of knowing how to think outside the box. I met Bunny and his wife when I was a very small child and they were visiting my parents in Memphis, TN. Today I was reminded of Bunny's story by a letter to the editor written to our local paper by our local librarian, April Griffith. Her letter concerns an essay written by the head of our local Electric Coop that supplies electricity throughout many parts of rural Arkansas. Rob Boaz was insisting that subsidies be restored to fossil fuels like coal and gas and that subsidies be removed from various forms of renewable energy. In other words, you can be an engineer in a narrow subset of ideas and be the CEO of a billion dollar organization and still be dumb as a post when it comes to a more holistic view of reality. The saddest thing is that there are numerous folks in Arkansas that could be influenced to agree with him, while Mr. Boaz needs to get out more.

Bunny, when he was visiting my folks in Memphis, offered my dad a job in the fledgling Reaction Motors, Inc. and I'll note that my own life would have been far different if he had taken it.

Today in the woodshop my students made their own rulers using the widths of their own thumbs to lay out the "inch" marks. With an interest in helping them understand measuring at a deeper level, we then laid out half inch and quarter inch marks, each being found half-way between the previous marks. The point of course, was to go from the concrete into the  abstract and what could be more concrete than the use of our own thumbs.

Make, fix and create...

Pop Wood

Popular Woodworking has published an excerpt from my new book in their June issue. Subscribers should watch for it arriving in their mail very soon if it's not gotten to you already. 

In the wood shop today at the Clear Spring School we began a new unit by exploring the relationship between the thumbs and the development of a system of measure. Tomorrow we'll go deeper in exploring the inch. How many know that the inch is actually derived from the width of a man's thumb? Or that  our own hands might be useful as a method of measure? 

In class my student used their own thumbs to plan and measure the length of simple pivot lid wooden boxes. I want my students to become masters of measuring before the block is completed, and making small wooden boxes will be a good way to propel us toward that goal.

Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.

book review

Becca Martin-Brown reviewed my new book in the Northwest Arkansas edition of today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The paper to watch for is April 24, 2022. You can read the text of the article here:  

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/apr/24/woodworker-muses-on-how-to-craft-a-happy-meaningful-life-in-new-book/

Today I've been sanding and assembling small maple drawers, and planning for a new block to begin at school in the morning.

Make, fix and create...

small drawers

In my home woodshop I've been attempting to finish old projects that have languished for some reason or another. These trial assembled drawers are for two small jewelry chests that I'd begun years ago. 

They are made from maple and are made with simple  mortise and tenon joints. I'll show photos of the finished jewelry chests at a much later date.

Another project is to finish a silk wood box made using round Vertex hinges. The walnut pull resting on top is left over from a much earlier project and will be fitted to the front of the lid

Make, fix and create...

play with blocks

The kids at Clear Spring School set up the big Froebel blocks as a playfield and obstacle course as you can see. Every school should provide kids the opportunity to design their own playground experiences, including the structures themselves.

Make, fix and create...

Wooden Boat

Yesterday i addition to helping my students making boxes and turn on the lathe, I received my copy of Wooden Boat Magazine containing Joe Youcha's review of "The Wisdom of Our Hands." It is a good review. Joe wrote of the book—

"I read it in two big gulps, and as I did, I identified with the book’s message so much that I began making a list of everyone I thought should read it. By the time I finished, that list included anyone studying at a craft school, all the people I work with, and all the people I’ve ever taught. I especially wish I could buy copies for all the people who taught me, and who are no longer here. I actually want to buy it for everyone I know."

Joe Youcha, a graduate of Columbia University, but no stranger to handwork, is the founder of Building to Teach, a former director of the Alexandrea Seaport, and well known and respected in the Wooden Boat community. He is also the designer of the wooden boats we made at the Clear Spring School. Wherever there's enough water to float a boat, kids and adult mentors should be making them. Joe is the guide for that and more.

The photos show our students building a Bevin's skiff of Joe's design.

Make, fix and create...

