Issue 235

Issue 235

Are the Times A-Changing?

Rob Portrait“Come gather ’round people wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown.” 

Those of us of a certain age may have felt this sort of thing before. Chronicled in art and poetry and tie-dyed shirts, that which we knew and were comfortable with moved on, and a new and different era began.  With the loss of Sam Maloof and James Krenov to the way of all flesh, there is no denying the warp and the weft of woodworking’s fabric has frayed. And the news that The New Yankee Workshop is in its last season somehow brings an additional focus to the feeling of transition.

I must confess that the change seems real to me.  Even though those same folk of a certain age know from hard-won experience that change is the only thing you can depend on, there is something truly significant going on in our craft right now. What impact will this change create? Is it the same sort of change that sparked the Arts & Crafts movement or is it a more pedestrian shift? History teaches us that shifts in the culture produce great art. Perhaps our craft is moving forward to the next great thing.

“The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast. The slow one now, will later be fast, as the present now will later be past. The order is rapidly fadin’.”

Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal

PS: As you know, there was a Halloween influenced contest launched last issue. As usual, I was quite impressed with the entries – the winners and the rest are all found in our feedback department.

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