# RusticWoodArt



## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

....going on a 'walkabout' through the untamed corridors of a mind freed to explore its own labyrinth….

I am constantly amazed by the workings of wood and the effect that wood has upon those who come in contact with it. This is the essence or what I like to call the 'mystic of wood' and as the wood wills, so also does it work to seek out and claim a sacrifice in the lives of those workers of wood, who therefore and thereafter 'live wood'.

And what does it mean to live wood when our lives are filled with family, friends, play and work etc.? To live wood is to breathe wood, wood is always there in the mind and weather I am working the wood, dreaming the wood or admiring the wood, I am perpetually living under the spell of wood.

_

A Cutting of Wood

....away is where i go, 
out in the woods is my place.

....there is none to go my place, 
since by your love i've shed my face.

--flp

www.frank.wordpress.com

_


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Wood Chips Singing In Rhapsody

....and so I am refreshed in the power of this moment as my hand grips the curved head adze and my fingers once again know their place as they embrace the wooden ash handle. My mind is staid as my eyes are once again enlivened by the beauty of this piece of maple lying here before me on these two sawhorses. Oh yes, for just a second my thoughts drift back as seconds become minutes and minutes are lost within the moment of now and time is vanquished - routed out and I am transposed to where I am now 'in the process'.

I remember now as only yesterday how back in the spring of 2001 I cut you down and gave you a place to rest and cure through the changing seasons of New England landscape. And I never forgot you as ever so often I would stop by, just to see how you were fairing, while often enough I shoveled snow and cut the weeds that wanted to grow around you. All this I did to give you room to breathe and so I cared for you as one in love.

Then came this past summer of 2006 when I started to awaken you from your long sleep, debarking you and then the days I spent on roughing you out. I stood you up, till there you stood about 5' tall and a base of 2' in diameter and I was captivated by the figure of your comeliness. Your age is figured with desire and so I now sought to protect you from the rays of the summer sun and summer rains, so I covered you and watched from afar. I 
noticed how you attracted the birds of the air, especially the robins as they were drawn down from the heavens above to perch upon your shoulders and so you in return gave rest.

I have now brought you in to my place of working abbey, where in the solitude of this English barn workspace I can fully awaken you to the all that you are, just as you awaken me to the knowing of your name.

....and so all 'just is' and as I am 'in the process' now, my adze gracefully arches down and the chips begin to fly, at first hesitantly but ever so more often as I see now where I am going….

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

The Art of Silent Hearing

"The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look, Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way." by C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

....the truth is that I am still learning to be silent before that piece of wood art that is 'before' me….

Getting my-self out of the way allows me to see what is be-fore my beginning as the wood I use pre-dates my time and will be around long after. In thinking about what C. S. Lewis is saying here, I am drawn to what he had to say about receiving from "a work of art" and using the "art".

When looking at a piece of wood and seeing what that piece 'just is' in my moment of now, then, that work is already completed. In my mind when by seeing and hearing I understand what the wood is already, then by receiving I receive that completed form and from that point on my hands are playing catch up to that piece of wood art, as in 'dancing with wood'.

Lewis goes on to define the difference between those receiving from the work of art and those who would use the art. "We sit down before a work of art in order to have something done to us, not that we may do things with it." Yes there was a time when I would look at wood and my mind then worked over-time to assemble what that wood was to become. A builder of boxes was I, and so a customer wanted cabinets or bookcases etc., and so I worked at using the wood to create for others while never taking the time to ask the wood what it already was. Lewis goes on to speak about using in this manner, "When we use it, we treat it as assistance for our own activities."

Since I am learning to sit, look and listen, I am learning to receive. One of the greatest lessons I am learning is that life is not all about giving, but that there is great joy in receiving. I realize that I am going off track here from the subject of wood, but who can stop my fingers when they go their own way across this keyboard. Being one who was at one time always fast to give, but never needing to receive, I was fast in the art of giving and at the same time a user of promoting self to the sound of praise coming from others.

A builder of boxes using the wood as a form of art to promote my-self, while never taking the time to hear what the wood was 'giving' to me.

....so in between the ticking of the tock as the seconds go by, I am older and wiser now and some might say more mature, while time will tell if this is true. However this one thing do I know and that is, I am still learning to be silent before that piece of wood art that is be-fore me….

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Woodworking Storytellers

....every woodworker is a story to tell--a very good story, and as such his/her past, present and future is written by the projects of art that surround that artist….

The artist is the creation of the milieu that encircles ever around him and through his basic need to express, he thinks of himself as the author of 'the art'. And so this process continues on in the chaotic corridors of mind, as the madness of always pre-forming drives one to 'succedere'. This need/want to 'succedere' is the driving force that moves me along my path and does battle with those dragons found in the dreaded dark nights of soul, where I am seemingly taped out and fear that my dreams have all expired.

What is happening here is actually a good work when realized, just as when I one day understood that the 'work' I had so laboriously battled to bring forth, that I might claim authorship of this my creation, had in all reality authored me. We are taught that the artist creates the piece of art and this is his understanding of good or bad art, and so he wants to produce 'good art' and fears that someone may say 'bad art'. We are taught and so we are bought out for a few shekels of gold, forever at the mercy of those who would critique us. 'They have said', there is 'the arts', 'the artist' and 'the work' and so I am allowed to participate in 'the arts' as long as I produce 'good work'. And so I am always held in a place where I, should I, produce some 'bad work', then maybe I could be separated from 'the arts'. Have you ever wondered who writes the rules of the game that we play by?

The 'work' and in my case, that piece of wood allowed me to continue thinking this way till one day as I sat in frustration before the piece of wood, 'the work' as I called it, said to me …."you are my work". Looking around I said , "what?", and once again there came the voice saying, "you are my work and a very good work you are". When the artist understands this he will from that day take a back seat to none, just as from that day onward he will find himself at the head of the class, as this is graduation day.

I will save the rest of the story for another writing except to say that this began my understanding that there is no separation, 'the work', 'the artist' and 'the art' are all one piece.

....every woodworker is a story to tell and as such I just 'turn the page' and write a new story….

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> Woodworking Storytellers
> 
> ...


Frank, I couldn't agree more. Whenever I work a piece of wood, I find that the process changes and shapes me more than I the wood. Each new piece has something to teach me about myself. And I know that when people comment on my work, (dare I call it art?) I realize that they have missed the biggest change which took place secretly within in the deepest recesses of my psyche.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Love of Wood

....and there was I, as where was I and what would I be, if it were not for wood….

There are those times when out walking in the woods, that I need to soar and so, as often what happens is, I will curl up at the base of an old pine tree, while releasing my imagination to take to flight. It is in these my moments of now, that by losing sight of where my feet have stood, I am lofted to the heights of an old pine tree, where I can give thanks for the largeness of a bigger view.










As I so often tell people, shoe-leather was created so that man could walk on earth and be forever bound by the 'laces ' they impose. Once I learned, that by un-tieing those knots and kicking free of shoe-leather, my spirit soared to heights un-limited.

In other words and by soundings of saying this, as a child I was the one who never could keep my crayon within those restraining lines that others sought to impose upon me. Now as an adult (how I hate that word) I am the one who has gone back to being 'as a child' where I now work with wood outside the box.

Thank you and have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Woods of My Heart

....the stories I write are etched in wood and formed from within, as out of my heart….

Hard wood, soft wood, native wood, exotic wood, heartwood, sapwood, spalted wood, punky wood, rough wood, finished wood, live edge wood, straight edge wood, hand worked wood, machined wood, green wood, air dried wood, kiln dried wood, rock wood, curly wood, wavy wood, new wood, old wood, reclaimed wood, recycled wood, traditional wood, plastic wood….and then there is: RusticWoodArt!!!










Is it any wonder that I am not lost in the woods more often, as I return to my place of heart and sit awhile, to look, listen and enjoy.










Thank you and have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"Follow the grain in your own wood." 
- Howard Thurman
_

Ingrained Beauty Comes Of Age

....chaotic wood madness in a sculptured poem of poetic utterance, 
becomes the well oiled beauty of wood gladness.

....i am the flower of my own design as i give myself to be,
and so i will pass this day declaring alimentariness.

....elementary my dear alimentary as the wood sucked the oil,
i am feeling quite blessed by our integrity of connaturalness.

....and so the call sounded out as the grain held firm,
feeling somewhat well sanded by the steely wool of wholeness.

....my passing time is ever gone before me as on this day of now,
since by your hardened hand of love i have lost my craggyness.

....rejoice-re-joy-ce my alluring phantom of well shadowed desire,
today is the revealing soft glow of your seductive ingrained woodiness.

....and so 'they said' to follow my grain till sitting here in the woods,
i found that which i thought was lost and i gave thanks for my graininess.

--flp
_










Thank you and have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Elysian Wood Nuts

Well as I am sitting here writing this, I am looking outside to our first snowfall of the season and although this one doesn't amount to much and will soon be gone, I am giving thanks.