 

When things work out.

Today in woodshop I did an experiment in preparing an elm log for turning on the lathe. What I wanted to do was to simply take a slice off each side so that the short firewood-length log could be mounted on the lath chuck. Woodturning is nearly always experimental and of course that's part of its appeal. We wonder, "can I do that?" and "how?"And then are pleasantly surprised when things work out.

Normally in cutting a log on the bandsaw, that it is round causes difficulties as it passes through the cut. If it twists even the slightest amount, the blade can bind and the flat surface desired will not result. What's needed is a way to hold it steady without twisting as it passes through the cut. 

There are of course, more complicated processes and jigs for this. With an interest in keeping things as simple as possible, I decided to screw a piece of plywood to the side of the log, positioning the screws where they do not interfere either with the cut, or in what's planned as the finished bowl.

It worked, and the technique will be published as a tip to American Woodturner Magazine. More photos will be taken from various angles tomorrow. The masking tape provides a guide for making the freehand cut.

In the meantime, as I observe sales on Amazon, the new book is near the top in three categories among the millions of books they sell. More important to me, however, is the glowing review of the book I received in email this morning from Hans Thorbjörnsson in Sweden. He was my early mentor as I gained an understanding of Educational Sloyd and to hear his praise means a great deal.

Make, fix and create...

Easy to read

I got a nice email this morning from a reader related to my new book, Wisdom of Our Hands. He said the book was "easy to read and enjoyable," those being two of the goals I'd set for myself. There are many books of note on the subject of the hands and crafts that rely on second and third hand information, leaving them somewhat abstract. My own goal was to make it personal, meaning that I would tell my own story as well as invite my readers to explore their own experiences to bring the message home. 

I hope this simple strategy—moving from the concrete to the abstract helps my book to enter a popular market. Good sales are good, the message is important.

Make, fix and create...

Dual awareness

I have this belief that we are connected with each other in unseen ways, and if we are attempting to find clarity, those ways are gradually revealed. Sometimes suddenly that is the case. It's called enlightment.

 

There’s a phenomenon described in Nuclear Physics called “quantum entanglement” according to which, if two particles are introduced to each other and then thrust apart to the furthest reaches of the universe, what’s done to one is known to the other. Perhaps our own beings are too complex and too distracted to register and make conscious to ourselves the myriad connections between us. We spend endless hours spinning outwards toward greater complexity without seeking that which lies within.

Friedrich Froebel, the inventor of Kindergarten, saw the purpose of education as being the discovery of our interconnectedness within the frameworks of family, community, and nature. But that’s not 

what most of us were taught in school. We were taught and encouraged to attempt to stand apart and ahead as separated from each other and to seek recognition in inconsequential things. The centrifugal force. 

And yet, there’s growth that comes from recognizing and accepting that which lies within. This can require that we circle back towards simplicity, attempting to occupy an abandoned space within. The conscious engagement of the hands can be a part of the process. What we see and like, we must then touch and ascertain.

Yesterday I got my second covid-19 booster shot, not because I'm frightened of the disease, but because it's important that we protect others. Recognizing that we are indeed interconnected, we do such things.

Artists are taught to look at both positive and negative space. The positive space is contained within the outlines of the object. Negative space is that space that lies between. Negative space is not empty space like that to be found at the furthest corners of the universe. It is filled with strings and streams of entanglement—the interconnectedness that can be found by turning within.

As the world launched itself into the beginnings of WWI Carl Jung began his exploration of cosmic consciousness called the Red Book. As we sit once again on a precipice of World War, and as Putin threatens the use of nuclear weapons, as he's threatened in the past, we all have the need of finding places of peace within. Jung used his angst at the onset of WWI to attempt to engineer his own understanding of human consciousness.

Years ago a group of us from Eureka Springs would go each Sunday afternoon to a mediation group led by a retired engineer named Guy Loyd. Guy's theory of things was based on a concept he called "dual awareness." The idea of dual awareness was to bring ourselves in balance by holding a focus on oneness and interconnectedness as we went through our daily complications. It was like an artist holding an awareness of positive and negative space at the same time.

