Bench build

[Dennis]

Yes, Nakashima's work had influence, but if one wanted to look at the personality behind the work, and the truth be known, a totally self serving individual if there ever was one. A bitter man to the end of his life, and that trait even gets mentioned in the introduction of his book, that part written by somebody else that apparently knew George well. How one could be so acclaimed and successful himself, and still find such fault with the rest of the world, is a rather strange and ugly paradox.

Did he ever reach out to an aspiring woodworker to lend some support? I don't think that you will find it. George no longer being around to defend himself, so I use restraint.

[ernest dubois]

Leaving aside the subjectivity of how the work itself may or may not appeal, it does seem a constant, that those renown and innovative furniture makers do get the rap often as being real bastards, Nakashima, that one big-time chair maker, Krenov, persona known to have still the rough edges intact in the public mind. Good or bad, I can't say. I know the best of the teachers at the school where I trained in Amsterdam was driven from there largely on the basis of personality which is a shame.

[Dennis]

I became friends with Jim Krenov after being asked to lecture up there at the College of the Redwoods. I had heard that he wasn't well liked by his students. For me it was an interesting experience confronting what at first was a very cold initial encounter with him for a number of minutes. It took me back a little, being a guest asked up to his school to speak. After my lecture we got along quite well and he seemed most appreciative of what I had shared with him and his students. We had some additional contact after that, and he was always most gracious. I guess you could say that he had eccentricities, fine craftsmen often do, but basically I knew him as a well meaning good intentioned guy that sincerely wanted to make a contribution by helping to develop skilled woodworkers. Teaching traditional skills by way of traditional teaching methods, in a country not familiar with those ways, can be a tough row to hoe. It can be a bit of a culture shock, both for teacher and for students.

Nakashima, with whom I also had personal contact with through correspondence... I think that I have said enough regarding my thoughts about him. I hope that I have not offended anyone.

[Brian]

Most of my heros are dead. I can only engage with them in the abstract and there is some benefit to that. I can read the text of LeCorbusier, Yanagi, Nakashima ect without meeting them and digest their philosophy without having to associate it with their personality.

[Chris Pyle]

Most of my heros are dead. I can only engage with them in the abstract and there is some benefit to that. I can read the text of LeCorbusier, Yanagi, Nakashima ect without meeting them and digest their philosophy without having to associate it with their personality.

Very much agree with this Brian. I read all of Krenov's books and The Soul of a Tree and found myself drawn to the philosophy. What those books somewhat failed to convey, or I failed to pick up, was that there was also hard work involved, physical and mental. The philosophies are attractive and I still appreciate the reverence they intend to foster for the wood and tools involved.

[Jack_Ervin.]

Most of my heros are dead. I can only engage with them in the abstract and there is some benefit to that. I can read the text of LeCorbusier, Yanagi, Nakashima ect without meeting them and digest their philosophy without having to associate it with their personality.

I'll throw another good name in the mix. John Ruskin

[Brian]

Most of my heros are dead. I can only engage with them in the abstract and there is some benefit to that. I can read the text of LeCorbusier, Yanagi, Nakashima ect without meeting them and digest their philosophy without having to associate it with their personality.

Very much agree with this Brian. I read all of Krenov's books and The Soul of a Tree and found myself drawn to the philosophy. What those books somewhat failed to convey, or I failed to pick up, was that there was also hard work involved, physical and mental. The philosophies are attractive and I still appreciate the reverence they intend to foster for the wood and tools involved.

Indeed, and once tempered we seem to go in search of that which causes us to sweat and to bleed. The two most regrettable years of my life were those in which I did not pick up the tools. Picking up the chisel and hammer are akin to my morning coffee and honing their blades is my nightcap.

Strangely enough I feel I nearly require the hard work in order to feel good. I do not need to do this, but yet the call is always as welcomed as it is enticing.

[ernest dubois]

I became friends with Jim Krenov ...

Yes, I"m sure Krenov, at least, gets a bum rap, a friend of mine, Lief in Sweden, was well enough acquainted with him and has told me the Krenov's were exceptionally hospitable hosts when ever they would visit. That was also my impression when we met. I would not want to perpetuate this negative image unchallenged, thanks Dennis for giving your experience.

[Dennis]

Thank you, Ernest.

I can imagine it being a tough thing for Jim Krenov when teaching in a public school situation. Had it been his own shop, it would likely have been easier for him. In some ways it was pretty loose at the college, like being asked by some students if I might like to go outside after the talk to get a buzz on. That doesn't negate the good work that gets done up there in a well run program when students have a strong interest, but in one's own shop you have control over everything, and it likely becomes a much lesser priority catering to student's as individuals, it not being mandated to keep people to fill slots in a prescribed enrolment. Later on in the program when there were people that had gone through the course themselves and became teaching assistants there, I believe that having those intermediaries made things go smoother. I doubt that Jim could have said to a student that they were being irritating, so to go outside and pull weeds for awhile.

One Japanese young guy that was accepted into the Redwood's program for two years, spent his summers working in my shop. Krenov took a strong liking to him, I recall that they were tennis buddies. Apparently, Jim became quite a mentor to Masayuki. It isn't at all surprising to me that Jim would get along well with a Japanese in his teaching environment. How the culture enables to minimise themselves to prioritise to make a very clear and direct association between their presence and the teacher and the tasks at hand, generally yields an easy time of it in an intense environment. I remember when I first returned to the states and had a California born and raised kid that came to work for me. I had never had someone in that capacity as an assistant in a learning situation, and all I pretty much knew on a professional level, what was the Japanese way of relating to a student. A nice kid, but sadly he was throwing up at lunch. I wasn't an ogre, but he didn't like being boxed in by specifics, it must have cramped his style. Subsequent students required modifying the approach, I realised. The easiest students to teach by far, were those with good skills under their belt when they first came to work. Having gone through a learning process before, took a lot of the piss and vinegar out of their personalities. Common sense from experience is a big plus and cuts a lot of corners. Teachers do often get a bad rap, but you have to see it from their side as well.

[ernest dubois]

Oh, that might be a unique topic in and of itself, namely , having help in the shop.