Thanks that all my elysian wood nuts' are in and stored up for our three wood stoves. We have a wood stove in the kitchen, sunroom/sitting room and then in our living room there is the one I call, 'the beast', who sits only to consume food in his belly. For all his eating, 'the beast' does his job very well and gives us plenty of heat in those long days and nights ahead of a New England winter.

Having just recently gotten all the wood under cover and some wood lots cleaned up, I am now thinking ahead to next winter and so will in the coming months start 'the process' all over again as I go in search of more 'wood nuts'. Just as the squirrel who hoardes his nuts for winter, so am I, and it is with great joy and rejoicing when I can finally say, "that no matter what old man winter blows my way, all my 'wood nuts' are in".

Took this picture about two weeks ago and I guess I won't be seeing the ground in this view, much longer, as now I prepare plow truck and snow blower to start pushing snow. The last time I looked, both snow blower and plow truck were 'chomping at the bit' you might say and ready hit the white stuff with all eagerness of having a foray. My snow blower is newer, while the plow truck has been at this for some time, so the youngster is always ready to go, while the older and wiser one--my truck is often heard as saying,"listen, we are going to be at this all day so just hold steady, work together and we'll get this job done".










Every one have a very good day!!! GODSPEED, Frank

www.frank.wordpress.com


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## decoustudio (May 4, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> Elysian Wood Nuts
> 
> ...


Frank: I am amazed each time I read your words. You are quite a philosopher, and I enjoy thinking through the issues that you bring to the lumberjocks while I am working in the shop. Thanks for taking the time to add your projects, and also your words of wisdom, introspection, and spirit.

I'm glad I don't have your snow worries. Just lots of cold and wind here, with the occassional dusting of snow, a bad ice storm every few years, and a couple of times a decade a real snow dropper. But, just when I don't prepare for it, the bad storm hits, so I prepare firewood for each year with some concern for what we will see through the months huddled close until April…..then we start tornado season, the hot heat of July and August, then the wonderful Fall, and back again.

a fan in Kansas,
mark


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Workers of Working Wood

....landscapes are the muti-colored pigments of an imagination gone wild after having escaped the drinking bouts between i and self caused by too much thinking….

--and so i ran wild, chaotic tumbling head over heels into the forest and amongst the trees, my familiar friends, i once again sat, ....'peace' comes quickly here along with 'patience' and finding me as upset, these two dear sisters wipe the tears from my eyes as they unfold to me the story of wood….

--and yes, that was what seems as ages ago and i am much younger now as my bark has been stripped away and i await the hands of the artist who comes soon to descend on me from the lofty clouds of imagination, i shall wait and bid my time as i warm to him and he to me, until the moment is right and we both see as one, ....this is the old ways made young again by the workers of working wood and i give thanks….










Landscaping by dreamscape: using my many multi-colored pigments of an imagination gone wild!!!

Keeping the wood curls curling and wishing all a very good day!
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> Workers of Working Wood
> 
> ...


What a beautiful view of nature.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Workers of Wood

I have a woodworking friend who once related to me this story and though I am taking no sides…. as there is no right or wrong, I think this story says a lot. After telling me the story, we both were laughing since we both saw ourselves at the extreme opposite ends of the story, one a worker of wood using machines and the other using hand tools. See if you can see where you fit in and then laugh.

My friend and his wife were visiting a couple for the evening and as the evening wore on the talk turned to woodworking, as every woodworker knows. Well the other couple were not woodworkers and so they were amazed at the ability and finesse of my friend. Busy was the night now as this worker of wood had an audience that was all ears as he plied them with the tales of pieces made and his agility at handling the wood. On and on the evening unfolded, till a moment of silence came as my friend took some space to gasp for air and that is when a wife of wisdom spoke. Turning to her husband first and then to their friends, these are the words she spoke, "...., you don't work with wood, you work with machines."

Ha! And so my workers of wood, my friends, the moral of the the story could be that sometimes we all need a little humility, at times to show through this side of humanity as we find our individual stories, written in wood. And even as the piece of wood uses me to bring forth the shape and form of the image, that work of art also calls into being the tool of need that best fits my hand. Whether by hand tool or power machine we all create and then give thanks.










....and….










And I might add that my friend and his wife are still happily married.

Machine working and hand working, we are workers of wood!!!
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Lost In The Wood:

....and so just where does it all end and whose ruler are you using when you define beginning?

The wood that is around me is the wood that engulfs me, as I must at some point determine whether I will establish a border of my own making, or shall I just give way and let the wood have the final say.

I have often thought of the how and what did I do, to become the way I am. I am a labyrinth of many possibilities, as I live out my day from rising up to laying down. As I sit here now in my office and look out the window, all I see is black and yet the sun will soon arise and I shall call forth a greeting to the sun and say, "good morning old friend." I look around my place of office space and there are books galore with many word to fill my head since I am a voracious reader and then there is the wood that even here pushes at me from all sides.

Did I say pushes, yes I did as even here the wood is all around me pushing and shoving to let me know that there is no place in my life where I can be defined as separated from the wood. To be separated from the wood, would be a dis-ease of body, soul and spirit for which there is no cure.

Why even now I take a break and while looking up, yes there, right in front of my eyes sits a piece of wood on my computer tower. This piece of wood sits there to inspire me of what shall yet be, and maybe ….some day this piece shall yet speak and become a work of art. Abstractly round on the outside, hollow and abstractly round in the shape of a star within, this piece of wood just sits in silence and waits. And then I wonder just how silent is this piece sitting, since the wood has even now just made my imagination run to and fro and write some words about its shape.

I wrote earlier about voracious reading and now I return to that word named 'voracious' which rhymes with capacious, tenacious and vivacious which are all good words for my woodworking vocabulary and yet I must not stray too far. Back to voracious, and I think this is a good way of explaining how the wood has taken hold of me and just where I fit in to this picture, ....'lost in the wood', by voracious wood.










Now once again I ask myself the question, is this a picture of one is 'working hard' or 'hardly working'?

Busy keeping my wood chips curling as I work at planing my rough edges. Have a very good day!!!
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Art-Full Gazing:

....working wood with my hands has become the wood working delight of my heart, where I am lost within the details of the wood grain and exposed by the outcome of the finish….

She was a wooden beauty, 
and I loved her for that, 
and so my heart ran after you, 
longing to touch your soulish heart, 
as many before had tried and failed.

Yes I knew when I came upon you, 
how you had tossed your looks, 
to the many that passed your way, 
but with me it was different, 
since we both stared too long.

While in that extra second, 
I saw and you felt, 
till what was common between us, 
the poets have called and named as desire,
and I turned your wooden heart into a heart of flesh.










Spalted Apple Wood










"Desideria" is her name.

You all have a very good day!!!
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"Noah's Ark"

....and so I'm sitting here this morning cleaning out my leftovers, 'detritus of mind', yes that's right, defragging, fragmentizing all the extra baggage and clutter one gathers from hanging around the ideas and opinions of others….

After all how can my imagination contrive to survive at working wood, when all around me I filter my thoughts of wood and how the ending essence should be, according to those others….?

Have you ever thought of wood as a musical note and that by using your hands to play that gouge you hold, that you are creating a masterpiece of music that will strike the chords of dissonance to some and will yet be as consonant to that one individual? And what do you think on this matter, will you strive to please and sell your wares to the many or can you find it in yourself to hold out, for the one of a kind, and believe in yourself?

And what is believing in yourself, but the knowing that started with that seed of faith, nurtured in your heart long ago, when you said two words, "I CAN".

I talk a lot about imagination, since to me this is where all my work comes from and I am never afraid to let my imagination go. This piece of wood art I am showing here, is one I have had for some years now and I always keep close by as an exercise in the cleaning of yesterdays mind rubbish. Yes today, this morning is garbage day and I am busy working in the attic space of my mind, throwing away.

This work of art is another piece that almost became food in the belly of the beast, one of my three wood stoves. Working a job some years ago, I was cutting a shim to go behind some stud work I was doing and this little chunk of wood fell to the ground where it lay till end of day. Gathering all my scraps up I saw in this one art and so into my nail pouch went "Noah's Ark".

"Noah's Ark" is a piece of spalted maple which spends most of its time now sitting patiently after having come to rest on my computer tower. Test your own imagination and see how many different animals you can see in this piece. When showing this wood art at a show, I have found 'Noah's Ark" to be a great conversation opener as the images found within draw people to comment.

Those ones whom I find do best on "Noah's Ark" are children, ages 7-10 and adults who can still think as a child and what a great blessing this is. Children at this early age have not yet been totally programmed according to the all that adults who 'know better' tell them as to how it should be. "No you can't see that" and "I can not see that, so you should not see that either", till in time the child looses their imagination, in order to become a part of the rigid adult elite working class.

Ha! I guess that's why I'm banished to the woods of New England were trees still stand lifting their hands toward heaven while giving thanks and the wood still talks to me.










You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "Noah's Ark"
> 
> ...


I have to be frank, Frank. I don't always understand what you are writing, but I like the sound of it. I especially love your creativity. I seems to me that you are the mid-wife - you just release the art from within the womb of the wood. Nature creates - you deliver.

