The "core."

When my daughter was a freshman at Columbia University I attempted to contact university president Lee Bollinger to suggest a change to their Core Curriculum. The "Core" is a long standing effort to instill some of the classic literature of western civilization as a common foundation to be faced by every graduate of the institution. Silly me, at the time, I thought some ideas of my own might provide an even better core.

Of course the president of a major university gets lots of letters. And one from a woodworker in Arkansas need not be taken seriously. But the strategic implementation of the hands in learning is actually a serious matter for concern. 

My simple idea was this: Across the street from Columbia University is the great unfinished Cathedral, St. John the Divine. A great university with so much money could finish that cathedral and engage student hands at the same time. And that might not be all. Every student enrolled in the university should be offered some means to develop the wisdom of their hands through service to the community. Carving stone might be but one. A real core uniting the wisdom of the hands to that of the mind would be a far better one than rehashing Plato and Socrates, and far more engaging to the students. And my idea would not force the abandonment of philosophy, but would provide a foundation from which it might be more thoroughly understood... Hands-on.

Universities are now faced with a big challenge, that of insuring diversity. Making a very simple decision, that of bringing all students into a greater appreciation of what the hands do, and an understanding of the intellect required would have a great effect.

Even those who are to be propelled into careers where they need not lift a finger, must at some point develop respect, admiration a willingness to serve and protect those that do if our civilization is to survive. 

It is unlikely that the Core Curriculum will ever be changed to allow students to do real work. In the case that it remains a thing where students only read, write and discuss, I have a book to suggest to their professors. I wrote it. It's called "The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life" and it explains how the hands shape everything.

The tiny chapel shaped box is one from the St. Louis Art Museum.

Make, fix and create...

a swing and a miss.

 As one of my students helped me to understand, we all love learning but may not feel so hot on being taught. Being taught involves power dominance of one person over another, fails to acknowledge what's already known and assumes the ignorance of one party or the other. Learning at its best is self-motivated and driven by a desire to understand.

The Arkansas State Legislature, driven by Trump's former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders passed the "Arkansas Learns Act" which is considered one of the most radical legislative actions in the history of Arkansas education. It purports to increase teacher salaries, but makes no recognition of the value of long time teachers and the learning that takes place in their careers. Teachers strive as we all do, to become better at what we do. Pay teachers all the same, and offer them no incentive for growth, and you've demoted them to the role of babysitter, the purpose being that of allowing children's parents to work three jobs while their kids are sequestered from real life.

A great thing about learning in my own shop is that I get to explore, play, and make decisions on my own. Sometimes I'm mistaken. A great thing about learning is that it can take place even when kids are not being taught and the real purpose of education should not be teaching, but providing the circumstances in which learning takes place. 

When John Runkle at MIT and Calvin Woodward at Washington University, launched formal industrial arts education programs in the US, thus becoming the "fathers of manual and industrial arts," it was because they'd noticed that the city boys then entering institutions of higher learning were ill equipped to understand engineering and math, subjects that were mastered more readily by those students who came from the farm, and had been thus engaged in doing real things. We might still learn something from that. 

Schools must become centers of active learning where kids do real things and where they discover and follow personal interests... places where they are allowed to measure their own growth. And learn... a thing the "Arkansas Learns" smokescreen Act fails to address. There's a petition going round to require the Arkansas Learns Act to be voted upon in the next Arkansas general election. Sign the petition, please. Then let's have another petition insisting upon the reform and renewal of public education.

The box shown has an experimental base using Shaker knobs as feet. They interject a bit of playful whimsey to an otherwise classic style. I'll likely go to plan b.

Make, fix and create...

This evening 5-7 PM

Today we've invited the community to come to visit our new, fledgling Museum of Eureka Springs Art. We will have a few works on display and show off the space at the Eureka Springs Community Center complex that will serve as the starter home for a unique museum.

While most museums feature the works of individual artists and highlight their work, we are a community of artists and art lovers and the museum will not only celebrate the the individual artists from our past, it will celebrate the relationships between artists  and art patrons that has made our city a unique haven for the arts.

Please join us if you can.

If not able, then celebrate and build the arts in your own community. What we have here can be replicated.

Make, fix and create.

a mitered finger joint box

The mitered finger joint is a very strong joint for box making, offering rhythm in the corners through the contrast of end grain vs. side grain. The mitered portion of the joint allows for a seamless movement of grain traveling around corners of the box, allows the easy use of floating panels on top (as used in this box), and also offers the possible use of decorative inlays along the top edge of the box. This box shown will have the lid cut free from the body of the box, and then a base, feet, and hinges will be added.

Do not forget the soft opening of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art tomorrow evening 5-7 PM at the Eureka Springs Community Center. We have a very long ways to go in building our museum, and you're invited to help.