In the meantime, I'm given joy by observing joy as Goldendoodle Rosie chews a stick while also holding a favorite toy tightly in her paws.

Make, fix and create...

A sad day...

Yesterday my wife and I learned we'd lost an old friend in a tragic accident the night before. Lin Welford was the co-founder with my wife of the Books-in-Bloom Literary Festival here in Eureka Springs, an avid environmentalist, and library supporter. She was also the author of a whole series of books about painting on rocks, and a whole lot more than that.

She played a very important transformational role in my life. In about 1994 or so, and as a best selling author for F&W Publications, she invited David Lewis to come to Eureka Springs to meet various artisans who might be interested in writing a book for them. David's trip to Eureka Springs led to my being invited to write my first book, Creating Beautiful Boxes with Inlay Techniques. Now, after 14 books, I still have Lin to thank.

Lin's death reminds us that life is precious and can hang in the balance. Her life reminds us that we are connected with each other through serial effect—as things are set in motion in each other's lives. We are deeply and lastingly connected through the effects we have on each other, and had Jean and I not had Lin in our lives, our own lives would not be the same. 

We tend to think of ourselves as distinct individuals. We are not. We are profoundly and intricately connected to each other, and will remain so.

Make, fix and create...

a review

A reader identified as "Avid Woodworker" left a review of my new book, "The Wisdom of Our Hands" on Amazon as follows: 

"I have been a hobbyist woodworker for over 60 years. Although this book is NOT a "how to do it" book it is proving to be the most effective book for improving my woodworking skills that I have ever read. Reading Doug's book is improving my use of the two most useful tools in my shop, my mind and my attitude."

https://smile.amazon.com/Wisdom-Our-Hands-Crafting-Life/dp/1610355016/ 

Today in the woodshop at the Clear Spring School, I helped high school student Henry build a box for his chess set. It's nearing completion, and I'll have photos to show at a later date.

Make, fix and create... 

boxes of blocks

Today my Kindergarten students (the Rainbow Group) will be finishing the Froebel blocks they're making and building boxes to keep them in. The finished sets will look like those made by my high school students yesterday, but will likely not appear so well made.

Make, fix and create... Build your life upon these notions.

24 boxes

My students at ESSA finished 24 boxes  (3 apiece) in our three day class. In the photo I'm the old guy on the left. 

It was a very good class with all the students helping each other,  and for me, it is a rewarding and invigorating experience.

Folks, noticing that I teach both adults and  kids, ask "what's the difference between the two?" Learning at its best is always a matter of play. 

That's why Kindergarten is important, even today. It utilized the natural interest and engagement of the kids, doing real things and could serve as a model for the reinvigoration of all schooling.  

At ESSA. The tools are real, the materials are real. All the senses are engaged, and compare that to public school classrooms where kids are watching the clock, hoping to hear the bell and get the hell out.

Make, fix and create...

box making day 2

Yesterday my students in the wood shop at ESSA began making two boxes. A third box will be started today. The photo shows cutting finger joints using a dedicated ringer joint router set up. I have 8 students and the class is going well!

Make, fix and create...

box making...

Today I have 8 students for a three day box making class at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. I'll attempt to take a few photos during my very busy days.

Yesterday I arrived on the Clear Spring School campus to find our giant Froebel blocks, sets 3 and 4 arranged as a stage complete with seating and a cut up tractor tire for good measure.

Every small school in the country should have such cool blocks on their playgrounds. Even without administrators understanding Froebel or the true value of Kindergarten students would know how to learn from the blocks. The blocks and benches were made in the Clear Spring School wood shop.

Make, fix and create...

Kindergarten Woodworking

We had a very nice book signing at the Crescent Hotel last weekend and this week I've been back to work in the wood shop at the Clear Spring School. Today, my Kindergarten class began making sets of wooden Froebel blocks. When the blocks are finished and sanded, we'll make boxes to hold them so they can be kept and shared with the younger children in their families.