If you life in Australia, you would likely live here

Keep it coming!


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "Noah's Ark"
> 
> ...


Hi Don,
Ha! You are not the first to say that what I write goes over the head, but then one thing is for sure and that is the words I speak are my own. Never had one to teach me writing and so when I sit down at the keyboard, I just let my fingers go and to words come from inside. Always plenty of words and stories that I get from working in the forest and hanging around with wood. And then there is the art-full maner of the wood talking to me as I create a piece of wood art. How about you Don, ever had wood talk to you?

As to Australia, well New England is enough for me, where I can be very content with our four seasons. I have read and studied a little about your life in the outback, Tennant Creek and such, just never made it there yet. I also have studied Tasmania and the Huon Pine found there plus your other hardwoods of the area. You have some great workers of wood down there doing sculptures and rustic wood.

Well enough for now as I hear the White Birches calling me back to work.
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Getting Better and This Is Great!!!
....Wow! 
Why would I ever think of stopping my blogging here, when the features offered at: www.lumberjocks.com just keep getting better all the time. Blogging is a great way to express just who you are and goes beyond the posting of that great project you have just finished, to the opening up of your human side.

As a worker of wood and artist who creates *RusticWoodArt* for the enjoyment of all lovers of wood, I have found that in my past, I could be cut and dry with what I created. This was usually manifested by the need to sell my work and then move on, never bothering to tell a story about the wood or the artist who created it.

If a picture can speak a thousand words and there is no one around to record or write those words, then who can hear those words? This reminds me of the question asked; "....if a tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear it fall?" , to which I answer yes, and then maybe, but only if. Let me explain, I have been in the woods both working and just sitting when a tree breaks the silence of forest life and hits the earth on its own accord, sending a cascading scale of transcending vibrations, that are rippled over the green and mossy terra floor. This is an experience in raw power as I have went and looked upon that one who has fallen. So now I have heard, but unless I ever tell of this experience and better yet if I write with words, then who is there to share what has become real for me, myself and I? By writing in words so that others may read, I am giving freedom to the one reading those words to 'just let' his//her imagination go and take to flight.

Words are a key that unlocks the imagination and gives the artist the freedom to express his//her humanity so that others may hear the story written in the wood.

And so then I hear those who are saying, but I never write and now you are asking me to get personal and share a part of myself…., yes, open up and share that story that completes the story of your wood project. I have often wondered where the line begins and ends between my stories, since who is doing the creating here and who the real artist is! Am I the real artist here creating that piece of wood art or is it really the wood who is the artist creating a piece of human art in me for all creation to see and then give thanks.

And so once again I want to say thank you Martin, for all your time and effort that you have put into making www.lumberjocks.com such a great woodworking site, for all the wonderful workers of wood found here and to say welcome to the many that will yet come!

The picture I'm showing this morning is what I call a 'fun piece' of art and started out as two test scenarios for an epoxy putty and some finishes I was trying. Right here is a story waiting to be told as most of my 'fun pieces' start out as 'test pieces' which become works of art that I also end up selling.

"*Burler On A Walkabout*"










And so I went walking to see what I could see, 
and the only one present was the eye of me, 
eye of i and the stories i could tell, 
as i walk this circle which is my space of earth.

You all have a very good day!!!
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## 2 (Feb 26, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> Getting Better and This Is Great!!!
> ....Wow!
> ...


Thanks for kind words, Frank. You made my day


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

*The Road of Imagination:*

....the artist is one who dwells in the lofty clouds of inspiration; and how does this one get to that place of being, except they have chosen to opt out of playing to please the many and by doing so, there has appeared before them an open door, "....and to the one who knocks, it shall be opened", this open door leads to that which is called the road of imagination….

"He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist." -by: Saint Francis of Assisi

"Our imagination flies; we are its shadow on the earth." -Vladimir Nabokov

I am the one who has labored with my hands in toil and sweat at wood, all the while being a wood working laborer. While working at laboring in wood I wanted to be a somebody, yes I was a 'wanna be' striving to be a part of the elitist craftsman class. And so in my spare time I read all the books, saved and bought all the right tools 'they said' I needed to have to create after what 'they called' the traditional way of woodworking. But in the end, my soul was dying and my spirit had given up the thought of ever flying again.

Notice those words, " ….my spirit had given up the thought of ever flying again." Yes, there was a time that my spirit did fly, although those memories where filed away in a closet marked childhood, dreams of yesterday at the house of past. You see there was the years I spent as a child dreaming and then moving on to my teen years where dreaming became more regulated as other events always seemed to take first place. Girls, school, grades, the future, war and then if I survived all these there was the what will I do with my life to be successful. There were the many now who told me that dreaming and flying with your imagination just did not make sense and there was no money in it. These were my first critics, who often served up just plain 'destructive criticism' and then there where the more knowing who plied me with 'constructive criticism'. And so was my inoculation into the adult world where I was created in the image of these 'others' to play a role and be 'the man'.

And so my dreams grew fainter and I put my wings away in order to play in this adult world. The saddest day came when I thought myself to be a craftsman and realized that I was still laboring all the more. As a craftsman I now had to please the critics who defined by their 'altitude of attitude, what I was making, and then there where those who did the buying that listened to those critics. A craftsman will labor till the day he//she dies, all the while seeking approval on two fronts, critic and buyer, and selling his wares according to those 'others' in his defined field of work.

What happened, well I opted out and decided to walk where gods and devils fear to tread, the road of imagination. Do I still listen to critics, yes and no, and I will try and explain.

When I decided to listen to my heart again, I found that my imagination returned in an instant or even more simply put, in the blinking of my eye as I once again soared out of the reaching opinions of my others and in this instant the artist was born. I have heard it said that the artist is a seer or prophet and this may be for those other artists. However from experience I have learned that when I am in 'the process' of creating and time is swallowed up as days become weeks, while on my shop door hangs the sign do not disturb, and at the end of a day when talking to no one other than the wood, that it becomes very easy to ramble as some madman. Even in the company of friends while I am in process there is still the do not disturb sign hanging on my face. This I call the fever of inspiration that comes from flying by seat of my pants in the blue sky of imagination. This is where the critic often can help keep me on track and even occasionally bring me back down to earth where I can once again dwell with men. Without the critic, my peers and the buyers of what I create, I would have no way of knowing the worth of my creations and no feedback to bounce off my ego. While the critic and my peers offer a critique of my work, I have also understood that I can accept what they give or chew the fat of their words and spit out the residue. No more do I need fear their words and just as well, since I often choose now to go my own way. Going ones own way will frustrate the critic since you have said in essence, I will listen, but understand that after I have listened I will then go and listen to my heart. Ha! Try telling that to a critic the next time they speak about your work and watch the expression in their eyes or read their words.

The public as buyers can also be an object to use for the critiquing of your work, although if your marketing skills are not up to date, the buyers or lack of buyers can give a false reading.

When it all comes down to where the rubber meets the road, understand that the artist is the one, who in the end, will listen to their heart and walk the road of imagination, a road that is absent of all previous footsteps and so there is no one to track.

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## TheKiltedWoodworker (Dec 21, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> *The Road of Imagination:*
> 
> ...


God indeed must Bless you, Frank, that you write so well!

You should never have fear of the critic who makes light of the essence of your work, for that is not a true critic but a man lacking the spirit of creation and creativity.

You should never fear the critical peer, as I think you probably know, for their only goal is your improvement.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

*Wooden Timber Joints, Tree Nails and Saint Nicholas:*

....and so tis the early hours of this Christmas morning and as I sit here and ponder the wonder of it all….

Wooden timber joints, tree nails and Saint Nicholas…. or maybe; mortise and tenons, wood pegs and your saintly neighbor here at www.lumberjocks.com!

Look closely at the picture here of these timber beams dating back to the 1700's and you will see they are joined at the joints by hand cut, white oak pegs of wood. Yes, thats right, I hand cut all the wood pegs anew when we put this English Barn back up on our land. A lot can be learned from studying old barns as they speak a language of their own and have many stories to tell if we can but take the time to listen. So come and pull up an old tree stump, sit down now and lets here one story from a wise old barn.










"Back before the days of the Revolutionary War, when King George lll still ruled the land and I was younger then, I started my life as an English Barn. I've been through some changes since back then and if you'll notice my bent plate up there on top you'll see there's no notch where I would have been hand gouged, running my length until just recently. Why even those nails were hand made back when I was young and to save on some nails they used that notch. Yes, the one there now my current owner put in me with a chain saw so as to inset my outer skin of side boards. This bay here that your sitting in was not my original first bay as I once had another bent further over, ah, those were the days when I was much more airy then I am now and my first owner stored all those sheep in me at night."

"Why I used to watch the younger one Adam as he would climb down into the old saw pit out back and Enoch would take his place on top of the log and together they would saw. Never saw Adam again after that war and Enoch only came back for awhile and then he was gone, someone said something about, "go west young man?"