Ozarks-at-Large featured an interview with our Museum board President Steve Beacham in yesterday's broadcast and you can listen here: https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2023-07-12/uams-teams-with-fcc-preview-of-eureka-springs-museum-of-art

Make, fix and create... Turn our nation's schools into places of real learning... hands on.

Amazon prime day

 It is Amazon Prime day in the US and a number of my books are available at special prices.

These are Rustic Furniture Basics, Basic Box Making, Beautiful Boxes, and Tiny Boxes.

The sale should last until tomorrow.

prime day

 I learned from Taunton Press that some of my books will be featured on their annual Prime Day sale, July 11 and 12. Special prices will be offered on Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide Box Making, Beautiful Boxes and Tiny Boxes.  These titles will appear in the “Best Deals” in the “Books for Hobbies" category.

I've not heard from my other publishers whether special pricing will be offered on any of my other books, but if you've wanted any of my books "Prime Day" may be an excellent time to buy. 

brace yourself

There is a debate technique called the "Gish Gallop" named after Duane Gish who used the technique to argue against the facts of evolution. The way the Gish Gallop works is that you make up BS faster than folks can counter it with fact based reality. An expert in the technique can make things up on the fly faster  than experts interested in the truth dispute. 

If you want to see it in action, attend a Donald J. Trump rally. After folks grow weary from the efforts of fact checking, some folks will allow you to get away with anything and believe whatever nonsense is offered by those "on your side."

On the internet we find folks making things up faster than anyone can refute. Add artificial intelligence into the situation and things become a thousand times or a million times worse. Compound the issue by putting children in schools where they are sheltered and sequestered from engagement with the real world, and we have a populace ill-suited to sift fact from fiction, and well equipped to believe what ever they are told. Being thus prepared they are subject to malicious manipulation by others.

That's why in an ideal school, students would be engaged in making beautiful and useful things... Not only to provide a foundation for their future economic value, but to prepare them for discernment of truth.

The box in the photo is made of cherry, walnut and maple. The top and sides are secured with hand-cut dovetails. It was fabricated from real wood and the intelligence used in making it was not artificial.

Make, fix and create...

The altar of ineptitude

The inclination to create beautiful and useful things is a human universal. It can be found in every culture. It is rooted in relationship. We do good work because we are trained to expect it of ourselves, that we may be seen by others as caring. On the other hand, you can tell folks a thing or two, and lay verbal claim to your moral superiority, with it being revealed at some point as total bull. 

Now with artificial intelligence to supplement the ridiculousness of what folks can make up, we'll have launched ourselves further off the deep end. Imagine someone wants to create an image of Donald J. Trump wearing a tutu and on point. AI will do it in seconds and folks will believe it to be true. I lay the problem's source on our educational institutions and our failure to understand the importance of using the hands to augment mental development.

Charles H. Hamm wrote in 1886 in his book Mind and Hand, 

"It is the most astounding fact of history that education has been confined to abstractions. The schools have taught history, mathematics, language and literature and the sciences to the utter exclusion of the arts, not withstanding the obvious fact that it is through the arts alone that other branches of learning touch human life... In a word, public education stops at the exact point where it should begin to apply the theories it has imparted... At this point the school of mental and manual training combined--the Ideal School--begins; not only books but tools are put in to the hands of the pupil, with this injunction of Comenius; "Let those things that have to be done be learned by doing them."

"When it shall have been demonstrated that the highest degree of education results from combining manual with intellectual training, the laborer will feel the pride of a genuine triumph; for the consciousness that every thought-impelled blow educates him, and so raises him in the scale of manhood, will nerve his arm, and fire his brain with hope and courage."

The following is also from Charles Hamm.

"It is easy to juggle with words, to argue in a circle, to make the worse appear the better reason, and to reach false conclusions which wear a plausible aspect. But it is not so with things. If the cylinder is not tight, the steam engine is a lifeless mass of iron of no value whatever. A flaw in the wheel of the locomotive wrecks the train. Through a defective flue in the chimney the house is set on fire. A lie in the concrete is always hideous; like murder, it will out. Hence it is that the mind is liable to fall into grave errors until it is fortified by the wise counsel of the practical hand."

The human hand is constantly seeking the truth and finding it. By leaving laboratory science and wood shop and the arts outside of education, we have diminished our children in both character and intellect, and sacrificed our human culture.

In the wood shop, I've been oiling boxes. 

The Museum of Eureka Springs Art

Today we took over space at the Eureka Springs Community Center for the launch of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art. Eureka Springs has long been known as an art center. Our downtown has a number of art galleries, and we have more artists per capita than most small communities in the US. For many years our artists have participated in art and craft shows throughout the US, spreading the word about this wonderful place.

Years ago local artist Louis Freund had proposed a major expansion of our historic museum to accommodate the arts, and while that never worked out, we are paying homage to the artists of our past and present by building a collection that will be exhibited in our newly acquired space.