Last night I did a zoom presentation for the Northwest Corner Woodworker's Association and I was telling them of the joy that's to be found in teaching woodworking, particularly to the younger kids who show such enthusiasm for the work.

At this point I've done about all that I can do to promote my new book without being obnoxious. I hope others will take up the cause and assist and that the book takes on a life of its own. 

This week it will be reviewed in the Sunday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and very soon, reviews will be published in Popular Woodworking, Wooden Boat Magazine, and Quercus, a magazine in the UK that's distributed in the US. If it takes on the life that the hands deserve, it will likely be because you've helped me to promote it.

Make, fix and create...

A big day...

At 9 AM Central Time the local NPR Affiliate KUAF will broadcast a longer version of my radio interview with Kyle Kellams on "Ozarks-atLarge." Then this afternoon I have my book signing at the Crescent Hotel from 2-4 PM. I'll do a short talk, a short reading and be available for questions as well as signing copies of my new book, "The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life."

You can listen to the KUAF broadcast on any smart-speaker devise. Ask Alexa or Google to "play KUAF radio" at 9 AM if you are in the central time zone.

Make, fix and create...

If you missed

If you missed my interview on Ozarks-at-Large, you can find it here: https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2022-03-29/doug-stowes-why-to-along-with-some-how-to

In the meantime, I've been getting some one-of-a-kind boxes finished, as shown below.

Make, fix and create...

Ozarks-at-Large

Our local NPR affiliate station, KUAF will air an interview by Kyle Kellams about my new book at noon and at 7 PM today on Ozarks-at-Large. If outside the area you can listen through any radio streaming service. A longer version will be aired on the Sunday weekend show at 9AM Central Time.

Ask Alexa or Google, "Play KUAF."

Make, fix and create...

American Woodturner Review

The American Woodturner Review of "the Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life" arrived in my mail box today. In it David Heim notes 

Readers of this journal already understand the value of one’s hands and the wisdom they possess. The Wisdom of Our Hands explains it for everyone else. Stowe’s book presents important lessons, taught with patience and grace. It merits everyone’s attention.

Make, fix and create... 

Happy Birthday Comenius

If John Amos Comenius were alive today he'd be 430 years old, and he being called the "Father of Modern Education" one would hope we'd have learned a few things, particularly about how learning works.

Jimi Hendrix had a song that asked the question, "Are you experienced?" And while Jimi may have been referring to either sex or drug use, Comenius asked the same in his request that schooling rely on actual experience as the basis of learning.

"The ground of this business is, that sensual (sensuous) objects be rightly presented to the senses for fear that they not be received. I say, and say it again aloud, that this is the foundation of all the rest; because we can neither act nor speak wisely, unless we first rightly understand all the things which are to be done and whereof we have to speak. Now there is nothing in the understanding which was not before in the senses. And therefore to exercise the senses well about the right perceiving of the differences of things will be to lay the grounds for wisdom and all wise discourse, and all discreet actions in one's course of life, which, because it is commonly neglected in schools, and the things that are to be learned are offered to scholars without their being understood or being rightly presented to the senses, it cometh to pass that the work of teaching and learning goeth heavily onward and offereth little benefit."

Make, fix and create... 

FDMC

The book review written by Will Sampson has appeared in FDMC magazine that's delivered to folks in the  woodworking business. In case you missed it, you can read the review online here: 

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/opinion/book-review-wisdom-our-hands/

Make, fix and create...

Measuring growth (and other things)

When my daughter was small we would mark with a pencil on the inside of a door frame how tall she had grown. It was a ritual in which she found pleasure, comparing how tall she was now, in comparison to how tall she was then. The early marks were painted over years ago when we neglected to tell the painter, not to paint in that spot. But the ritual of marking resumed and now there are marks for the growth of our niece Olivia when she comes to visit as well as Lucy's markings into her adult years.