"Got to pull my thoughts back in order now as living as long as I have, does have its times when my mind starts to dribble a bit, so pardon me if I ramble. Lets see,.... yes, that's right, wood joints, pegs and Saint Nicholas. They tell me now that they put these new barns together with metal plates and machined spikes and nails, whatever will come next is beyond me. I'm a living barn, no rigidity here as I can move in the wind and adjust to the New England Seasons and political climates of social change. But then that's my greatest asset as I am adjustable, while knowing where my strength comes from. I am made up of many bents, complete with purlins, plates, grits, posts, girders, joists and sills and many hand cut and chain sawn scarfs, half laps, mortise and tenons for joints and we are all one, and all one for all, held together by those tree nails."

"Many times I have been moved, as I remember how often we barns were moved around back then and as always the first to come out were my wooden pegs. Whey the next time you take me apart examine some of those torn and ripped apart joints were I still bear the scars of cape storms. I know, that when you take me down and let me lay till barn raising day, the first task at hand, is starting with those wooden pegs as you pin me up again and I come back to life."

"So the next time you drive by and admire me from without to within, as you examine the beauty of my hand hewn gunstock posts, while you run your hand along my girts, make sure you also pay attention to my tree nails as this is where my strength comes from. Seemingly hidden and to some unsightly, yes these are my character in the rough that makes me what I am."

"Wow! You see, I almost did it again and forgot about Saint Nicholas, and where does he come into this story? Well right above that pair of girts, joined by those tree nails on that post hangs Saint Nicholas, and along with me, I can hear him wishing you all a Merry Christmas. From an old, but yet young English Barn passing on the Good News, may Peace and Good Tidings be yours today and every day as we give thanks, knowing that it is far better to give than to receive."










One side note of interest is that when the English come over and see what we call old barns, they usually dismiss the notion of old and call them 'urban renewal'.
Have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> *Wooden Timber Joints, Tree Nails and Saint Nicholas:*
> 
> ...


It's a relative term, Frank. In my neck of the woods, anything over 100 years is old.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> *Wooden Timber Joints, Tree Nails and Saint Nicholas:*
> 
> ...


Hi Don,
Realitive is a term that is defined by thinking inside a box, in this case you have defined that box according to 'your neck of the woods' using the '100 year old rule'. When I talk of 'urban renewal', and I much prefer to say 'urban re-new-all' then I can no longer count my blessings any longer as they are too many! This last second is too old for me as I prefer to live in the now of the moment.

Now, when seen in this light I might say that 'when the Englsih come here and call my English Barn as 'urban renewal' they are also defining from within the box of their own wonderful history and great country. However in New England, thats the joke among barn lovers as we showed when we went on and created the Yankee Barn as a better working barn after the English Barn. The biggest barn I still work in is when I step out of my box of a barn and work outside, with the eternal heavens above as my barn cupola and nature is my walls. And yet even in this definition I am thinking in a box and setting my definition of what is realitive. Science is even now overturning Einstein's theory of time, space and continuum as the fields of Quantum Physics are now being opened and explored. As you can see I have left box thinking and all its definitions.

Have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

Harbingers of Peace, Joy and Life

...."and as workers of wood is that not what we are doing, when we take a dead form of wood and create an image of life out of the wood. I have watched the faces on children and adults when they connect with a piece of wood art and then to see the smile break forth. As workers of wood we truly can be; harbingers of peace, joy and life!!!"

I have wrote this after commenting on a project thathttp://lumberjocks.com/jocks/jockmike2 has posted and just could not then stop the words that started coming forth.

Why do I work the wood and what is in this for me?

I still have to earn a living from wood, so the need is always there to please a customer and then they can be counted on to reward my efforts with a monetary expression of satisfaction. And so this requires me to work within a set of boundaries that is mutually acceptable to both of us. These boundaries can be a hard task master for the artist that wants create whatever, whenever and wherever.

However, it is by working in the area of 'free form' that I am finding a sense of accomplishment that goes beyond woodworking in the traditional expression and allows me to walk a path of mine own interpretation in the areas of wood art.

For much of my life I have been a 'maker of boxes'. Ha!. I even live in boxes, work in boxes, drive a box, build boxes and have thought as a box! Woodworking has kept me in living room boxes, building bookcases; kitchen boxes, building cabinets; bathrooms building more boxes. I use to look at tables and think box shape, jewelry boxes where box shaped, if I thought of making a chair it was box shaped, till boxes had so captivated my mind that I only thought in boxes.

Then one day I picked up a box I was working on, four sided and no top or base in place yet and turning the box side ways, I looked through the box to a world beyond boxes. When you start thinking this way you will be no good at making boxes according to the definition of a box, but you will now define the character of what a box is according to your own seeing.

This is what I am saying when I talk of how that as workers of wood, we can be harbingers of peace, joy and life! Give up the box and create outside. Sure there are the many who just don't get it and when I do a show they walk on by to the next booth, but when I touch a child or adult and watch the expression break into a smile and then to hear their laughter, then I have done that for which I was created to do.

Have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Poetic Wood Curlings*"

....i am the one who is now speaking from within my wood of grain as your hand slides over me, feeling my texture for all its worth and yes i wait expectantly humbled by the power of this moment that one such as yourself, a master artist of unparalleled worlds should choose me as the object of your next expression of love….

....how did it ever come to this i have not the faintest clue, but i have heard the other trees of the forest talk of one such as you and this has given me faith in your impeccable name, that when this work is over, yes then i shall yet even out shine you….

....the other trees used to whisper how there was one who cared not for his name and how this one came seeking only to serve, they said that when you walked the forest with singleness of eye, that the silence that followed was poetic in-deed and then came the day when you walked in front of me and saw me for what i could yet be….

....your eyes were different then those others who came before, and when you looked at me you saw right into my core, those others said i was dis-eased and not good enough for finish wood, so they left me untouched as they moved on for more and i cried since i felt so out of place….

....you were the first to touch me and your hand helped heal my broken heart, your presence was sweet as you cut me to the ground, till taking me to your place, you gave me a home to rest and dry out as we both came to know and trust each other, why you even took the time to listen to me as i revealed myself to you….

....ah yes, i am happy now in the face of your presence as you reach over for the timber slick and carving adze to start 'the process' and what have i to fear since we both know that you've all-ready saw me as complete, a finished work of art i all-ready am….

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Poetic Wood Curlings*"
> 
> ...


Thankyou, Frank!


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Integrity*"

....some might add and say at this point in the process that a woodworkers rite of passage is how well did he//she cultivate their own sense of worth at finding 'integrity'....and then once found, can I be true to my definition of 'integrity'?

Integrity is by sense of definition at www.wordsmyth.net; "a strong sense of honesty and morality; firmness of moral and ethical character." I remember reading I believe last January, that the word 'integrity' was the number one searched out word at online internet dictionary providers for 2005.

As I look around the world I live in, to the forest, trees and wood all around me, I find myself planted right in the middle of New England, which is a summer and winter wonderland for people on vacations, who come to play and pay, and so I sometimes wonder….where do I fit in?

In a world today where the god of good is often how much power can I create and power comes from having an attitude of "do whatever it takes" to make money as I climb over, to stand on the shoulders of whoever gets in my way….I am challenged and rejoice that mankind still seeks to find out about 'integrity'!

Quality can be and is even now being challenged by quantity, but I believe that quality can never be outdone as long as their remains those of us who will still speak her name. Yes that's right, this Lady's name is Integrity and she is the mother of all quality! Born within the bowels of Integrity, these children of quality go forth today to raise the standard of what has been to even greater heights of what shall yet be. These children grow up to become adults who refuse to give up their childhood hearts of innocence and purity. Having refused to follow after the paths of where the many go, they have instead decided to follow 'the grain of their own wood' going often into forests of woods where they can then blaze their own trail.

I have often heard it said that they who wander are lost, but as one who still wanders and loves wandering I know I am not lost, but that my wandering is only the result of having cast off all those shackles that would make me like the 'quantity'. I am 'quality', born from the womb and character of Integrity and as such there burns within me a holy fire that lights the path before me and gives me singleness of eye that I might be the all I was meant to be.

The next time you feel disappointment, at your sense of seemingly lack of self accomplishment, go and grab a 'power word' such as *integrity* and see what happens as you mull this word over till the word begins to write you as its greatest definition!

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## kat (Dec 4, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Integrity*"
> 
> ...


*Very nice Frank*


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Spirit Level*"

....and then there are those days when I need to make an adjustment to my way of thinking a project through, to see if I am still within the perimeters of abstract vision in my head or has my peripheral outside vision become tainted and therefore infected with a virus whereas I am no longer horizontally centered,....

WOW!!! Now where did I last lay my spirit level down at?

As a worker of wood and one who has been captivated by the character of rustic furniture, it did not take me long to realize there was going to be a problem with the way I continued to use my 'spirit level'. Actually, I have had to re-adjust a lot of what I once thought and how I now work in the areas of woodworking.

