The Soul of a Tree

[Howard Rosenberg]

After years of taking out The Soul of a Tree by George Nakashima from the public library, my wife bought it for me! It arrived yesterday eve.

No reason. She just wanted me to have my own copy after years of admiring this man and his approach to his life and his work.

Looks like I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying what promises to be a religious experience....

Howard

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Well worth every penny. A fantastic read!

[Jim Becker]

My favorite treasured book! I was fortunately to find a copy a number of years ago...it's hard to come by. You will enjoy reading it. And, BTW, if you ever want to make a field trip south, Mira and Kevin still have the weekly tours at the Nakashima compound in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which is near my home.

[Chris Fournier]

Definitely a book to have in your collection! Glad your wife is so considerate, even better to have!

[Frederick Skelly]

Guys, Ive read the summary you get when you see the book in a catalog or online. I know it's a classic book by a much-respected master. But the description has never compelled me to buy it.

Could someone please describe why this book means so much to you? Maybe Im just missing something important? But I dont want to buy it and just let it sit on my shelf if it doesnt end up interesting me.

Thanks!
Fred

[Mike Henderson]

Guys, I've read the summary you get when you see the book in a catalog or online. I know it's a classic book by a much-respected master. But the description has never compelled me to buy it.

Could someone please describe why this book means so much to you? Maybe I'm just missing something important? But I don't want to buy it and just let it sit on my shelf if it doesn't end up interesting me.

Thanks!
Fred

I fall into the same category. I've never understood the mysticism that surrounds Nakashima. A tree is just a tree. It is not a sentient entity and thus cannot have a soul. I just do not understand what Nakashima is trying to say.

We all look at wood and attempt to use that wood in the most pleasing way in the furniture we build.

Mike

[Mel Fulks]

Agree with all. The ads make it clear it's not an instruction manual. It's like the poem "I Have A Rendesvous With Death"
nice to read with a good drink while wearing your smoking jacket, but not much help on the battlefield.

[Jerry Wright]

Some folks look at a board as just a structural piece. Others see its grain, coloration, chatoyance ....and imagine it's intended best use.
Not everyone can see a unicorn. Nakashima could.

[David Helm]

Just because we are unable to talk to it, doesn't mean that trees aren't sentient. It really means that we aren't as smart as we think we are. I've had Nakashima's book for a long time. There are books about two others who were instrumental in bringing woodworking into the realm of art; Wharton Esherick and Sam Maloof. Highly recommended.

[Frederick Skelly]

Just because we are unable to talk to it, doesn't mean that trees aren't sentient. It really means that we aren't as smart as we think we are. I've had Nakashima's book for a long time. There are books about two others who were instrumental in bringing woodworking into the realm of art; Wharton Esherick and Sam Maloof. Highly recommended.

But what is it you like about the book that makes it so significant to you? That's what Im trying to understand.

[Mark Gibney]

I was talking to someone recently about Nakashima, and his regard for each piece of individual lumber. My buddy said that when he died, Nakashima had 100,000 board feet of lumber at his workshop and another 400,000 board feet of wood stored with various suppliers - the implication being, of course, that this is like have 500 best friends on Facebook.

I have not read the book, and I have not verified that Nakashima had this much lumber on hand. I enjoyed Krenov's book, also not an instruction manual, but as a personal essay about how his life and woodworking grew together. I've been told Krenov was a single minded, difficult person, who tended to puncture the poetic aura created by reading his book. Maybe not a bad thing, when he ran that school.

I do plan on visiting both Nakashima's and Esherick's place in Pennsylvania within the next few years.

[Bill Space]

A tree is just a tree. It is not a sentient entity and thus cannot have a soul. I just do not understand what Nakashima is trying to say. [snip]

Mike

What you are saying is just something you believe. Does not make it true. I don't have a horse in this race but we all should realize there may be more out there than just what we personally believe... :)

[John T Barker]

Esherick's home is a few miles from where I'm sitting right now and during my visit there I did not see anything earth shattering, IIRC. I think I will take my in-laws in a few weeks and see if I have a different view. I think I was more impressed by the reproductions I saw being made in the shop I was working in at the time.

On a visit to a client's house to deliver one of those reproductions a co-worker and I spotted a Nakashima piece (a slab settee with a fanback) and asked our client if we could examine it. We were allowed and we looked it over and then picked it up to look at the underside. We were both shocked to see that he had not removed the planer marks from the bottom of the slab and left a mess of glue which had run out of the spindle holes. A piece this sloppy would never have left the shop we worked in and we couldn't imagine why he had thought this was acceptable.