One of the reasons I've worked toward the establishment of this museum is that it's extremely important to know where we fit into things. As a young artist, I was welcomed and encouraged by the older artists that lived here at the time. Over the years, more artists have arrived, some not knowing the depth of preparatory work done by their predecessors in the arts... It is important that we preserve that legacy, and use it to encourage young artists and help them to find themselves within the history of this place.

In case you don't know it yet, the arts have always been important here in shaping our community. Our museum will help many visitors to our town to understand the transformative role that the arts can play in their own towns and cities. This is one of the points I attempted to convey in my book, The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, a Life.

We will have an open house in the new space on July 14, five to 7 PM and you are invited to attend.

The box shown is one I made with an aluminum top, scrap left over from making a pantry for our house and too interesting to throw out.

Make, fix and create...

finishing boxes

I need to begin photographing boxes for the cover of my new book, so I'm applying finish. As usual, I've made more boxes than is needed, so I'll have some to sell when the book is completed. I think readers will enjoy making these boxes. 

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

another step

The photo shows the lift tabs for a variety of boxes after being fitted and shaped. I sketch the shape I want on the oversized lift tab that I've already fitted in the groove routed in the lid. Then I cut it using a scroll saw and sand its edges smooth. Compare this picture with one I posted yesterday and you'll see progress.

Make, fix and create.

shaping lift tabs

To install lift tabs in box lids, I first rout a groove on the front edge of the lid with a 1/8 in router bit about 3/16 in. deep. I then saw stock to a thickness of 1/8 in. and about 3/4 in. wide which I then cut to the length of the grooves cut in the lids. I work in fitting one tab to a lid at a time due to possible variations. 

I use a piece of self-adhesive sand paper on a flat board to round the corners to fit the grooves. Can't fit a square peg in a round hole except by making it too small to fit.

What you see in the photo are lids with the lift tabs fitted but not yet shaped.

Make, fix and create...
 

the reason

Today I'm working on a bunch of boxes. I've cut slots where lift tabs will fit the lids, and I've done the first sanding of the cuts made when separating the lids from the bodies of the boxes. I sand them using a flat piece of 3/4 in. MDF covered with self-adhesive sandpaper to keep them absolutely flat where the surfaces meet.

Some of my readers know that I'm interested in history, and I've seen eyes glaze over when I mention the history of Friedrich Froebel's Kindergarten, or Educational Sloyd. 

It is good to know our history for two important reasons. Knowledge of history can help us avoid repeating things that we must not repeat. It can also inspire us to repeat things that should be repeated. With Kindergarten and the Educational Sloyd movements, here's to hoping for a repeat of movements as a basis for education renewal in the US.

I'm working on an article for Make Magazine about our giant Froebel blocks and wanted the editor to know more abut the kindergarten movement, so I sent him this link.https://youtu.be/_jtqWfuQcPo You may enjoy it also. If you watch carefully, you'll find me in it.

As a special note, the hidden cost of all our cheap imported stuff is the loss of the character of our nation.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in living lifewise.

PW June 2023

The June 2023 issue of Popular Woodworking has an article of mine about making a coopered leg hall table, but what's more exciting is a review of our art and craft school, ESSA. In a 3 page spread, editor Logan Whitmer describes the wonders of our small school as well as the beauty of Eureka Springs.

I'm pleased to have yet another article in a national magazine, and also pleased to see ESSA receive the attention it deserves.

Make, fix and create. Enable others to do likewise.

more spalted wood

This is another piece of spalted wood forming the lid of a box. I'll add a lift tab along the front edge before adding mite keys to strengthen the box corners. 

I'm lucky to have a few pieces of interesting wood hanging around waiting for their best use.

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

lift lid box

This is a new lift lid box. The lid is spalted maple and the body of the box is elm. Note the direction of the wood grain, and that the mitered corners are glued side grain to side grain, making it an easy box to make.

Make, fix and create...

Makers of Ukraine...

This box is unusual in that the grain runs vertically rather than around the box. Gluing edge grain to edge grain eliminates the need of other joinery techniques.

 In the meantime, as I'm working in my shop there are others whose purpose is more profound.

The makers of Ukraine... https://makezine.com/article/maker-news/makers-in-defense-of-ukraine/ 

Make, fix and create...

self-actualization

 When we understand the role the hands play in human development, in the growth of character, intelligence and creativity, we also begin to grasp the importance of the arts in education and the necessity of bringing an increasing number of artists into schools and applying their hands (and minds) in the education of our children. Understanding the role of the hands in education also provides a clear rationale for woodworking education. Woodworking in schools is still important despite the concerted effort of many school administrators to do away with it.