As a finish carpenter where 32nds and 64rths could be too big, I also worked with machines where distance was measured by the micro. So when I converted over to timber framing I was lost, or a better word might be, I was handicapped by my need to see no-gap and no tell-tell lines. I would cut a half lap for some floor joists and get upset that there was an 1/8 inch gap when I dropped the joist into the summer beam and then there was the mortise and tenons….no, I'm not even going there.

But even through all the mind games that timber framing gave me, I always managed to hold onto and have faith in my 'spirit level', until the day I decided to make a piece of rustic furniture. I can still hear my head screaming at me now, "NO, and I mean no way, you are asking for too much if you expect me to work with you, without having a place of horizontal orientation."

Yes, that was then and today is my now and in all the time that has come and gone, just as water passing below a bridge, I have overcome and learned how to live as one who can work with or without my 'spirit level'.

I might add that in the summer time here in NH, I make it a habit of mine to go wandering at estate sales, barn sales and garage sales where I am still enamored by chasing after the many different versions of 'spirit levels'. Ha! What I mean to say is I can not pass them by and so I take them home and place them on top of the grits in my barn. At least this gives me a since of comfort and stability, since I notice when doing this, that those girts are stiiillllll leveeelllllll. Giving thanks for the small things in life!

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Spirit Level*"
> 
> ...


That reminds me of an old fellow who told me, that before they had rulers for measuring, they used two sticks, or straws to transfer measurements, so sometimes I use the same method instead of looking for my rule.


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Spirit Level*"
> 
> ...


Frank, this is one of the things I love about woodworking. In an age when technology is moving faster than the average LumberJock can keep up, it's a delight to be involved with a pastime that still uses some of the oldest tool technology known to man.

I enjoy photography, and computers - but it gives me a sick sinking feeling each time I spend some of my hard earned money on a new item, knowing full-well it's obsolete before I get it home.

When you think about it, a pull saw, chisel, hammer, plane, scraper, brace & bit, spirit level, and many many more woodworking tools have gone almost unchanged over the past two hundred years. And even if newer models with new features are introduced, the old versions still retain their usefulness and value - often even increasing in value.

Is it any wonder that we feel an affinity with these old tools?


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

" *Summer Beams and Beaming Life*"

....and so while out walking one morning quite early, 
i strolled out onto your summer beam as burly, 
as one of three in place all spanning forth width of girth, 
i now know something of the tales of your birth….

As you can see, if you read between the lines my mind is already starting to drift to thoughts of spring, summer and all those other things that follow. Ah yes, canoe trips and white water, camping in places of solitude where the only sound that comes calling over the water is the sound of webbed feet loons speaking my name. Maybe this is why I fall back so easily into ether areas of looney dreaming.

Well getting back on track here, I was thinking this morning of 'summer beams', yes those massive horizontal timbers used in timber frame construction that span the girts and plates. Summer beams span and tie the sill plates or girts all together and insure the continuing life of a barn. These massive timbers can be 12" x 12" x 30' and longer or wider, depending on your need and use of, as to size of building. Some amazing imagery is set forth when viewing the inside of barns, camp houses and new timber frame homes where summer beams are used to tie into a king post.

The English Barn I presently have and use is set into the slanted side bank of an old blackberry patch. Sad to say the blackberry's had to go, but we are slowly bringing them back to life in other areas of the farm. Technically speaking I guess you could say our English Barn, has now become a Bank Barn, since in doing this we picked up a 48' x 29' cellar and the entrance to the main part of the barn is now on the second floor. Four bay barn, going from what was once three floors to now four floors and I'm afraid its still not big enough. Oh by the way, don't tell my wife you heard me say that.

When I set the sill plates down on the foundation we had to have (3) summer beams cut to span the 30' width since we were picking up a cellar which had not been there before and these are supported by 12" x 14" post in the cellar at 14' in height, (3) again. The main summer beam here is joined at a 'very busy' tie in with two other beams over the backside of the barn and I will write about this at another time.

When I walk out over the span of a space such as this, whether at the sill plates or the girts higher up, I know that I am alive and connected with my center of gravity as found on that summer beam. Let the summer sun arise on a frame of work where I am standing on the summer beam and I will greet the sunrise as I feel life being splayed forth in the surround of this where I am found. And so once again I give thanks!

"*Happiness is being on the beam with life - to feel the pull of life.*" -Agnes Martin

And yes I know that it is supposed to be winter time here in NH, but where is the snow? Ha! I'm not complaining though as I can still get my ATV out into the woods, which is where I'm going today.

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> " *Summer Beams and Beaming Life*"
> 
> ...


Hey, Frank, it's summer here, and in fact in half of the world, so go ahead a talk of summer.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Expectant Creatures of Wood*"

....morning comes and I give thanks as i sit in this place i call office, where i am surrounded by the creatures who will shortly give birth to creations of art, and how does art spring forth, just as what is the pathway from which this expression begs an audience, if not from the heart of the one who believes enough to see into the what is not yet seen and then say, i have touched the soul of the object and you shall yet be….

And so this is where I am today as I contemplate the ending of 2006 and the 'ontogenesis' into 2007. Ontogenesis into 2007 as I take stock of my mind and once again make a pledge that I will not allow any form of stagnation to take root within this place of dwelling I call, the 'imaginative mind'.

Yes I know that for some, the new year is seen as, "well I just sort of fell into" or more like, "groping into the new year as I don't have much expectation on my horizon and if I did, well nothing much ever comes my way anyhow." Have you ever stopped and thought what is wrong with this picture and if you don't like the picture, well go grab a brush and paint a new, as of right now year picture, for 2007. 
...................................NOW THEREFORE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>!!!

Having said that, I can now re-turn, yes I like that, re-turn to that word I used earlier, 'ontogenesis'. Ontogenesis is the ongoing development of an individual organism as going from its simple beginning to a more complex structure. Now this is where I, you and we as workers of wood come in, and yes I know that as a whole we become and are LumberJocks, but now we will think in terms of our individual beginnings and those wonder-filled-wood-full stories as we go on. The extra-ordinary desire of that word 'return' is that if you are not pleased with where you are going, you can at any time re-turn to a new direction and continue on.

One of the most amazing 'mind games' you will ever play with your head, is when you understand that re-turning is not about having to return to a point of starting over. That failure is not an admission of guilty mistake. *Failure is only what comes to one who is very active and produces the growth hormone called success!* One might say that the artist is his own worst enemy until he//she understands how to 'turn' that enemy into a friend and work together for success. Who defines success, is it the critic who speaks as one who thinks they know, because someone, somewhere liked their opinion or maybe the buyers who throw their spare change to see who can dance the best? None of these, or any others can define my success once I have conquered the raging bull inside me, that would seek to cause me to first of all fight my own self. So then one might ask, just how do you then conquer this raging bull that calls out failure, and therein is the secret. Whereas I once admitted defeat and then knew that I must start over, I now actively re-turn to that one I once ran from, fought with,.... and now I bless, by giving thanks and in so doing I create peace within myself and continue on.

So often when we think of peace we think of non aggression or taking no action and all the while hoping for the best outcome and this is what fear has taught us. Peace is a word as I have come to understand it, that is full of action and is all-ways crying out for more. When I admit to an error, I paint a picture of 'ugh' and make way for defeat which then produces failure in my life and this 'ugh' story is written in the wood art I create. However once I understand how I give birth to my own peace, by being active, I can therefore know that when, (not if) failure comes in a project, I can now bless this failure as only what comes before the next step of success. Ha! To some I know this will sound mad but the truth just is, that when I am in 'the process' then I am most at peace with myself and upon stepping out of that world, I am lost in the madness of needing activity to create.

I dream with an 'imaginative mind' that knows no limitations as I look with anticipation, singleness of eye upon 2007 and this sound of joy-full singing I now hear in my ears is the result of having a heart vision of success.

"*I tell you, if one wants to be active, one must not be afraid of going wrong, one must not be afraid of making mistakes now and then. Many people think that they will become good just by doing no harm- but that's a lie, and you yourself used to call it that. That way lies stagnation, mediocrity.*" -Vincent van Gogh

Well sitting here now as I look around my office again, I see the many creatures that reside with me here and await their be-coming creations of birthed wood art. So many here, that I thought I would group some together and show where some of the dreams start at, as these sit silently waiting and yet are actively engaging my mind on a day to day basis as they throw themselves out to me, begging for existence. For some of my work, this is but one step in many steps and these will usually become test piece's for colors and finishes, while others experience hours of carving until I see a direction of worth. All go on to being small works of wood art which are the wombs of artistic expression for giving forth larger creations. There are no failures here as character is most challenged when held up to the light of activity and so I create success.










....and, in another image mode to challenge thinking….










You all have a very good day as we greet 2007!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Expectant Creatures of Wood*"
> 
> ...


The origin and development of an individual organism from embryo to adult. Also called ontogenesis.

I have to digest this word first, Frank. My initial read of your blog wasn't enough. Mind you, it's two hours and thirty minutes into the new year, and the lovely Australian red has clouded my senses ever so slightly. I return for a second read tomorrow.