Measuring growth is a good thing. Standardized testing is not. It doesn't measure the things that matter most—the ability and inclination to be of service to others. And the measurement should not be in some kind of abstract form, decipherable only to those with a certain level of expertise.

Last week  I thought I would present an example of finer workmanship to lead the students to attend more deeply to the quality of their work... On the lathe you can take wood to a very fine finish and polish, so I made a cane handle, and polished it a bit more toward perfection. I was hoping to inspire and persuade my students to take their workmanship to a higher level. But they asked, "How did you make it feel like plastic?" 

It's odd that feeling like plastic would be considered a compliment or that it might be considered a good thing, but it points out how little experience the students have in handling real wood outside the shop and how little experience the students have with the levels to which work can be taken. It also suggests that wood is a material that can be appreciated without reaching a level of finish emulating plastic. There are too many things made from plastic already, and things made from real wood may have characteristics and values beyond those expressed through modern manufacturing techniques.

The photos are of Wednesday's work in the Clear Spring School wood shop. Kindergarten students finished making their wooden treasure boxes and the outdoor studies class made bird sculptures, having so much fun that they want to resume the project next week.

Make, fix and create...

Tuesday was the day

My new book, The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, a Life was released yesterday. If you pre-ordered it watch for it in the mail. The book was 20 years in the planning and writing and a long wait for me as the publisher and I worked to edit it, and promote it and the concepts it presents. What comes next is up to you. Will you buy it? Will you enjoy it? Will you find it useful? Will you share your enthusiasm for it to encourage others to read it also?

Working with a small press I do not have access to the same level of promotion that's offered to the big names. So at this point, if it has a large impact, it will be because you've helped to make it so. The most valuable thing you can do besides buying it and offering reviews is to tell other folks to read it and share with them why you think it might be useful.

This is the first of my books that will not require to to have any tools other than your own hands.

This morning my kindergarten students finished making boxes and my outdoor study science group made bird sculptures in red cedar.

Our local book signing will be held at the Crescent Hotel on April 3.

Make, fix and create...

All hands in

 This is my guest editorial from today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

Rex Nelson

Rex Nelson is truly a friend of the creative arts and has done a great review of my new book in yesterday's edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/mar/19/working-with-our-hands/

Make, fix and create...

What happens next.

We're inching toward the release date for The Wisdom of  Our Hands, Tuesday March 22. Yesterday it was mentioned in a podcast from the Arkansas Times and discussed by editor Lindsey Millar with whom I had a Q and A interview last week. 

Many fine things are being said about the book, and I'll share a few links, while also attempting to keep my ego in check. Yesterday Amazon had it listed as #1 in "new project books," and while that may seem cool, it's not a "new project book" and its wider ranking among books being sold is currently higher than 30 Thousand. And that too is likely a blip on the high side due to the ad placed in the Fine Woodworking newsletter.

In the meantime, our hands deserve all the attention they get and I particularly appreciate this comment from a fellow woodworker/educator/writer, Will Sampson.

"What is the value of doing things with our hands in a modern automated world? Woodworker and educator Doug Stowe argues that there is a huge value in tangible work that goes far beyond the product of the work itself. We’re not talking here about just some touchy-feely peon to the magnificence of hand work. We’re talking fundamentally about how human beings learn and create."—Will Sampson, Editor, FDMC and woodworkingnetwork.com

Yesterday my wife, Jean and I got books out of boxes so that I could sign them to be ready for our book signing event at the Crescent Hotel on April 3, 2022. A great delight is to relax with Rosie. What do you say? Is she too big for a lap? Of course not.

Make, fix and create.

Sales begin on Tuesday

If you have preordered my new book on Amazon it will be delivered this Tuesday, March 22. It officially goes on sale on that date and we'll hold a local book signing to benefit the Eureka Springs Library on April 3, not very many day away. 

The Wisdom of Our Hands was advertised in the Fine Woodworking newsletter this morning that goes out to thousands of woodworkers around the world and the ad will also be placed in the next print edition of the magazine. You can also order direct from Linden Publishing.

