“It’s the concept that’s important to me, that’s basic. It’s one’s relationship to divine sources and to nature which formulates, I think, a form. It was the concepts of the Shakers that produced Shaker furniture, it was the concept and the life of Louis XIV that produced the kind of furniture he ended up with.… I’m a karma yogin from way back, karma yoga is the yoga of action. I am an activist, in my small way I get things done.…I’ve improved my environment and improved my life and I’ve done things for people that improved their lives, and created an environment out of nothing. I don’t destroy anything. I don’t even borrow any money. I think as long as you’re creating there’s a legitimacy. I think the object of life is to create. I don’t hurt anybody. I don’t take anything from anybody, I just try to leave the world a better place than I found it. I am essentially a follower of Sri Aurobindo, who believes in the transformation of man, and also in the transformation of society, the transformation of nations and of civilization.”
“Whereas if one has skills, one could make the slums bloom with no money at all, simply by work and skills.” -George Nakashima
George Nakashima makes me feel all tingly inside.
If you would like to read this article let me know and I can post/give you a copy. Fuck a copyright, if you’re a woodworker you should read this.
Wood planks near the heart of the tree reveal the complete history of a tree, and these were the specialty of woodworker George Nakashima (1905-1990). He had hundreds of colossal planks waiting for projects, some hundreds of years old. Fine Woodworking’s John Kelsey spent time with Nakashima and examines his philosophy, work styles and ideas, his biography, experience, and his work catalog. The detailed article describes how Nakashima’s career grew, and plenty of photos illustrate the breadth of his vision and design perspectives.
From Fine Woodworking #14, January/February 1979
Going to attempt this Nakashima style trestle table for our office. I’m thinking of adding a slight curve to the stretcher and simplifying the base.
This cross marked George Nakashima’s (master woodworker) grave until they could have a more stable marker made. Sundarananda is the name he was given in Sanskrit. It means “One Who Delights In Beauty.”
“From the world over have come timbers, many of fine quality, others the rejects of man and nature, all to be realized in one form or another, all to be made useful to man and possibly objects of beauty. We must make things with great hope and faith, for there is joy and fulfillment in creation. We must try to recapture a close relationship with nature.
I go back often into the wilderness, to find kinship beside a rock, behind a tree or under a leaf. I meditate and listen for answers. Since I am alone, the answers must be personal and inspired by movements I can feel intensely but cannot perceive or see. It is a lonely but satisfying quest.
There are so few who listen to the inner voice. In ages past, it would have been easy to join a crusade, to become a member of a community dedicated to building a great cathedral, to hew the great timbered doors, to carve a spirit in stone to grace the glorious facade.
But one must work alone, building objects of wood. With a mendicant’s eye, a sadhu’s perception, a ragpicker’s sense, I poke my way through the valley of the fallen giants, finding here and there fragments which will be given a second life. I roam through the rain forests where light barely filters through…
”
I’m reading these while listening to this on loop