Thanks for stretching my gray cells.


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## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Expectant Creatures of Wood*"
> 
> ...


I think its Ottogetofmyassesness or is that too many sss?


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Expectant Creatures of Wood*"
> 
> ...


OK, I'm back, had a good night sleep and time to plumb your blog, better known as a plum-blog.

We shall not cease from exploration
And at the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
- T. S. Elliot "Little Gidding" Four Quartets

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen,
and thinking what nobody has thought.
-Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

The most important tool of the woodworker is the scrap bin.
- Me


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Expectant Creatures of Wood*"
> 
> ...


Hi Don;
I'm sitting here as the wheels of my mind start engaging, while listening also to the sound of freezing rain hitting the windows of my office. 2006, 2007, 2008 and on and on…..as i think of the farm, gardens, forests, furniture and art shows, always more.

Commenting on that last one where you talked of your 'scrap bin'. Ha! I wish we lived closer so that I might have a look at your 'scrap bin'. I have talked before, about when I visit my woodworking friends and how I enjoy going through what they throw away. I will always ask if I can have some of the scrap wood, but find them usually wanting to know what I do with all that scrap. After explaining, which I do, I find that on my next visit, there is no-more scrap a lot of times. Scrap bins become the holding tanks for a lot of future works of wood art for me as I usally see their intended good posibilities even there.

In the next state over from me, Vermont, there resides a gentleman by the name of Garrett Hack, who some say is a master furniture maker after the Federal style. I have watched him take thin slivers of wood, 1/16" and narrower and 3/32" in depth and do what is called 'string inlay'. Beautiful and yet quite delicate in appearance, this inlays add a touch of offset appearance to the furniture that cannot be missed and is truly a work of art. As a master furniture maker he does all this using shop made hand tools, which is an experience in itself as to watching him work.

And no, I haven't yet mastered the 'string inlay', but I'm still trying and dreaming.
GODSPEED,
Frank


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*A Lover of the Birches*"

....how can i ever explain this need of mine, to be close too, and how close is too close, before becoming rooted in the beauty of the birch, as out of the genus bertula and found in my family of betulaceae, i am drawn to the texture of your skin as i peel your bark in dreaming of how you shall yet look, showing your self to the passerbys on that piece of rustic camp wood art where you now sit as furniture of desire….

One of my favorite poems about the birch is one I am partly placing here:

"*Birches*" 
...."So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. --by *Robert Frost*

After snow clean-up yesterday I had a chance to get out into our woods and ended up sitting for a spell here and dreaming, just dreaming, just sitting and being intoxicated with the view. At times like this my mind tends to range far and off to the mountains in the background and all those remembered places that I have been therein.

Dreaming as such is but the many miles off and then brought home, to where and when I look down to how my feet now stand while viwing some of the work of 2006, *and then I give thanks*.










You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*A Lover of the Birches*"
> 
> ...


Frank, your words remind me of one of my favorite poems by the Psalmist David.

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. ... 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Woodworking Wood Translation*"

I was reading Don's blog this morning where he got me to thinking on these words; "*Becoming My Words*", http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Don/blog/105, and what a refreshing grouping of words that he has chosen to unite together in harmony!

Becoming my words is doing away with that way of thinking that says I am the victim of circumstance…. and therefore, "*now I will use the power of words to become the all that I was meant to be*."

When I first started some years ago to understand 'words' and the power that they have to create, was also when I started examing my tongue as a tool of expression for 'upsizing' or 'downsizing'. From here I went on to even exploring how the use of words affects one's own body health by producing either 'in sickness' or 'in wealth of health'. Did not Solomon himself say; " Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Do you, do I and do we start to see the power that is in 'words'? Now if there is that much power in a word, be it spoken or unspoken and be sure of one thing and that is, the word is sharp because it is backed up by our thought content and that this is what we throw out when we start speaking. Throw out you say, and yes, whether we just think or speak the word for or against ourselves or someone else we our 'speaking the thought' of what is living in our hearts.

So then, when I start to understand this, I asked myself how can I transform my life and also those who inhabit my sphere of influence and this is where I am no longer just a victim of circumstance. For years I used to listen to folks tell me why they had it so bad and why they were all victims beyond what was in there control to fix. And yes if I want to be a victim I can also be a victim and tell some horror stories just as we all have our stories to tell. But those stories I told only kept me digging my grave ever deeper and held me captive to the words I spoke. Victims never get better as they eventually die by accepting their demise.

I stopped being a victim when I choose to create my own reality and to plant the seeds of very good words, power words of life in the garden of where I am living. First of all I started planting good words in my heart daily and thinking on those things in myself and others that were of good report. If I could not see good right off, then I started believing and watching for those good reports and in this way I started watering my garden. When I started seeing good sprouts coming up I also remembered that some weeds appear to look better then the real thing so I left them alone trusting in the good word to yet produce after its own kind.

In this way of thinking I have come to understand that I am the words that I speak and my becoming is often as close to and as directly related to what I think, as to the reality of where I am going. The reality of where I am going is the reaction that is produced in me by the words that I give place to in my heart.

So now we come to us as workers of wood and where does this fit into my shop practices and what I am making? "No piece of wood art is of its own making, but that the piece requires the hand of another who is willing to come alongside the grain of wood and work with the grain, knowing that the good intent, the worker of wood has seen in the wood, is but *the outcome of that wood piece speaking forth good words as interpreted by the artist.*" --flp

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.franl.wordpres.com


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## oscorner (Aug 7, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Woodworking Wood Translation*"
> 
> ...


Frank and Don, your words are profound and far reaching. Both of you have given me something to think about,daily. To remember that my words need to be a reflection of who I am, therefore carefully choosing them as such so as not to smear my true self with words that are not me. Thanks!


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*eleemosynary*"

"....*what do we inherit if not the understanding of who lights the fire that spills from yonder tree*....?"

--and so the passion burned within the bosom of the tree,
till the ground shook from the footsteps of the woodsman who was passing by,
and feeling a hot and fiery breath that touched his soul with quaking zest,
this one turned and called a name from heavens past.

....and time stood still within that space betwixt the ticking-tock,
as all creation gasped for one gapping moment at what befell,
they now beheld as when the soul of adam came from eons past,
and stopped to rest his weary head and dreamed my glories to tell!

--i am a soul who dreams by giving bodies to words of all,
as this furore that beats within my chest instills a zestful quest,
and so i pass these mercy alms to souls such as you, 
believing that you might give my words a garden to grow….

I am a worker of wood who loves the wood and the stories that are inherently written within these pieces of wood. The stories they tell are the words I spell and these words are my sense of freedom as I am wordsmithing into territories of uncharted domains of art. Where art is most found alive is right within the heart of souls such as us. Art as I know it has no boundaries except for those that one would self impose or inflict upon themselves and is best viewed in the light of graceful mercy as already having triumped over all that came before. The wood I write is the grainful interpatation of the art that inspires.

Have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*eleemosynary*"
> 
> ...


So, does every piece of wood have a story written within?


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*eleemosynary*"
> 
> ...


--well of course Don, to those who have the ears to hear and eyes to see! If you have the time to listen, then the wood has a story to tell.

Have you ever sat in silence and heard the wood speak to you?

GODSPEED,
Frank


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*eleemosynary*"
> 
> ...


Well, I have to be truthful here. If you mean by 'hearing' audible words - no. But if you mean looking at a piece of wood for sometime and thinking about it's suitability for the task at hand, yes. I often see a piece of wood and am immediately struck by the notion it would make a lovely "this or that". In that sense the wood is speaking to me - and it might even be more accurate to say, the wood chose me, as many others before me may have pickup the same piece and not seen (or heard) what I saw/heard.

Your story reminds me of a time many years ago, when, with my brother we decided to climb one of the local peaks outside Vancouver, BC. It's about 4500 feet above sea level which is where we started the climb. For much of the way the going is so steep that you could literally reach out and touch the ground in front of you. It's not a technical climb, but very physically demanding. In fact, we decided that we would get a lot of the vertical distance out of the way by starting in the afternoon, climb half way with our overnight gear, and leave early the next morning to complete the climb returning to sea level on the same day. We planned to leave our sleeping gear etc. where we slept picking it up on the way down. Our reasoning is that we would be well rested after a good night's sleep and find the tough slogging a little easier if divided over two days.

Well it was a good plan, except for one thing - the good night's sleep.

Walking through the woods during the day, it seemed almost silent. You could hear a pin drop. But whilst lying in one's sleeping bag at night the forest quickly became very noisy. Sounds we had not previously heard suddenly began to press in upon us. I suppose what happened was a gentle breeze came up and the trees started knocking into each other, and the occasional dead-fall limb came crashing to the forest floor.