An interesting point is made by American amateur woodworkers, when they call what they do in their woodshops “sawdust therapy.” We humbly note the beneficial psychological effects of our efforts toward the creation of useful beauty in our woodshops. We feel better when our hands, hearts and minds are fully engaged in doing real things… 

 

As American education is facing a post-covid internet age crisis of staggering proportions as children and teens attempt to manage their own mental health, I, as a woodworker, wonder what role the arts should play. Knowing the beneficial side effects on mental health from engagement in the arts, and the crushing need for means to assist children in finding ways to manage their own mental health, I suggest that the arts (including woodshop) take a commanding role in American education and to thereby reassert the arts as a means of personal and cultural advancement. How important are  reading and math scores when our children have not been provided the tools for getting along with each other and managing a sense of their own self worth?

In psychology, the term that applies is self-actualization... a term that describes having found purpose, meaning and depth in the real world.

Make, fix and create...

Donald J. Trump Presidential Library

I propose the location for The new Donald J. Trump Presidential Library to be 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.

It is fittingly designed in the "Brutalist" architectural style, resembling many of the buildings Trump has had built on his own behalf. As the  J. Edgar Hoover building it currently serves as headquarters for the FBI. It well fits a 4 year presidency marked by an unprecedented degree of graft, lying and corruption. Larger than most presidential libraries, it's eleven stories will be needed for the vast amount of evidence that must be preserved.

I'm relaxing today after 5 days of class in which I was blessed with great students who helped each other and took great joy in learning. Three of my students wanted to make mitered finger joints, a complicated exercise, and they did it together, making sure that each gained lasting expertise.

Make, fix and create...

Finished with box class

I finished my 5 day box making class at ESSA and each student made about 4 boxes of different designs, using different corner joinery techniques. The box shown with keyed miter joints was a design that each of my students made before branching out and exploring their own design ideas.

My books, The Box Maker's Guitar Book and Making Classic Toys that Teach have been re-released on Amazon and other sites. 

The box is made from ash, spalted sycamore and walnut. With my teaching done for a while, I'll return my attention to my book about designing boxes.

Make, fix and create...

job one.

The first job of education, job one, should be to enable students to achieve and support their own mental health. We see the failings of American education in the dramatic rise in teen anxiety, depression and suicide. The fact that so much gun violence is directed toward  schools, might also be telling us something important. 

While a primary purpose of Froebel's Kindergarten was to give children an understanding of their interconnectedness with nature and community, our increasing pressure on test scores and academic competitiveness leaves children estranged from the very fabric of real life.

To restore education to its rightful place in the scheme of things requires a massive reorientation toward the arts. Quite a few years ago, David Henry Feldman, known for his work with gifted and talented kids, wrote an award winning essay, the Child as Craftsman. It acknowledge that every child is compelled from within to achieve some form of excellence that allows them to feel right in relation to their peers, to measure their own progress and to feel a level of normal actualization associated with the maintenance of mental health. This does not mean that all kids should be doing the same things, but that children in schools need opportunities to excel in a variety of tasks, thereby learning their own likes, inclinations, and abilities, developing skills to fit within the larger framework of life. 

It is quite concerning to me that educational administrators and policy makers are so off base and reluctant to bring real change. When under pressure they cut what's most important in our children's educations... the means through which they find individualized means to achieve excellence. The arts.

I have my third day of box making class at ESSA today. Yesterday I was reminded of bringing a class of high school students out to ESSA to use the black smithing studio to harden knives in the forge. As we drove up and students observed the wonder of the place, one student asked, "Where have you been all my life?" He wondered why all schools weren't like ESSA where you do real things. There's a reason for that. Educational policy makers are as stupid as all get out and communities refuse to acknowledge the importance of the arts. In the meantime, our children suffer from depression, anxiety, suicide and disconnection from the fabric of life.

Fixing it.

Our economy is largely based on the consumption of stuff. Back when I first moved to Eureka Springs, I observed that even in my own town, with so many artists, people were buying and selling stuff and making very little for themselves. And it seems to be getting worse with each passing year.. 

IFixit.com is a website dedicated to giving folks the power to fix rather than dispose of the things we own that may be broken or not quite working right. When we fix something we own, we may extend its useful life, delaying the replacement cycle by up to 75% or more. If we've delayed the replacement/consuption cycle, we've reduced the damage we do to the planet. The other thing we discover as we fix things is our own power.

We live in a world where folks are depressed and anxious as things spin out of our control, so in the tagline of my blog, I suggest, make, fix and create. By making things and fixing things we discover our creative power. When we discover our creative power, many of the reasons we may have felt depressed or anxious fade.

This article from NPR may help steer us back on the right track.

 https://www.npr.org/2023/05/27/1178512938/fixit-culture-is-on-the-rise-but-repair-legislation-faces-resistance

Make, fix and create...

veneered lids

I've been putting walnut borders around veneered lid for unhinged boxes. The process involves cutting thin strips, mitering them on the table saw to fit around the edges and then gluing them  in place. By using masking tape to hold pieces in place as they are fitted, it's relatively easy to build a tight fitting border. 