[Jim Becker]

But what is it you like about the book that makes it so significant to you? That's what Im trying to understand.

For me, it's made me think a little more carefully about getting the best I can out of the precious material I'm using and respecting the source. It's also helped me to embrace whatever challenge comes with doing the best I can. Even if one's personal style doesn't emulate someone like Nakashima, we can still learn a lot from him. He was a master of finding harmony, both across the material used in a project and relative to the design, including meshing function with aesthetics.

I have similar appreciation for Thos Moser. Very different style than Nakashima, but still very respectful of the material and the form while also making things useful and comfortable.

[Mike Henderson]

What you are saying is just something you believe. Does not make it true. I don't have a horse in this race but we all should realize there may be more out there than just what we personally believe... :)
Well, there's more than just a "personal belief" in that statement. Trees do not have nervous systems, nor brains, so it's unlikely they could be sentient beings. However, I'm always looking to learn so of you can point to some reputable studies that show that trees are sentient beings I'll certainly take a look. "Reputable" means published in a major peer reviewed science journal.

The point I was making is that all of us woodworkers examine the wood we use and attempt to use it in the most beautiful and useful fashion. You don't need to resort to mysticism to do that.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

Mike, that's likely true...mysticism isn't required to appreciate the wood and do good work. But there are many humans who feel the need or feel comfortable with something more mystical. Sometimes that's cultural and sometimes that's just personal. Either way, appreciating and doing beautiful craftsmanship is great!

[Bill Space]

I have not read the Nakashima book. But somehow I doubt that he was claiming that trees have brains. But they are living things. And they do react to their environment. Many of us have observed that branches, and even entire trees, grow in the direction of the strongest light. Not sure what this indicates..other than trees react to their surroundings. But trees are certainly different than rocks.

More than this I do not know. Not really trying to debate anything. Just trying to say that it is easier to close one's mind than it is to open it to possibilities that may not be apparent to us.

My guess is that Nakashima was trying to celebrate the fact that the wood he worked with came from a living thing. Hard to deny that. Do not expect he claimed that trees have legs or or brains like we do. But I have not read the book.

Myself, I feel a difference when I work with wood, as compared when I work with stone or metal.

I realize that some of us may not feel this way.

Bill

[Jerry Wright]

There was a FWW article many years ago which discussed Nakashima's approach to sectioning a downed tree. He believed every tree had a story to tell if sectioned properly. He would personally supervise and direct the cutting to best (in his judgement) exhibit the tree's "soul" which he had reverence for. Nakashima perhaps was an artist working in a craftsman's world. But he was very successful financially and certainly was not a starving artist.

[Paul Richard]

Sorry for brevity here...really enjoy the subject, but am responding from a tablet with a lame keyboard. Regardless, google "Ted talk how trees talk to each other". Watch that and it's hard to believe they don't have the rudimentary characteristics of a sentient being. Apparently trees do indeed speak to each other and nurture their own young. Who knew!?

And yes, I'm literally sipping a drink and smoking a cigar, sans "jacket" unless a flannel counts as one. So this post might be influenced by that. :-)

[Mike Henderson]

Sorry for brevity here...really enjoy the subject, but am responding from a tablet with a lame keyboard. Regardless, google "Ted talk how trees talk to each other". Watch that and it's hard to believe they don't have the rudimentary characteristics of a sentient being. Apparently trees do indeed speak to each other and nurture their own young. Who knew!?

And yes, I'm literally sipping a drink and smoking a cigar, sans "jacket" unless a flannel counts as one. So this post might be influenced by that. :-)

It's always tempting to anthropomorphize (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism) non-human entities. Was that talk given on April 1?:)

Mike

[Plants (and animals) develop traits through evolution that maximize the survival of their species. These traits are not evidence of sentience. It's just something that works to maximize the survival of their offspring. If it's evidence of anything, it's evidence of evolution.]

[A Venus Flytrap detects an insect in it's trap, closes on the insect, digests it, and reopens. Does that make it a sentient being?]

[I don't think you could find any scientists anywhere who would claim that trees are sentient beings.]