But to our ears, and we were not novices to the forest, it sounded distinctly like some wild animal crashing through the undergrowth. We just couldn't help it. In spite of all our attempts to re-assure each other, we couldn't sleep. We had vision of been killed by a mountain cougar, or black bear. As these animals were commonplace in that part of the woods, we couldn't be absolutely certain that wasn't what we were hearing. So we decided the wise thing to do was remain awake and alert and even make a little noise that would keep these man-predators away. Well looking back on it now, were were hardly men, and these so-called predators were probably more afraid of us than we were of them, if that's possible.

Frank, I should have realized that it was the trees talking to us, but we had only ears for our imagination. Oh, we never made the climb, we were so exhausted from lack of sleep we returned the next morning to our car at the base of the climb


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*eleemosynary*"
> 
> ...


Hi Don;
Nice story about that climb with your brother and yourself. And yes I also know what you are saying here when you stated; "Walking through the woods during the day, it seemed almost silent. You could hear a pin drop. But whilst lying in one's sleeping bag at night the forest quickly became very noisy." Been there, done that many times myself!

I also sit alone early in the mornings and practice meditation or sitting in silence and there is nothing as noisy as starting out, to get to silence. The mind is a very noisy place indeed, till I shut all doors, or as one master has said, "enter into your closet and pray in silence."

I go into the woods all the time by myself and so some of my city friends will ask if I'm ever afraid, to which I answer no. In my way of thinking its more dangerous living in the city then in the woods. Ha! I have yet to meet a bear carrying a gun who wants to rob me, just as we are the only animals that I know of who seek to hurt out of a sense of fear and beastliness.

Don, this is the essence of wood stories as you have stated here; "....*the wood chose me*, as many others before me may have picked up the same piece and not seen (or heard) what I saw/heard." Likewise it is all about how busy we are, if I am working in my shop or in someones home, then I often am in production mode to just get the job done. And when I am working on a piece of wood art I can take the time to connect with the wood and hear its story.

And yes I still place great worth on the value of 'imagination' or else how could I write my stories and poems without this great asset. It is with my use of imagination that I see and hear into the unseen world of spirit and then come back into this world of flesh and write words of wood.

Nice talking with you and have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Mountains of Tree Art*"

....and yes, I do love the mountains and trees that surround me here in NH. It is just a matter of stepping out my front door and I am in another world, as according to what time of season we are in here. Now there's another thought I could take off on, 'time of season' here in NH.

Why just yesterday I stepped out of my shop in the afternoon and was immediately found to be in spring like weather. January in NH and temperatures in the 50's, birds singing and sunny sunshine, plus little or next to nothing in the snow department. Today, I must cut some 16" wide pine, weathered barn boards, so this afternoon I'll set up shop outside and work on my tan.

Sunday I spent in the woods here, riding around and checking on the trails, while also looking for animal sign. I pay special attention to moose and coyote sign, but had no luck in seeing these on Sunday. Also checked on a bridge we are constructing and hoping to finish before the deep snow comes, see I said it, "I still believe the snows will yet come."

I spent some time checking on the condition of some wood standing against trees out in the forest that will be coming in, come spring as I prepare this wood for slabs and wood art. Always more and more wood to be processed into furniture and then there are trees that need to be dropped for next years firewood and the winter after. Forward vision in the woods is what keeps me young in body and fit of heart.

Well I started off to write about the mountains and trees and my love of both so lets get on with it. The mountains are where I go to when I'm needing a place to relax and unwind, and just as I visit them in physical form so also do I go there in my mind when I need to dream or take a break from farm life. I know the mountains that surround me and often it is easier to go there in mind, then to go by way of body. I love canoeing and hiking in the summer, while snow shoeing these same mountains in the winter months and so it is also very easy to just sit back against a tree and dream myself there whenever I so desire. Such was the case this past Sunday afternoon, as I relaxed as one within my milieu. And this is what my love of the mountains, the trees, my love of wood and the creatures of the woods is all about, as I am found content and fully clothed with joy in this my milieu.

....picture dreaming….










....and another….










Happy dreaming as I'm off to work some land and wood.
GODSPEED,
Frank

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Mountains of Tree Art*"
> 
> ...


Beautiful!


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Tenacity*"

....yes, there we have it, as all spelled out in the definition of our character as one coming into this world of woodworking and being 'tenacious' of soul….

And how much tenacity does it take to be a worker of wood when all around us we are filled with the images of store bought and store brought composites and even now I can get manufactured plastic wood that requires little or no maintenance, or so 'they say'. And so once again I must ask myself who these ones are, that are called experts at saying, "I have said?", and then again, NO; I am not going there.

Manufactured wood for decks and homes till I am feeling and reeling from the after-effects and after-shock of what has happened and where do I fit in-to this picture. I think that I am a soul that has been born to late for this world of plastic, as I seem to be a 'wooden mis-fit' that others in marketing are trying to fit into their slots for their use. Like taking a wooden tree nail and then driving this piece of wood into a plastic frame, while taking no thought of what happens when corrosion sets in, or in other terminology, non-destructive testing. Ha! And then again, since I am this relic of a mis-fit I do serve a purpose of creating job security for those in marketing fields.

_

I have a place close by, about an hours hike from my house that is virtually undiscovered by others in my area. This place I have shown to one other soul and even they have since forgotten what lies in view when seen from on top, so I keep quite about the location and occasionally show some photos. I have not been there lately and will, still wait awhile longer till the snows come before returning. Close by and yet there is a climb to the top, while viewed from the ground there appears to be nothing up there. Perfect, I say and as such I have named this place, "Secret Garden".

Here is a picture I took last year and shows this pine struggling to grow for all its worth out of the side of this granite boulder. *Tenacity is the art of growth in the situation of environment where you have been placed.* One might say that this small pine was born in the wrong place of time and what are its chances for future growth, however the pine has not given up, while the granite rock has accepted the pine and together they grow together as one.

See, I have even learned from that pine and rock, and can further learn that I can even grow where my seed has fell and sprouted. So in all this today, I also give thanks for all those marketers of new ideas who keep me awake and on my toes!

....enjoy the picture….










...and….










You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Tenacity*"
> 
> ...


Sticks and stones use to build our homes…now plastic will always haunt us


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Early Beginnings of an Art-Full Start*"

....when i awake ,the passion of the morning dawn is upon me,
feeding me fire from deep within my bones as the sound of the woods comes calling….

--calling me out,
screaming my name as the creature within me also howls back in greeting,
just as old bones also start to move as i fall back into place,
testing my footing now i give rise to my spirit as i stand up,
and so will i begin this day as i will my-self to go forth….

--how i start is my art-full beginning,
how i carry on is the craftsman i art,
and how i finish is the heaven i see expressing art-full thanks! --flp
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <>\/<> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

"*Birch Burler's Delight*"

....birch burler's delight is like fire in the sky on my horizon of seeing….

I came across this piece out in the woods three winter ago, back in 2005 and made my first cut that winter as I dropped the upper trunk and let the rest sit to start drying. Then came next winter of 2006, when I cut the trunk at the base and let sit till spring decided to awaken. This past spring I dragged the trunk onto a trailer and brought the burl in so I could start doing some early prep work.

This past spring I debarked the trunk and flipped it over to stand upright to start drying and curing in the elements of weather. How I start a piece determines a lot about the nature of character that that piece will show forth upon completion. Leaving the bark on or waxing the burl will slow the curing process down and also help to prevent splitting and checking of the wood. In the case of this burl I'm not opposed to checking of wood since this is one of the 'characters of beauty' that I am seeking after. And yes, I already have some nicely defined checks that are developing in the area of the burl.

What will become of this burl has not yet been revealed to me and so the piece just sits outside the entrance to my workshop waiting and wondering as much as I do. We see each other daily and sometimes this is nothing more then the passing glance as I go my way, while on other occasions I stop and examine the burl and touch the wood, as one waiting to feel the spirit that lies within. What will come, will yet be and as there is no pressing engagement date yet, this piece of wood and I just wait for the drying and curing to be completed.

Burls can be objects of woodworking dreams as turners, sculptures and rustic furniture makers all look and see into a burl as coming from their own perspective of woodworking. Just as in the end, the burl has the final say, as you never know what is on the inside of the wood till you start making that first cut. I have seen burls that looked good on the outside, that were rotten and punky within and then I have also rejoiced after that first cut, when what appeared to be a common burl on the outside, revealed characters of beauty' within.










....and….










....and can you spot the cat? We presently have four cats living and sharing space on this farm with us and they all do their part of work also. I name the cats after 'barn parts' and so this ones name is 'Summer Beam'.

I was reading and thinking last night on spiritual groweth and how we prepare ourselves to start a project and so I will share one last story with you.

