Art and Craft at Warm Springs and Timberline Lodge
My final report on our Oregon trip begins with the Museum at Warm Springs, on the eastern flank of the Cascades north of Bend. The Warm Springs Reservation is home …
Mortality, Autonomy, and Craft
I have been reading two books lately about two very different topics that engage the same basic question: How can we act as genuine individuals in a society that treats …
Craft Between You and Me
There’s a connection between woodworking and writing. One of them is the attention to craft. I am presently making a long-overdue desk for my son Eric, who has been using …
Sawdust and Soul
Over the past fifteen years I have carried on a lively conversation about woodworking with my good friend John de Gruchy—he in South Africa’s Western Cape, I in the mountains …
A Southwestern Turning
When we were visiting in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in February, I got to know Rich Spellenberg, who is a fine woodturner as well as renowned botanist. Indeed, if I …
Who’s Your Imbongi?
I have long been interested in the South African tradition of the imbongi. The figure of this classic Xhosa “praise singer” accompanied my thoughts as Nelson Mandela returned to his …
Lectern and Table for BU School of Theology
I recently completed a table and lectern for the newly renovated Walter Muelder Chapel at Boston University School of Theology. Working with Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore and Professor Carl Daw, …
Turnings in Profile
I have been spending a lot of time lately reworking the poems in a collection I am calling Turnings. I have been sending it out, in various versions, to publishers …
Collaboration in Time and Space
Two events involving my son Eric coalesce to begin our new year. The first involves his trans-Atlantic collaboration with my god-daughter Anja Decke to put on a multi-lingual version of …
A New Table
This table was commissioned by the District Superintendents of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church to honor their Bishop, John Schol. The pedestal of walnut and cherry creates …
A Wedding and an Anniversary
June brings weddings and their reverberations in anniversaries. This year I participated in helping to plan and lead a lovely wedding for Sarah Osmer and Gabriel Vinas. Sarah we have …
Raising the Quilt Square
Over the past few years, in nearby Yancey and Mitchell counties, the Toe River Arts Council has made and installed over two hundred painted quilt blocks on barns, stores, and …
SweetheARTS Exhibition
The Haywood County Arts Council is hosting a delightful exhibition this month of pieces created by couples who engage in artistic work. Each couple has also prepared a one-page story …