After all the parts are cut to exact length and fitted, I peel up the tape from one side, part by part, roll the piece back so glue can be applied and then tape it back where it was. The tape on the back side assures that it will be restored to its previous position. By gluing one side at a time, the fit and position of the other parts will not be disturbed.

I'm preparing for a 5 day box making class at ESSA and there's still an opening in the class for one student. Join us if you can. ESSA-art.com 479-253-5484.

Make, fix and create..

push button smart?

Today I'm making wooden boxes with veneered panel lids. The ones shown are white oak with lacewood and white oak with walnut burl. The interior surfaces of the top panels are also veneered. Your tools must be fine tuned to get good results in fitting the top panels to the sides. After gluing the lids will be cut from the bodies of the boxes and then hinged.

I contacted Wooden Boat Magazine about the launching of our flag boat at the Clear Spring School. While it's unlikely to make the launchings section of Wooden Boat where new and restored boats are celebrated, the excitement of our young launchers brought smiles to the editorial staff. All students should find such joy in learning. The excitement our kids felt was not too far akin from what boat building adults feel at launch time.

Make, fix and create... We must, in particular, fix American education, enabling students and teachers to learn by doing real things. I say this in the age in which folks are push button smart but can't fix nuttin.

An opening for one...

I have a 5 day class starting on June 5 in the wood shop at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. There is currently an opening for one additional student, so if interested please call ESSA 479-253-5384 or sign up on-line. Students of all skill levels will learn and have fun in this class. Usually, each student will make several boxes.

Make, fix and create...

teaching kids to carve...

My article about teaching kids to whittle and carve came out in Woodcarving Illustrated this month, Summer 2023 Issue number 103. The article is based on my teaching at the Clear Spring School. All children will at some point, whether in cooking or crafts will need to acquire skills in the safe use of a knife. It is an activity kids love and it develops the mind as well as the hands.

You cannot whittle a stick without observing and forming simple hypotheses building the kind of understanding of basic reality fundamental to science.

Make, fix and create...

loose lid box

Want a box that has a lid that opens as though it's hinged, but in which no hinges are required? 

This simple prototype is the key. The first time I used this technique was in my book Simply Beautiful Boxes, my second book. The piece of plywood is a stand-in as I finish making the real lid. At this point the box and others are ready to glue up, and  lids will be fitted later.

The way this lid works is that as the lid is raised at the front, it is confined by the back edge falls into a deeper groove at the back where it stands in place with no lid support needed. When closed, it simply falls into place where it is confined within the four sides.

I think readers of my new book, Designing Boxes, will like this box.

Make, fix and create.

Berryville Rotary

I was a guest at the Berryville Rotary meeting yesterday where I was invited to speak. All were respectful as I went on a bit beyond the normally allotted time. Education is a matter that is of interest to all. In my news each and nearly every day I've read of gun violence in schools and about the epidemic of anxiety and depression among  our teens. Our children are overwhelmed by their engagement in social media and they are not being offered means through which to attain and maintain the better mental health offered through the arts. 

Schools have become places where students are constantly controlled while being measured in reading and math and the pressure is on. The pressure is on. The pressure is on. And we really need to pull the plug. I told my audience about schools in which play is intentional, as we all learn best when our passions are engaged. When we are at play, doing things for which we feel passion, our whole beings are placed in a state of alert and learning is at its best.

There's a whole lot more going on in education than can be covered in a thirty minute talk, but the answer to the problems of education can be found if we each reflect on those moments that have been most instructive in our own educational experiences. When did we learn best? What were the pivotal moments that gave direction to our own lives?

I told the audience of my own "pivot point" when my friend Jorgy made the suggestion to me that my brains are in my hands. The truth is that the hand-brain connection is there for each of us, and we learn best when our hands and whole beings are doing real things. When we are willing to arrive at our own understanding of our own learning experiences we'll not need educational experts to dictate what schools must become. We'll turn them into laboratories where children (and teachers) learn by doing real things.

As I mentioned to the Rotary members, real learning can be messy and noisy, and the noise and mess are what you see when students are fully engaged. Get over it. Would you rather see kids depressed?

A member of the audience asked a particularly interesting question about gun violence directed toward schools. I can tell you of specific instances when I was bullied at school by both students and adults. The pressures to perform and conform can make schools a hostile environment for teachers and kids alike. Gun nuts will claim that school shootings are due to schools being soft targets. My own urging is that they become softer places, where playfulness expressed through the arts is allowed to come forth and students are allowed greater opportunities for personal growth and deep engagement.

In my wood shop I've been making pattern-veneered lift-lids for boxes as shown. The residue of veneer tape is from holding the pieces together as they were put in the vacuum press.

Make, fix and create...

White oak

Today Hunnicutt Tree Service (Aaron and Kyle) cut dead white oaks on our property that will be milled into lumber for future use. The logs are large and will make great lumber once dry. 

I expect to be able to make a number of pieces of fine furniture from this wood harvested in my own woods.