"Woodworker Ch'ing carved a piece of wood and made a bell stand, and when
it was finished, everyone who saw it marveled, for it seemed to be the
work of gods or spirits. When the Marquis of Lu saw it, he asked, "What
art is it you have?" Ch'ing replied, "I am only a craftsman-how would I
have any art? There is one thing, however. When I am going to make a
bell stand, I never let it wear out my energy. I always fast in order to
still my mind. When I have fasted for three days, I no longer have any
thought of congratulations or rewards, of titles or stipends. When I have
fasted for five days, I no longer have any thought of praise or blame, of
skill or clumsiness. And when I have fasted seven days, I am so still
that I forget I have four limbs and a form and body. By that time, the
ruler and his court no longer exist for me. My skill is concentrated and
all outside distractions fade away. After that, I go into the mountain
forest and examine the Heavenly nature of the trees. If I find one of
superlative form, and I can see a bell stand there, I put my hand to the
job of carving; if not, I let it go. This way I am simply matching up
'Heaven' with 'Heaven.' That's probably the reason that people wonder if
the results were not made by spirits." --Taoism. Chuang Tzu 19

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*Hand Hewn or Hand Planed*"

....my life is realized in the swinging, singing forward motion of the broadaxe as i am hand hewn//hand planed from the timber of my beginning….

And who would think today of the broadaxe and hand plane as being analogously likened together as producing a common wood dressing effect upon the wood.

In my past days of experience as to the how shall I, of thinking through the project to the finish there was included in my thoughts the; hand plane, power planer, scraper before going on to other stages of finish. And these are all good and righteous acts of woodworking and so I used them, since they achieved a height of beauty in the wood I was stretching for. And that was my vocabulary of woodworking until I laid my eyes on the broadaxe and felt my heart leap within me for joy.

Timber framing and post and beam construction was my introduction into a world of woodworking where I found my roots going back to a time of place in China and Japan. And yes, there is a fine scribed line of separation between 'timber framing' and the 'post and beam' construction of today. Timber framing is 'the way' of doing the art of building, according to the ancient traditions of tools where 'Dogu' is the 'instruments of the way'. I am not separated from my tools as these are what I am, just as in another sense I do not speak of my tools as 'tools' since we are together as 'instruments of the way'. Another way of saying this might be to say; "I respect my tools with great honor just as my tools honor me with great respect" and so we are in this thing called 'the way' together. Post and beam construction does not have to be politically correct in the therefore and wherefore of how I build and only needs to fit the guide lines of your communities zoning board.

One side note here that has always intrigued me is the 80,000 hewers of wood and stone that were used in the constructing of Solomon's Temple. All the work of hewing was done off site and away from the temple and then brought to the temple site where there was heard no 'sound of axe or chisels' in the assembly of the temple. Wow, talk about 'measure three times, cut once' and then all the 'wood dressing' done off site! It has been said that the ancient Japanese woodworkers had over four hundred hand cut woodworking joints passed down from master to student and yet the sadness is, that many of these are now lost. A life time could be spent or expired in just the study of properly cutting and execution of style and respect of the wood to complete these joints. While all the time remembering no glue and no nails of metal, and hearing the joint pop when put together.

The broadaxe introduced me to the timber framing slick, bark spudders, adzes, froes and draw knives where I learned the meaning of dangerously sharp and paying attention to the details of where my feet are standing. There was the time when I was much concerned with being able to count all my fingers and wearing eye protection, now I pay attention to my feet and toes. Ha, having split the log with wooden wedge and then only to watch that wedge pop out and get going on vertical trajectory I have also learned about head gear.

What the broardaxe has taught me and the timber slick has learned me, is that I can go after a finished taste of 'wood dressing' that is uncommon in today's world of the power tool. This where I must split the hair of time and space as to where I am going, while not forgetting the reality of money economics. And so where I used to get excited about all the power tools I could collect, (and these do speed up the process) I now would much rather spend my time sitting and thinking the process through and then comes the moment I wait for, when I pick up broadaxe and start to 'hew the line' between my scores. From start to finish, I am now in 'the process' and loving every minute of it.

And yes, I suppose that only one who has timber framed could understand how the broadaxe has accompanied the pleasing nature of the hand plane and yet both are analogous to each other.

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Hand Hewn or Hand Planed*"
> 
> ...


Frank, I understand when the railways were built in Australia at the turn of the nineteenth century, the lumber of choice for railway ties was Ironbark. In Australia, these are known as "sleepers".

Ironbark is one of the toughest woods known. It is so sense that it quickly dulls the blade of any saw. I'm told that it was quicker and easier to mill the timber by splitting the giant logs and shape them with the adze. The problem was that unless the adze was kept sharp it would bounce along the surface of the wood without penetrating it. The splitters and shapers learned a technique of holding a long handled adze against the hip, using it as a pivot point. This would prevent the adze skidding along the surface into the woodman's foot or ankle.

Here's a couple of links you might enjoy. Link #1, Link #2, Link #3


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*Hand Hewn or Hand Planed*"
> 
> ...


Hi Don;
Thanks for those links and the poetry song. I am especially interested in the #2 link as they have some beautiful photo images of reclaimed and recycled timber. Ah the beauty and color of those past but not forgotten timber beams! I will spend some more time at that site.

Thank you.
Frank


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

"*As Blown in the Wind of Ages Past*" 
....while out in the woods on one of my 'walkabouts', I decided to leave some shavings of mine, a trail of sorts in the hope that my life would not be in vain and that some day i might return and glean some insights as to what this tale of life was all about….

--time ran past as seconds of years rolled before my eyes, sweetness of spirit came and found me as still out in the woods where some said i had lost my way in the jungle of mind entanglements and trappings that all came my way as i, the warrior of my self had fought the many dragons come to rob me of my peaceful intent….

--sweetness of spirit came from my past, where to my future she offered a hand, "come this way my worker of wood and i will show you where the moss grows green against the base of a living tree much like yourself", and so i followed this one who had come my way….

--and some had said of which i now remembered, their tales said "that if the moss grows betwixt thy toes, then of a surety thou knowest that thou be dead" and so i threw their words into the air and scattered their words for those who lie….

....no more of this, and what shall be is up to me, so off i went and made my way, till finding the wood of a living sculptures delight, i gazed upon the moss that grew so green, by art-full finding i am complete, as this one warmed my blood with inner glow and set my fingers in motion to work the wood of hearts content….

--i knew i was at moments notice, just where i was when i began, no more--no less and satisfied, that peace was mine as found in great gain of sweetness of spirit, those shavings i left are gone by now as blown in the wind of ages past and i for one am happy blessed….

"*Pine Bark Box*"

I am posting this picture here as one of many yet to come, as I am planing on showing the ongoing stage of development of this box. This box is all 'one piece' of pine bark and is joined together by hand cut cherry treenails. You can go http://frank.wordpress.com/2007/01/08/pine-bark-box/ and follow the rest of the story over the coming days.










Please note that I have posted here in what I call 'cartoon mode' and at my WordPress blog as the piece looks.

Thank you and have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.com


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## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> "*As Blown in the Wind of Ages Past*"
> ....while out in the woods on one of my 'walkabouts', I decided to leave some shavings of mine, a trail of sorts in the hope that my life would not be in vain and that some day i might return and glean some insights as to what this tale of life was all about….
> ...


You have my interest. I'm waiting for the rest of the story.


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## Frank (Nov 19, 2006)

*RusticWoodArt*

*"Topping the Tree"*

....aspiring to the climb i looked to make it to the top,
tree tops bending and nodding in the gusting blown wind,
only did the more to allure within me the salivating gustation of desire,
desire by fire as fueled from the refiners fire of now i know i can,
acclimated to follow the grain of the wood,
i drank deeply from the sap as coming by heartwood….

--and so the climb was made as years rolled by,
friends came and went as lost from sight,
till in my climb i only knew the upward look,
while never even stopping to ask who was in that pine wood box,
younger then were my older warmer days as older now are my younger colder nights,
till i sit before this my fire as glows from the wood of that remembered tree i did climb….

--and what did i learn from all those trees that beckoned and called my name,
"come climb, up higher, where the view is sharper from the top",
well yes, one can climb the upward way and conquer any and all tree tops,
but when you're on top there are no-tree tops and sadder still,
by my thinking thought i thought on this,
at the top of every tree there is no-tree….

When I left off the desire to be, then patience came calling and sweetned my tea.

My apoliogies this morning to any who were waiting on the next step in that story of "Pine Bark Box", but I had a tooth extraction yesterday and well….what can I say? Ha! I just did not feel much like getting out to the barn, and taking pictures of those hand shaved treenails. I'll make it out there today and post later or tomorrow. This work with the 'one piece bark box' is an on going work of art, so if I aren't (very bad English) working then there aren't no art to post.

You all have a very good day!!!
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

[email protected]
www.frank.wordpress.cm


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> *"Topping the Tree"*
> 
> ...


Your English ain't so bad, they used to frown at the word ain't.


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## Don (Dec 18, 2006)

frank said:


> *RusticWoodArt*
> 
> *"Topping the Tree"*
> 
> ...


Frank, this is the essence of life - enjoying the process without rushing it.

Surely, arriving at the end, or the top of a tree, is not the point. It's the climb that matters. I have absolutely no doubt that I won't get to the top. The tree seems to grow faster than I can climb. And, it has many branches to explore, so sometimes I'm traveling horizontally, not vertically. As you state, "...the view is sharper from the top", but, "...there is no-tree". So, though the view may be sharper, there is less (of what matters) to see.


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