[Paul Richard]

LOL! Not that I'm aware of, but entirely possible. I'm a sucker for April fools jokes! :-)

Shenanigans aside, a pretty interesting and enlightening talk that feeds the curious on this subject. As for me, my empty glass is hungry. :-)

[Jim Andrew]

Thinking on this subject, can see the need for respect for the Lord's creation, and trees and wood are part of that creation. I like to build furniture with the best craftsmanship I can, and use interesting pieces of wood so I can leave behind something worthwhile.

[Dave Zellers]

I'm with Mike. Anthropomorphising plants and animals is fine for Disney, but it has no logical place in real life.

Of course trees respond to their environment. We had a serious Gypsy Moth caterpillar invasion here years ago that decimated the oak trees and seemed like it was going to wipe them out. The trees responded by putting out a toxin in their leaves that repelled the caterpillar. Crisis averted. That's the will to survive which is not the same as having a soul.

Doesn't mean trees aren't seriously cool. :cool:

[Brian Holcombe]

Well, there's more than just a "personal belief" in that statement. Trees do not have nervous systems, nor brains, so it's unlikely they could be sentient beings. However, I'm always looking to learn so of you can point to some reputable studies that show that trees are sentient beings I'll certainly take a look. "Reputable" means published in a major peer reviewed science journal.

The point I was making is that all of us woodworkers examine the wood we use and attempt to use it in the most beautiful and useful fashion. You don't need to resort to mysticism to do that.

Mike

I can't speak for the man, but I'm certain he did not mean it in the literal sense, but in the sense that he was working with a material that had lived it's life and had a story to tell by way of the grain.

If you want to be hyper-logical, then by all means do so, but it doesn't make for an interesting read on what makes you go out to the shop and work wood.

I enjoy the book, it has a certain significance to me in that my early years in woodworking were heavily influenced by what was local to me (Nakashima) and so to read about his experiences as a youth and what ultimately drove him to become an architect and then to become a woodworker was quite interesting and inspiring.

I also enjoyed Mira's book (George Nakashima's daughter) who provided a different perspective on her father's work and provided further illumination of his past.

If you can't connect with his woodwork, you may find yourself empathizing with someone who became successful then lost it all due to circumstances well outside of his control (WWII) and then rebuilt it while raising his young family.

[Mike Henderson]

Let's take two woodworkers, both who work with natural edge wood. Both do their best to select the best material for their furniture and both are equally successful.

However, one of them sells his furniture with a story - that he has found the "soul" of the tree and brought it into the furniture. The other woodworker just offers his furniture for sale, depending on the natural beauty of the wood and his craftsmanship.

Lo and behold, the guy with the story gets more sales at higher prices than the second woodworker. I suspect that Nakashima recognized that some buyers were gullible and would pay extra so that they could tell their friends the story that Nakashima told them.

Both woodworkers did the same thing, and produced the same final product - except for the story. The story didn't help Nakashima select better wood or better cuts - since a tree soul doesn't exist, searching for it is fruitless - but it helped him sell. He was a smart businessman - a good marketing person.

Mike

[Dave Zellers]

Well said. Marketing. Everyone loves a good story. You see it in the antique business. An item with provenance is worth more than one without. Even if that 'provenance' is just word of mouth.

If a story makes you feel good and perhaps inspires you to achieve something you would not have achieved without it then that accomplishment is yours. Credit to the author for inspiring you.

Perhaps as already has been said, this whole 'soul' business should not be taken literally.

Marketing.

[Andrew Hughes]

I believe Nakashima saw and felt something of a soul from wood and trees.Ive been to the Giant Sequoias and Redwoods.
Theres something about air dried wood it has a different feel and color then Kiln dried.
My personal experience is explicit to me no doubt in my mind.
Heres a cute video clip I saw recently watching a movie with my Grandson.
https://youtu.be/VD8UttNfU60

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I believe Nakashima saw and felt something of a soul from wood and trees.Ive been to the Giant Sequoias and Redwoods. Theres something about air dried wood it has a different feel and color then Kiln dried. My personal experience is explicit to me no doubt in my mind. Heres a cute video clip I saw recently watching a movie with my Grandson. https://youtu.be/VD8UttNfU60
I think Andrew is describing exactly what Nakashima meant by the title. Not marketing at all. For those of you who only associate 'soul' with sentient beings consider this definition from Meriam Webster for soul:
b : the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment.
Artists but maybe not craftsman, think about this with every piece.
From reading the Soul of a Tree-I think this is the definition he was talking about.

