Hand Craftsmanship in the Digital Age

The Joy of Workmanship is now complete, and heading to a publisher soon--with a little luck. Here's a description and the introduction. Let me know what you think!

Jennifer Benner is a master gardener, book author, and former editor at Fine Gardening magazine. I challenged her with the idea of gardening as a craft, and the result is this interview. This peaceful escape that Jenny jokes she is addicted to has given her more than a career and a living. We talked about how gardening changed her as a person, how the beauty of an object comes from the effort we've put into making it, or participating in its creation. There is a world of difference between understanding a garden as a service, or a product, and as a process. Much more comes from gardening than the garden itself. Enjoy!

Abe Chaber is a master gunsmith of best grade shotguns, having apprenticed under Carl Kruger. His work is beyond superlative, and recognized worldwide as among the very best. The challenges of gunsmithing, using only hand tools and traditional materials to maintain 18th and 19th-century authenticity in his repairs and reproductions, cannot be underestimated. Abe works with different steels, iron, copper, gold and silver, wood and horn, leather and many other materials each with their own properties, using only files, saws, chisels and hammers. What has kept Abe at his bench for over 50 years? How does he "just do it"? And what two words from his teacher encapsulate everything he works for? It's a long interview, over 2 hours. Listening in installments is permitted.

Ian Kirby's storied career as a teacher, designer, and hand craftsman with great skills of workmanship is the foundation of this interview. We talk of many things, from lessons such as to never make a piece of furniture without a purpose; how drawing from nature, not from other artists or craftsmen, is key to understanding good design; how students have changed since the 1970's; how nothing in nature is truly ugly, and nature is our visual capital; the American v. the English way of learning woodworking; the problems of the designer not being able to afford his own work; that a pantry is essential in a good kitchen; and how through our work we set a standard for living. Visit Ian's website iankirbydesign.com to learn more.

Go see Ben's work at benswoodshop on Instagram, then you will have all the context you need for a discussion with him about mastery, beauty, making things, and what keeps him going, making things that people will treasure in their lives.

Cell phones make photography the most democratic of arts. You take pictures, don't you? What is the thrill of the click for you? Denise Keim, an amazing professional street photographer, and Chip Reid, attorney-by-day and talented photographer by night (and weekend-day) discuss who they are, what they do, their attitudes towards their work, how their work shapes them, has opened doors for them and fulfills their lives, and, in the end, if the Kardashians are beautiful. Doesn't the search for, and creation of, Beauty reminds us that we're all part of a greater narrative?

The corporate lawyer told me he hated everything about his job except the paycheck. I wondered how he could live that way. I find such satisfaction and meaning in my simple cabinetmaking work. Other craftsmen seem to feel the same--though words to describe this secret ingredient are few and vague. Between interviews, an exploration of the goals of this podcast and the accompanying book.

Paula Sparks is my wife's best friend. She has spent her life either working with her hands or teaching how to use them in a range of trades. From furniture stripping and repairing, to jewelry making, to residential carpentry, we talk about throwing creativity into mundane work, quieting the inner chatter, the dullness of office work, and how comparison is the thief of joy. Enjoy!

Alex and Lauren are my former neighbors, sadly moved away. Though their backgrounds and experience are rich and varied, they have one thing in common-- they have been (and Lauren still is) part of the "restaurant world." Lauren as a high-end restaurant server, and Alex was an owner and manager. What do they have to say about "working with their hands"? Is restaurant work a craft? Does it involve the same things, or not? Is it "mind work" if not hand work? Be prepared to learn lots about what goes into a nice meal, with much practical and wise insight into what really matters in a good life, how the setting of a table is a craft, if not an art, to create a seamless dining experience; the social tolerance that working in close quarters teaches us; that Patience! is as key to their work as to any; and the the shelf that Lauren created out of nothing.

Mark sent a follow up email on the kind of wisdom he pulls away from hand work that was compelling enough to share and comment on. Only 15 minutes!