I have been working on an essay explaining the cultural values of working with our hands that I hope will be published in the New Atlantis.

Make, fix and create...

Fixing it.

There's a good saying, "If you break it, fix it." Unfortunately most folks don't know how to fix things anymore so we assume the things we've bought or in some way forced to be surrendered into our hands can be thrown away when our misadventures are complete.

But what if what you've attempted to take is a whole nation and your insistence on taking over wreaks destruction that will surely last generations. What I have to say to Putin (and the Russian people), is that "What you're breaking each day, you will be required to fix." It's called reparations. And if Putin and the Russian people he's bankrupting think they can skate back to Moscow when it's all over, they should think again.

During WWII, Finland had sided with Nazi Germany in the war as a way to protect themselves from Soviet aggression. It was not a good choice, and when the war was over, Finland was forced to pay reparations to the Soviet Union, with the Finnish people paying a serious price for standing by as the Nazi's invaded Russia. 

The Russians wanted their reparations paid in goods that the Finns were required to build or surrender. The Finns built a number of ice-breaker ships for the Soviets, and surrendered miles of cobblestone streets with the cobblestones being loaded up and shipped to places like Tallin, Estonia and St. Petersburg where they were used to replace cobblestone streets damaged by war.

What will the Russians be forced to pay? Will they put Ukraine back to rights? Certainly, Putin is not solely to blame. People may think they have no choice but to follow evil despots into damnation. But that is not always the case.

In the meantime, Fine Woodworking has a new book-a-zine coming out this spring. Two of my boxes are featured on the cover, and I'm hoping that I was also a contributor to instruction on the inside.

Make, fix and create...

foreword reviews interview

My interview with foreword reviews came out today and can be read online. 

https://www.forewordreviews.com/articles/article/reviewer-sarah-white-interviews-doug-stowe-author-of-the-wisdom-of-our-hands-crafting-a-life/

I thank Sarah White for an excellent review and for her thoughtful questions. In her introduction to the interview, Sarah notes the following:

This week is all about hands so look down and ask yours if they’re happy.

What, you don’t know?

Well, do you let them play at things? Are they skilled at chopping vegetables or knitting quilts or throwing pots on a wheel or landscape watercolors or working gold and silver into innovative jewelry? Hands like to do things, with our brain’s inquisitive help. We’re not in the Jurassic anymore, Martha, note your thumbs.

Today in the wood shop students made cutting boards and worked on the lathe.

Make, fix and create...

Garry Knox Bennett on Education

I have an interview today with Kyle Kellams from Ozarks-at-Large, a radio program with our local NPR affiliate station. It will be aired sometime closer to the release date of my new book, and the interview will be held at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts, giving Kyle a chance to visit the ESSA campus.

Then later in the afternoon I'll participate in a zoom call podcast with WoodworkingNetwork.com. The site, woodworkingNetwork.com is one that will certainly interest other woodworkers as it has useful features and reports including  a remembrance of Garry Knox Bennett in the current edition. 

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/remembering-garry-knox-bennett

The annual Spring Fling fundraiser for the Clear Spring School is now live on-line for you to view auction items for sale in support of the school. Please attend. 

https://www.clearspringschool.org/events

The video above is of Garry Knox Bennett talking honestly about education.

Make, fix and create...

a lovely day in the woodshop

Yesterday my Rainbow group (kindergarten) finished work with gluing blocks. They loved it and were proud of the various things they made. Later we installed bluebird houses on campus where they can be monitored and maintained. 

Of greatest excitement for the students was finding an old wheel barrow tire and rim buried in the muck in the ditch that separates our hands-on learning center from the field where the birdhouses have gone up. 

The students dug the wheel and tire out of the dirt (a thing that took some effort and strategy), and decided it should also become an instrument for their study of birds. It is now being converted to a bird feeder. This tells the story of how a bit of youthful imagination (and allowance for it) can facilitate learning.

Make, fix and create... assist others in learning likewise.