[Rick Potter]

I think I remember that movie storyline from waaay back. Something about a block of rock and a sculpture. Just remove the extra rock to reveal the sculpture inside.

[Edwin Santos]

Both woodworkers did the same thing, and produced the same final product - except for the story.

Mike
Except they almost certainly didn't produce the same product. The subtle detail and proportion in Nakashima's work is elusive and extremely difficult to replicate. I think some of the same could be said of several other woodworking masters who were especially known for design.
Please think of some of this work as a high form of art. I would like to think that what he describes in The Soul of a Tree is essentially an artist's statement of inspiration. It's a little harsh to characterize it as a sham intended to take advantage of gullible buyers. Nakashima spent time in India and was very influenced by eastern philosophy and some of these concepts are very difficult to grasp through the lens of western linear thinking.

If you're suggesting that George Nakashima does not deserve the critical acclaim he received for his work, I hope you'll study it more closely and perhaps change your mind.

[Jerry Wright]

Well said.

[Mike Henderson]

Except they almost certainly didn't produce the same product. The subtle detail and proportion in Nakashima's work is elusive and extremely difficult to replicate. I think some of the same could be said of several other woodworking masters who were especially known for design.
Please think of some of this work as a high form of art. I would like to think that what he describes in The Soul of a Tree is essentially an artist's statement of inspiration. It's a little harsh to characterize it as a sham intended to take advantage of gullible buyers. Nakashima spent time in India and was very influenced by eastern philosophy and some of these concepts are very difficult to grasp through the lens of western linear thinking.

If you're suggesting that George Nakashima does not deserve the critical acclaim he received for his work, I hope you'll study it more closely and perhaps change your mind.
I think Nakashima had a special ability, gained through experience, to look at a slab in the rough and "see" what it would look like when it was finished. And also to "see" what embellishments he could add to it (such as butterfly inlays).

When people (potential customers) would ask him how he selected a slab for a particular table, he was unable to tell them how he did that because it was based on experience in working with slabs. Perhaps he was somewhat of a poet and decided to give the answer that he looked for the "soul" of the tree. He may have found that his clients were very satisfied with that answer and it was far easier than trying to explain how he used his experience to do the selection.

Of course, that answer does not help another woodworker to select a slab. But it certainly set him apart from other woodworkers who did the same work.

Mike

[At the high end of any profession, the differences between workers (or athletes) is very small, but those differences are very important to who actually makes it to the top. Nakashima had a story that other equally competent woodworkers did not.]

[I'll add a story about Sam Maloof. Back when Sam was getting started there were a number of woodworkers who were working in the same design area. But Sam is the only one who really became known. Why?

I had the privilege of meeting Sam several times and came to this analysis - Sam was an EXTREMELY likable guy. It's hard to describe his personality but you couldn't help but like him. He was talkative, funny, warm and welcoming to everyone. I'm sure that the people who collect furniture responded to him the same way I did. And I'm sure they wanted to help him and bought furniture for their collections. And once several big name collectors start buying, others take notice.

Now, Sam had to be a good designer and woodworker - he couldn't get by on his good personality by itself - and he was a good woodworker and designer. As good as the other woodworkers who worked in the same design area at the same time. But he had that "something extra" that set him apart.]

[Mason Truelove]

I haven't read it, but that something like an incarnation after death?

[Edwin Santos]

I think I remember that movie storyline from waaay back. Something about a block of rock and a sculpture. Just remove the extra rock to reveal the sculpture inside.
Hi, I believe the story you are referencing is not from a movie, but from Michelangelo. Yes, that does go waaay back. It is written that he believed the sculpture pre-existed in each block of marble or stone he carved, and it was his task as a sculptor to release it.
Of course from a purely scientific, hyper-logical, linear way of thinking this is a preposterous idea. Yet, it, along with other inspiration, contributed to his prolific works that are widely considered to be near miraculous in their technical, proportional and artistic expression. I have visited Florence and Rome and literally seen people gasp in front of a Michelangelo sculpture or fresco - the old expression take my breath away. I've also seen many moved to tears, sometimes almost uncontrollably. This is the nature of art, IMO.
At the same time, there will always be someone in the crowd shaking their head and saying they don't get it. This is also the nature of art. I once heard an American tourist at the Louvre in the crowd around a Picasso point at it and say she thought her 6 year old granddaughter could do that!

I hope nobody will say Michelangelo was no better than other competent artists, but rather rode a wave of marketing built upon a good story. Please don't anyone say that or I will be breathlessly moved to tears.