Marlyn Webster is a masterful weaver (www.whimsyandtea.com) who is also thoughtful about what she does (www.whimsyandtea.com/blog). We talk about the importance of having beauty in daily life, what goes into creating it, and our strange reluctance to have it -- would you use a handwoven kitchen towel to clean up spaghetti sauce, or would you feel it was "too good for the job"? Marilyn addresses the idea of the patience to make something is actually a presence in the process, enjoyable in itself. She shares her thoughts on the value of having handmade objects, their differences from manufactured ones, what the human investment is.

Mark Clement is a remodeling carpenter, deck builder, editor, journalist, author of The Carpenter's Notebook, and Youtube star with myfixituplife.com. We discuss everything under the sun, leaving out only a quotation neither of us could remember, or look up while we were talking. "Hours spent by the true craftsman bringing out the grain, which has long been imprisoned in the trunk of the tree, is an act of creation in itself. He passes his hand over the satiny texture and finds God within." - George Nakashima

If it hurts, you're doing it wrong. Well, good advice for many things, but not about learning guitar (my fingers still ache). And if not painful, then difficult when doing it right? In this short episode, Tim and Mike take up the issue of the difficulty of learning a trade. To me, seeing it through and silencing the inner critical voice was as important to developing skill as cutting lines. I'm not saying I went critical to joyful, rather I went from critical and agency killing to one of wonder and imagination--"What will it look like when I'm finished?"

Award winning designer and teacher based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Adam's interests encompass design, craft/small to medium scale fabrication, as well as industrial production of culinary knives and tools as well as modern homewares and furniture. In our interview, we touch on the perils of sound editing, both in this podcast, and in the improv comedy world; the joy in the learning process; Japanese knives; on learning something new late in life; on being attracted to work, and what makes work attractive and why a (not very grimy) metal shop is a far better work environment than a day job; adapting fluid and dynamic teaching strategies to the ways people learn; the advantage of overconfidence when learning something, and many other topics; social hierarchy, kindness, and revenge, and the life lessons of Gary Larson. You can see some of his work at www.mksknife.com

Today we talk with Mike Patterson, a deeply accomplished residential contractor for over 25 years. We touch on the differences between building in your head and building with your hands, problem solving in general, the trades as opposed to art, the joys of getting lost in work, the joy of learning something new, and moments of finding life itself in a project. You'll also encounter Dunning Kruger, and the confidence of predicting results as an expert, on listening to the universe about what you're good at, and the two worlds of blue and white collar, and what the little hands in our brains make of it all.

Tim Sams sent an email with an additional idea or two that was well worth talking about, concerning the mindset we bring to our work.

A short discussion of the title of the podcast, on an important point that didn't get addressed in the first episode. Nervously, I try to say what I'm looking for in the interviews, when, in fact, there is so much more. At least this bit is blessedly short. And there is, again, no nudity.

Tim Sams -- a multi-talented, multi-career fellow who knows the white collar world as a magazine publisher, a marketing director, and an editor at Fine Woodworking magazine, and the blue collar world as a carpenter. We discuss his insights from the many hats he has worn.

Tim Hochstetter is a maker extraordinaire, having spent his life working with a wide range of media, from blown glass, to metals and resins. Our conversation covers his thoughts on the economic difficulties of working as a solo artist, and the kinds of work he would never do. And other things, but I forget what else. This podcast contains no nudity.

Welcome to Hand Craftsmanship in the Digital Age! I am Strother Purdy (my woodworking is here: www.belovedoldtree.com and my short essays on every imaginable topic are here: mondaugenslaw.blogs.com). I will be your host in a series of interviews with people who thoughtfully work with their hands, and some who don't. The first episode introduces just a little bit why. What if there was a particular kind of work that could be satisfying in every way? Does it exist, and if so, what goes into it to produce a deep sense of thriving in life? I'm on a quest to understand if thoughtfully making things by hand, and giving them to people I know offers up a special kind of enduring happiness in life. If I'm right, the joys of thoughtful work should be discoverable in the interviews of people who do, and its absence in those who don't. Do you love your work? What about it gives you joy? What do you hate? Along the way, I hope to have interesting conversations with interesting people about what they do, why they do it, what they get out of it. And that should be enjoyable in itself. And if I'm wrong, it's back to a beer and Netflix in the evenings. Yes, I have a strange sense of humor. None of these podcasts contain nudity.