One of my blog readers reminded me of one of my earlier blog posts from March 14, 2016. It is about poet William Carlos Williams and his line, "no ideas but in things." You may  find it to be a useful read.

https://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2016/03/no-ideas-but-in-things.html

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

Launch of the CSS Flag boat.

We sent our school made flag boat on its journey down the White River. If you see it, note its location, call the school and send it further on its way.

 

SS Friendship 2023

Today in the Clear Spring School wood shop we made a "flag boat," that we'll launch in the White River tomorrow. The boat is made from white oak and we'll see how far it floats before being found (if found) and picked up.

Make, fix and create...
 

finished class at MASW

 Today I completed a 5 day class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. I had 15 students in the class with each having made between six to eight boxes. I suspect the total number would be a record.  We all had fun.

I'll be headed home in the morning, grateful for a very nice week.

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

At MASW, ready for day 2

I'm at Marc Adams School of Woodworking and am a bit frustrated when mistakes I've made put other people's work at risk. That makes this a good time for me to remind myself that our greatest learning takes place, not when things are going perfectly well, but when obstacles are faced and overcome.

One of my students mentioned his need to make a wooden box for the ashes of a friend. This link is to a blog post I placed on the Fine Woodworking website in 2012 that describes the making of just such a box.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2012/05/09/making-a-crematory-urn-box-part-i

The photo is from yesterday's class.

Make, fix and create...

MASW

This morning I'm headed for Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana, for my annual weeklong class in box making. Weeks have gone into planning for this year's class. I'll attempt to post photos during the week, but blog posts from previous classes can be found on my blog:  http://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com Use the search block at upper left on the page and the search term, Marc Adams.

Make, fix and create.

today in the wood shop at CSS

Today in the wood shop at the Clear Spring School we made more boats.

In the meantime, others share my concerns that Artificial Intelligence, AI, will be used for purposes that will be intended to destroy the fabric of our communities and our relationship to truth. The following link is to an essay by Thomas Friedman:

https://www.nytimes.com/.../ai-tech-climate-change.html...

I offer this simple truth–– That if bad things are possible to do, there are folks damaged enough to do them. I can offer a number of examples that you'll find throughout history as well as in the present day.

I have no doubt that there will be good things coming from AI but we must make certain that young people are engaged in the creation of useful beauty in service to family and community. In addition to being fun, craftsmanship is one of the building blocks of the care we have for each other. It leads to a sound sense of personal well-being, and offers a means of directing human culture toward the good.

Make, fix and create...

as a how-to writer... I uphold the truth.

 I and others have become increasingly concerned about what's called AI or artificial intelligence. Through programs like Chatbot GPT, AI can spew language, writing Shakespearian sonnets faster than you can spell Jackie Robinson. But what you get from the programs is BS. In fact, the more BS that's out there, the easier it becomes to fictionalize reality, and fool the pubic. AI gets even worse when it's creating videos and images intended to distort our understanding of reality.

When how-to writers write, our success is based not on being able to convince others to think what we think but to empower others to succeed in what we do, and we dare not lead others astray, as they will test what we've demonstrated in their own hands and haunt us for our failures.

This is one of the reasons that kids of all ages need to be doing real things in schools and that schools need as much as possible to be (not merely resemble) real life. The artificiality of the typical classroom environment leaves children untrained in the discernment of truth. It leaves them vulnerable to manipulation by despots, whether those despots are petty ones in our own families and communities, or are those who shape political opinions and rule nations.

When I spoke to the Holiday Island Rotary Club this last week, one member in the audience mentioned that she had visited Clear Spring School and that in her observations it was different from what she had observed in other schools. She had noted greater student participation and less teacher control, and she asked me if her observations and how she was describing things were correct.

I was reminded of a story local artist Zeek Taylor told of his first year of teaching high school art. The principal stepped into his classroom as he was preparing for the first day of school, and pronounced sternly as a warning, "Your kids must remain quiet." You'll not find that rule to be in force at the Clear Spring School, where teachers and students are responsive to each other, as must be the case for effective learning to take place.

I've had a few things running through my head of late. One is the Erikson-Anders 10,000 hour rule that suggests that to get world class at something, 10,000 hours of deliberate practice are required. Compare that to the roughly 16,000 hours kids spend at schools sitting passively at desks while teachers follow scripts devised by others and devoid of their own passion.

I've also been thinking about depression and boredom (not my own) that are imposed within the typical classroom environment. And I've been thinking about a revolution in which we empower teachers to do and create, and respect impassioned learning. 

If we each observe and reflect on our own learning experiences and build from there we see a few things that were noted by Diesterweg in the mid 1800's. These observations presented by Otto Salomon  in his book, the Principles of Educational Sloyd  are: Start with the interests of the child, move from the known to the unknown, from the easy to the more difficult, from the simple to the complex and from the concrete to the abstract. In this I repeat myself,  but if we were to design American education based on how we learn, and with an eye toward engaging students in the quest for truth, we'd be less at risk with regard to Artificial Intelligence, as each student would have real intelligences of their own and their 16,000 hours spent in schooling would not have been squandered. Better mental health would arise also.