[Eric Commarato]

My favorite treasured book! I was fortunately to find a copy a number of years ago...it's hard to come by. You will enjoy reading it. And, BTW, if you ever want to make a field trip south, Mira and Kevin still have the weekly tours at the Nakashima compound in New Hope, Pennsylvania, which is near my home.

available on Amazon for $33.00

[Rick Potter]

Hi Edwin,

The movie clip 'storyline' I was referring to was in a post just above mine, by Andrew Hughes. Yes, I am aware of where it came from, I just wanted to keep it short and to the point.....which was, that there is nothing new here.

I have no problem with an artist 'sensing' what he does. It is beautiful work, and I appreciate it. I simply don't 'feel' it.

It's a bit like impressionist art. Some find it 'inspiring'; I wouldn't hang it on my wall.

This thread is one of those, in which we just have to agree to disagree. I think we all agree that Mr. Nakashima did beautiful works of art. Lets let it go at that.

[David Helm]

I think Andrew is describing exactly what Nakashima meant by the title. Not marketing at all. For those of you who only associate 'soul' with sentient beings consider this definition from Meriam Webster for soul:
b : the quality that arouses emotion and sentiment.
Artists but maybe not craftsman, think about this with every piece.
From reading the Soul of a Tree-I think this is the definition he was talking about.

I think this is exactly what the case was with Nakashima. Soul is not necessarily about religion or religious beliefs. Most of my adult life has been spent in natural, ancient forests. Being among these mixed age trees, many older than 1000 years is a "soulful" experience.

[Steve Demuth]

I find Nakshima's "Soul of a Tree" fascinating, but also narrow and arrogant. One definition of soul that would work for Nakashima's perspective is "the essential part" - that which cannot be reduced without destroying the identity of the thing. So, what to make of "The Soul of a Tree?" As someone who has spent decades planting, grafting, nurturing and harvesting trees, the notion that the soul of any tree is what is revealed when you slice it up, drill it, rout it, sand it, and finish it, is badly off base. There is much, much more to a tree. Nakashima had an eye and a vision for finding the wood within the tree, and making that wood into something beautiful - but most of the tree's "treeness" - it's essential quality as a living, growing, reproducing thing had to be destroyed in order for Nakashima at best to resurrect hints and traces of that quality and history in first a board or slab, and then as furniture. No more can a board or a table embody the soul of a tree, than can any single dimension of one of us (our employment, say), however much of my history it may carry to the discerning, embody us.

However, the man clearly had a reverence for wood, and the eye and skill and human imagination to bring out the potential beauty locked within a particular trunk or branch. He added as much to the wood as was taken away from the tree in making it wood. This too is important. It is Nakashima's soul we are seeing, not that of the tree that had to die to become his medium.

[Brian Holcombe]

Let's take two woodworkers, both who work with natural edge wood. Both do their best to select the best material for their furniture and both are equally successful.

However, one of them sells his furniture with a story - that he has found the "soul" of the tree and brought it into the furniture. The other woodworker just offers his furniture for sale, depending on the natural beauty of the wood and his craftsmanship.

Lo and behold, the guy with the story gets more sales at higher prices than the second woodworker. I suspect that Nakashima recognized that some buyers were gullible and would pay extra so that they could tell their friends the story that Nakashima told them.

Both woodworkers did the same thing, and produced the same final product - except for the story. The story didn't help Nakashima select better wood or better cuts - since a tree soul doesn't exist, searching for it is fruitless - but it helped him sell. He was a smart businessman - a good marketing person.

Mike


No one commissions a piece of furniture because they just need a certain piece of furniture, instead they are buying an experience as well as a piece of furniture.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

This has been very interesting-- who would have imagined such a passionate dichotomy from a discussion of a book! I suppose we might also split similarly had the discussion started off with James Krenov.

[joel cervera]

Ya, I must say I find Mike's view a bit more cynical than how I would characterize both the nature of trees or how an artist would approach The "soul" of the medium in which he works..

With respect to Nakshima referring to a tree's soul. I wouldn't take him to mean a Spiritual component he ascribed to the tree necessarily..though possible. It comes down to what he meant by soul.
soul
sōl/
noun



1.
the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
2.
the essence or embodiment of a specified quality.


