Welcome to the Handsome Craftworks blog. I am in the very early stages of establishing a small one-person art and design practice that will feature hand crafted works. I plan on using this blog as a way to catalog different stages of the making process, and to share things that I find inspiring/useful/interesting.
The following is more detailed information about me, the shop, and this blog in case you want to know more. Thanks for stopping by!
MOTIVATION FOR THIS BLOG
I am always fascinated and inspired when I run across blogs or websites that feature behind-the-scenes images and notes on a creator’s conceptual and physical making process (or when they share their trouble-shooting experience with particular tools, materials, or methods), and I am a huge fan of sharing information and knowledge in general. I believe that we benefit collectively from sharing ideas and knowledge, even if only as sources of inspiration.
Architects, musicians, and writers borrow from each other all the time, and so do artists in general - although many do not like to admit it! Woodworkers definitely often share ideas and experiences online. A specific recent example for me of benefiting from shared online knowledge: I bought a used power miter saw and discovered that some internal parts were damaged and needed to be replaced. I quickly found someone’s blog who had gone through the same problem, and who had posted detailed notes and images on how to fix it. It worked, and the saw works like new. This (free!) information saved me a lot of time and money. Part of the inspiration for this blog is to participate in this process of sharing information and ideas on both creative and technical issues.
MOTIVATION FOR THE WORK
As I’ve gotten older, I have come to appreciate “slow movements”, DIY, and up/recycle culture more and more. I realize that these movements are not new and have been developing for many years, but they are still nonetheless important influences on me and my art practice, and nothing to do with being trendy. Don’t get me wrong - I love technology and gadgets. But I have a strong desire to work with my hands and create in ways that are thoughtful, deliberate, and meaningful - qualities that resist the ongoing societal tendencies toward over-consumption, waste, and information saturation. Something critical is lost when objects made by unseen faces in unseen places are cranked out under inhumane working conditions, compensation, and schedules, only to be consumed by unseen others in far away places and discarded into a landfill after their short useful lifespan has expired.
SETTING UP SHOP
I am continuing to set up shop in the garage of our apartment in Menlo Park, CA. I am still in the process of gathering all the tools that I need, and I am very limited by space and power sources. I am currently running power from a single extension cord out of our bedroom window above the garage. I must also consider issues such as making lots of dust and noise in close proximity to my neighbors. I started out by building a storage loft (out of salvaged wood) in our garage to get all of our stuff off of the floor so that I could have room to work, and I’ve reconfigured an existing worktable (that was way too big) into two separate tables - one for general work and drawing, the other as a woodworking bench. I am working mostly with power tools, but my goal is to eventually learn how to work with non-power hand woodworking tools, which will likely influence the kind of work that I can make. The work space is pretty much up and running, and I’ve started working on a few cat furniture prototypes (Ok, I admit - our cats demanded that I work on the cat furniture first).
BACKGROUND
A little bit about me: I live with my lovely wife Julia and two fantastic felines, Yuki and Sumi, who are the test pilots for any cat furniture that I make. I have both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in art, with an emphasis and interest in interdisciplinary practice. My history working as a drafter shows up in a lot of my work, and that aesthetic is a nice compliment to my love of maps, diagrams, and data/information visualization. My wife Julia is immensely supportive of these projects, and she is also my muse when it comes to talking through ideas and getting her feedback. I am deeply indebted to her.
THANKS
I look forward to comments, questions, and feedback on future blog posts and on the products themselves as they become finalized. Stay tuned as things develop, and thanks again for stopping by.
Cheers,
Matt