Make, fix and create...

triangle boxes, quickly made

These are some quickly made triangle boxes. Some will be angled at the top and used without lids as pencil boxes. Some will get lift off lids. They've been glued and the rubber bands are holding parts together as the glue sets.

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

a new jig

Table saws are ill equipped to rip cut 30° joints required for a triangular box because the blade will only tilt to 45°. The solution is to cut with the wood standing up alongside the fence with the blade set at a 60° angle but that's not ideal because as the cut is made there's nothing left to support the wood and it falls down into the blade. 

This new jig allows the woodworker to clamp the box part in place so it is carefully carried through the cut. The results are shown in a practice box.

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

fitting pulls

I've made the walnut pulls for the small chests of drawers, and am pleased (as I hope you are) with only having pulls on the top three drawers. Having a pull on each drawer would have looked normal and unsurprising.

With finger access to the bottom drawer by simply touching underneath, the fourth pull would have been unnecessary.

You are welcome to comment if you think I'm wrong (or right for that matter). The pulls will be glued in place after sanding is complete.

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

subtle design change

Designing a box often involves small changes along the way as we observe step by step what we've done. Please compare this photo with the one I posted yesterday as it shows a very small but significant change.

By reshaping the underside of the bottom drawer, I've taken a boring, straight line and made the whole chest more interesting. Also, I've created a finger space for opening the drawer so that only the top three drawers will require pulls.

This morning I'll be making a presentation to the Holiday Island Rotary about the Wisdom of Our Hands. Nine to 10 AM at Grace Lutheran Church.

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

jewelry chests

In my woodshop I've been working on small chests of drawers that are made with hand-cut dovetails holding the carcasses together. The dovetails are intended to stand proud, accentuating craftsmanship and making it very clear to the viewer, how it's made. Walnut pulls will be added to the drawers. 

The carcasses are made from Cherry, Ash and Walnut and the drawers are made from Cherry, and Ash with maple drawer sides.

Subscribers of Popular Woodworking will find an article I wrote for the magazine in the current issued, illustrating how to make a coopered leg hall table.

Let's reshape American education so that its first priority will be to provide students of all ages means to support better mental health. Crafts and the arts are the means through which students will develop coping skills that must come before all else.

Make, fix and create. 

boats and teepees...

Today at the Clear Spring School my kindergarten students and I made sailboats as you can see. 

Then after class I joined them in the new Clear Spring School teepee for a quick story time. The teepee is amazingly large on the inside, spacious enough for a class to gather. If you live in Eureka Springs, stop by and look inside. It's lovely.

Make, fix and create...

would works, episode 3

Lee Valley has released a third episode of their Would Works series highlighting the role of woodworking in combating homelessness and building lives. https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/discover/inspired-to-make/would-works/meet-brunisha?utm_campaign=325126_Apr23-Wood-Video-WouldWorksInspiredToMakeSeries-Brunisha-US&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Lee%20Valley&dm_i=6EER,6YVA,12UXB3,Z977,1

In the meantime, I'm working on a new box design as shown.

Make, fix and create...

At UALR

I have another day of box making with students at the Windgate Center for Art and Design at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. It is a beautiful facility with wood working being at the center of it all. 

In the  meantime, this lovely state has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the US with a death rate of young mothers 10 times that of California. What an unbelievable shame that is!

Our governor is more concerned about drag shows, the ease of getting guns and positioning herself for higher office than about the death of mothers. Go figure, please. Gun violence has become the highest cause of the death of children in the US. So between the death of mothers and of kids, we have a great deal of work to do and it appears that typical Republicans are not interested.

Can crafts play a role in bringing needed change? It is widely known that participation in the arts is healing of mind, body and spirit.

The photo shows a piece of sculpture by noted artist and philanthropist Robyn Horn at the entry of the Windgate Center for Art and Design. It is made of wood. I am grateful to be here.

Make, fix and create...

At the Windgate Art and Design Center, UALR

I had a very nice time last night making a presentation to an audience of hand enthusiasts at the Windgate Center for Art and Design in Little Rock. I think there may have been as many as fifty in the audience... not bad on a Friday night when there are thousands of other things to do. 

At one point, I asked the audience whether they thought that providing means of maintaining mental health should be a primary mission of American education. And of course that should be the case, and the audience agreed. We know there's a significant link between the development of hand skills, and a sense of well being. Woodworkers may call what we do, "sawdust therapy" knowing that what we do with wood make us feel better. And all other craftsmen in every other field of creative endeavor, regardless of the material involved will assert the same.

