A living, breathing, moving, material. Today is a day to make something new. To put life into a underestimated block of wood. It has grain and structure and knots and burs. It’s warm to the touch and speaks if you listen closely. Wood has a soul that’s deeper than our understanding. Sitting in the corner of a room, silent while echoing signs of its past.
How many winters has this tree seen. Watching a man at work on the lathe, listening as the tool chatters over the knots not to be touched and gliding over the grain wanting to be cut. The man doesn’t shape the wood, the wood shapes itself. The shavings stream from the sharp tool that’s guided by its master.
For today we lack a intimacy that our ancestors had. We lack a sympathy for the tools and machines we use today. An age of industry blinded by technology. So today, stop and listen to the wood. Create something by listening to what it wants to become.