If he meant #1, then its a subjective aspect that he felt the trees possess. But, It can neither be proven nor disproven that trees have eternal souls. The best one could do is argue for their belief knowing no proof one way or the other can be shown definitively.

If Nakshima meant #2 then he sought to capture the essence of the tree in his work. I would feel that anyone who worked with wood and missed out on seeing something of the mystery, beauty an majesty of the forests of the world in the material they are working with was really " missing out".

Maybe its a by-product of the fact that most of us don't actually go anywhere near a forest to buy our lumber (aka trees). We live in our air conditioned homes totally insulated from the natural world. We drive to the lumber yard in our air-conditioned trucks ( insulated again from the natural world)and then buy our trees in perfectly sorted and dried lumber yards without ever stepping on anything but asphalt or concrete..

Or maybe its that the term sentience was used as what Nakashima meant by Soul. Which my not have been at all what he meant by the term.

In any case I think everyone's opinion is to be respected for what it is. But for my part I find that if I look at a tree from a scientific standpoint l. Even a single cell is so complex, finely tuned, and ordered that it provides more questions than answers as a subject of study. Let alone the billions or trillions of cells, and their harmonious functioning, that make up an actual tree. So from a Scientific viewpoint I think the mystery of what a tree is is still more intact than our understanding of what it is.

If I look at trees from a spiritual standpoint... well I live in California. I'm about 20 miles from an old growth Coast Redwood grove. Coast Redwood are the Tallest trees on Earth, up to 377ft. They live for thousands of years. I'm sure you can walk in that grove and not feel something but I would bet a buck that if you didn't you likely have antifreeze running thru your veins.. Same with the Seqoia. largest living things on Earth. And same with the Bristlecone Pine that also live here In CA. They are the oldest living things on earth living up to about 4,500 yrs. I have seen all of these with my own eyes and so I don't see someone like Nakashima having to make up a story about trees to market his work. I find it very easy to accept that this man just felt a special connection to trees and wood. i feel kind the same way about them and I don't sell furniture to anyone so marketing is not my reason for saying this.

Is it a possibility he spent his life obsessed with trees and wood an wrote books about his love of those just to market his wares.. sure. but dollars to donuts its just what floated his boat and got him up in he morning.

[Frederick Skelly]

Man oh man. What did I start? Im sorry Mike.

I get the connection with trees being very old living things - just being in awe of something that has lived hundreds or thousands of years, wondering who or what might have walked past this spot, etc. Sentient? Well, not for me. Forgive me guys but that sounds a bit far out. (I keep picturing Shirley McLain parading around a redwood in a druid costume.:D)

So I guess I don't personally see any soul in trees - the religous kind or any other kind. If Mr. Nakashima did - in whatever way he personally defined soul - that's ok with me. But it doesn't sound like I'd enjoy his book very much.

Thanks for the insights.
Fred

[Malcolm McLeod]

A fascinating look into the minds (and souls?) of woodworkers (and artists). I think it wasn't that Mr. Nakashima revealed the soul of a tree via his work, but instead the tree revealed a bit of the workings of Mr. Nakashima's soul. And I will continue to strive to reveal a bit of my own, however amateurish that effort may be.

[Patrick Walsh]

Its funny this thread would pop up right now.

It was just last week i was talking with another woodworker and he mentioned Mr.Nakashima and this book. I had no idea who Mr. Nakashima was but i had heard of the book in other circles "gardening".

When this other woodworker then mentioned slab tables i still had no idea who he was. I dont much care for slab tables. I very much love large slabs but i would much rather see them left in their raw form sitting as they are right off the saw in my shop, garage, warehouse or my living room to admire.

I suppose it is time i read this book. I very much connect with the tree as sentient beings idea. I dont know what came first for me, the love of the forest, the love of trees or the love of creating things with trees. I think it was probably the love of the forest and nature in all its forms. My least favorite form being humans but that tid bit will only fuel those who see trees to be of little to no value so i shall resist digressing. It is in nature, from nature amd through natur in so many ways that i find my insperation and thus ability to create. The observance and my interactions with nature has taught me how to live, inspired me, picked me up off my rear end when i was needed lifting up with a road map in hand as how to progress forward.

A piece of wood, a pile of lumber and thus a tree speak to me on so many levels. I have the greatest respect for trees and i guess nature as i feel if there is anything bigger than us all that deserves respect it would have to be nature. Trees, rock earth mountains, the oceans and fresh air all being the closest things i can relate to as divine.