And so I ask you all a simple question. If schools have a primary purpose of providing means through which students attain and maintain better mental health, why are schools and curricula designed to alienate us from each other along a trades vs. academic divide? Why are the hands not made central to all learning? Perhaps it is easier to simply go through the motions of teaching and providing content than to become concerned about students learning and living healthy lives.

When I was in Portland we drove past a small homeless encampment and my guides mentioned the relationship between homelessness and drug use. Our first home is that which we establish in our own beings in the relationship between our heads, hands and hearts. I propose a simple idea. If we are preoccupied with discovering our own joy of creativity will we have an interest in destroying our own capacity to create? To create a proper environment for human creativity we start by empowering parents and grandparents to know this important relationship of hand/brain/heart and then we insist that education become empowered to sustain that balance.

Make, fix and create.

today in Little Rock

I'll be in little Rock for the next three days at UA Little Rock’s School of Art and Design leading a lecture and a workshop as part of the artWORKs series. 

Made possible through the Windgate Foundation, the UA Little Rock artWORKs Series brings renowned artists to the UA Little Rock campus where they can collaborate and craft a community that values learning and the visual arts. 

Details, times and locations can be found in this link: https://ualr.edu/news/2023/04/06/stowe-artworks-artist/

Make, fix and create...

t-rex

Today in the Clear Spring School wood shop the Kindergarten students and I made dinosaurs. Last week when I asked the students what they would like to make next, one student immediately responded "dinosaurs!" And education at its best adheres closely to "the interest of the child," whatever the age of the "child" might be. That's a thing just as true for my adult students.

This week I'll go to Little Rock where as a guest at UALR I'll make a Friday night presentation on the Wisdom of Our Hands, and then follow up on Saturday and Sunday with classes in box making. The details can be found in this link: https://ualr.edu/news/2023/04/06/stowe-artworks-artist/

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

would works video 2

 https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/discover/inspired-to-make/would-works/meet-shirley

This is volume 2 of a series from LeeValley.com

Make, fix and create...

the nose knows...

The nose knows. This morning Rosie discovered the bat house we made at school last year and that we hung on our barn. After adding anti-rodent devices under the hoods of our truck and car, she's stopped obsessing about squirrels in the engine compartment and turned her attention to bats.

Don't we wish our politicians could be so smart? The lot of them appear to be missing common sense and the ability to gain an accurate view of themselves.... some think that they can take gifts from rich and powerful friends and that no one will see there are strings attached. Some think that expelling two black legislators while thinking they will not be immediately recognized as racist. How in the world can folks be so self-delusional? Brace yourself. With artificial intelligence, the real wisdom acquired by people doing real things will be in short supply and dogs like Rosie will be smarter than most folks.

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

dovetailed chest of drawers

My small dovetailed jewelry chests are ready now to sand and assemble prior to making the drawers. One is walnut, one is cherry and one is being made from ash. I never make anything this complex and challenging without making a few mistakes. But that's part of being human, isn't it?

The walnut stretcher near the bottom of the box is intended to do the job of holding the sides and top square, while also being hidden from view by the bottom drawer.

Make, fix, forgive and create. 

This bowl was the best of 6 I made in a one day pottery class at ESSA. I left it to be sold in a fund raising auction, or as a gift to our director... her choice. The others, having turned out not quite so nice have been passed along as dog bowls. You get to a point in life when enough is enough, but we never outlast our need to create.

I made this simple illustration of the scaffolding required for a revolution.

Make, fix and create....

Would works

 This video from Lee Valley is wonderful.  https://vimeo.com/810678294/9e796d6b76

National Woodworking Month

April has been named National Woodworking Month, so if you've not done it, now's the great time to start. In celebration I've been hand-cutting dovetails, and in just under two weeks will teach box making classes at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. 

Put April 17-19 on your calendars. April 17 I'll do an evening presentation on the Wisdom of our hands, a subject that affects us all, whether celebrants of National Woodworking Month or not. On Saturday I'll teach a box making class open to drop-ins or full day participants. It will be demonstration only. On Sunday, a few students will join me for a hands-on class. For that, registration is required.

The photo shows a walnut jewelry box in the making. It also shows that hand cut dovetails can be messy in the making. There are simpler ways to cut this joint than cutting by hand, but this is National Woodworking Month, and woodworking is not just about stuff. It's also about training the hand and mind for other things.

Yesterday we attended Hands-On ESSA, an annual event at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. Money was raised through an on-site/online auction and folks of all ages got introductions to various crafts.

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

pins first

Today in the wood shop I've finished cutting the pins for small dovetailed jewelry chests and am ready to transfer the marks to the sides from the tops, so that the tails can be cut. 

These are mitered dovetails so that on the front and back edges of  the chests, the joints will appear cleaner. To accentuate the dovetails, they'll stand proud of the surfaces by 1/8 in. to offer a decorative effect.

It's been a couple years or more since I last made hand cut dovetail joints. But the skills come back.

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