It does not however suprise me one bit that my personal love affair with trees and thus lumber is not one that the general public shares, understands or agrees with. As disapointing as this can be in the face of say massive distruction like say the Keystone pipeline and the myriad of other direct assaults on nature and thus our own survival as a species "not that i am much concerned about that one" it is a fact and one that i am sure the masses of of people missing the bigger picture beyond the self will continue to miss and thus dictate the ultimate path that is taken with regard to nature and this planet.

I am pretty much aok with my opinions and views being terminally unique. I actually take quite a bit of pride in viewing the world through such a lens as i see it as a gift. It has been a gift to me.

Viewing the earth and all its inherent and natural beauty that exist all on its own without the help of humans, actually "despite humans" has enriched my life beyond belief. I believe that it can offer the same to anyone willing to open both their minds and thus hearts to it.

[Jim Becker]

It seems there's a lot wrapped around what each of us consider "soul" to mean in the context of both the book and the wonderful activity we share. Perhaps it's not a literal thing; rather, it's a feeling, perhaps of accomplishment or contentment. It almost doesn't matter. If you enjoy the craftsmanship and get satisfaction with the end result, that's a good thing. :)

[Patrick Walsh]

I could not agree more.

What do they say "happiness is where you find it".


It seems there's a lot wrapped around what each of us consider "soul" to mean in the context of both the book and the wonderful activity we share. Perhaps it's not a literal thing; rather, it's a feeling, perhaps of accomplishment or contentment. It almost doesn't matter. If you enjoy the craftsmanship and get satisfaction with the end result, that's a good thing. :)

[Mike Henderson]

No one commissions a piece of furniture because they just need a certain piece of furniture, instead they are buying an experience as well as a piece of furniture.
I agree with that. One thing I thought of is to take pictures as the piece is made and then have a book made of the pictures showing the furniture from raw wood to finished product. And deliver the book as well as the furniture.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

Mike, I suspect there are some clients that would happily pay for that!

[Howard Rosenberg]

Hi all -

I'm the OP. This has certainly become an interesting thread. My intention was simply to tell everybody about my newest wwing book. And my thoughtful wife.

But, having read through everyone's reply, Malcolm McLeod summed it up best. It's about what we bring to our work. Kind of like James Krenov's books too - more philosophical than technique.

George Nakashima had an approach I admire. And an extraordinary taste level.

Howard

[Brent Ring]

My wife and I are starting to spend some more time together, building rocking chairs. She has had a bit of a epiphany for those that dont have a spiritual leaning, and a spiritual experience for those that do. We both strongly believe that one of the things that we are trying to do is help a tree "fill the full measure of its creation", something that is a part of our LDS (Mormon) beliefs. We believe that all things that occur naturally were created spiritually before they were created physically. So, if you will, I personally believe that trees have a spirit (soul).

I have great respect for Mike Henderson and the work he does, and in fact, have taken many of his ideas and techniques and used them, reproducing some of his work. I do, however, respectfully reject the notion that all things must be proved scientifically in order to be validated as fact. I love my wife, but there is no true empirical method for verifying that love, other than the things I do, and am willing to sacrifice for her. But I sincerely hope my differing view does not offend Mike at all. I embrace the notion that we can all see things differently, and still be supportive and helpful to each other. I hope I can improve to the point that my work demonstrates the attention to detail and quality that Mike's (and so many others here as well) does. If I can do that, I will certainly be doing a better job of helping a tree fill the measure of its creation.

I wholeheartedly agree with all that have commented as such here, that the work I see here on this forum, definately proves that each of you want to take wood and help it become something for the betterment and enjoyment of their lives, in whatever shape or form that ends up in. I am in awe at the things that Sawmill Creek members produce from wood. I truly believe that each of you, whatever your motivations, are helping trees truly "fill the full measure" of their creation.

I hope no one is offended by this post. But it is a very interesting thread, and touches my heartstrings. I have not read either James Krenov, or George Nakashima, but, as a result of the post, am very interested in doing so.

[John Sincerbeaux]

I agree with that. One thing I thought of is to take pictures as the piece is made and then have a book made of the pictures showing the furniture from raw wood to finished product. And deliver the book as well as the furniture.

Mike

I started doing that a few years ago. Now, I send my clients texts with photos every few days as the piece develops. It's fun to show your clients just how many tools and machines are used to produce their piece. To keep with the thread, it shows the client a lot of "your" soul that goes into a piece.