Hello, I hope this finds you well and enjoying your children’s Halloween candy (if you have kids). Speaking of, I enjoyed this piece by
on holiday traditions that suck. Preach!This week I have to admit that I’m a terrible businessperson. I find lots of people to give my work away to—the local Humane Society fundraiser, my kids’ school holiday fundraiser, etc.—but I’ve made no effort to sell any work. I need to be more cut throat, more of a shark and less of a Golden Retriever about business stuff.
My essay is below. I hope your next couple of weeks are full of wise choices and good actions!
What does your shop say about you?
I think work spaces reveal what we prioritize and aspire to. All those wood scraps or pieces that we’re going to get to (or in the case of non-woodworkers, those files or papers or sticky notes). The tools we rely on and use most, those we think are worthwhile, those we have just in case, those left tucked away and rarely used.
For me, having lots of wood in my shop feels like a burden, a pile of could dos and should dos and will dos of tomorrow sapping my energy for the must dos of today. I like space—Josiah would tell you that I’m happiest in a room that looks like its occupants have moved out; my heart swells with joy at all that glorious space, emptied of the accoutrements of living.
Delightfully, other woodworkers have very different ideas of what makes a good shop. And I so love seeing other people’s work spaces.
The tidy, bright, and well thought-out use of space in
’s shop, as well as all the custom made jigs and additions he’s created.My lathe-working friends’ shop, perfectly laid out for turning wood with their lathes on one side, a plastic sheet up to stop the dust and wood chips from flying everywhere, a sturdy bookshelf for holding all the drying bowls, a blade sharpener set up with a jig ready to keep their chisels sharp for the work, a wood stove keeping the whole place warm with a couch in front of it for sitting while putting finish on completed bowls.
My dad’s barn, once a place for livestock, now turned into a massive shop with all the tools and saws and backups of tools and saws you could ever need, stacks of wood ready to use, with the jigs and table extensions Dad built, with the tools we have repaired and gotten to know the insides of.
And then there are the shops I’ve only heard about or read about. Some are shared spaces, others are tucked into basement or garage corners.
All valid shops: the work that comes out of them is beautiful, the woodworkers using them know how to make the most of what they’ve got and create incredible pieces.
This was on my mind as I thought about my own shop (which is in our family’s garage), and what I needed to do to make it a functional, healthy place to work, particularly in the winter.
Upgrading or adding to a shop is an expensive proposal. What’s more is that it takes a certain amount of belief, of self-confidence that yes, I can do this, yes, I will make something of this, yes, this investment is worth it.
I’ve been lucky to get a lot of support from others. I remember back in college learning about how in some cultures a gift received must be passed on to another, as it was considered bad form to horde and keep only for oneself; such an act was harmful to oneself and toxic to the larger community.
That’s obviously not the society I live in, but it is reflective of my internal sense of self and my participation in the world (most days). So fixing up my shop, making it a better space to work in, goes hand in hand with finding a way to create work that makes other people’s lives a little better.
Last summer, I reached out to our local Habitat for Humanity and came up with a project to do with them—making dedication gifts to give to new home buyers.
This project is supported by the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) through a grant I applied for—my first one ever!—and received to allow me to fix up my shop, source materials, prototype ideas, and ultimately create handmade gifts for home buyers.
My experience of Minnesota is that this state loves the arts. There is a lot of support for artists of all kinds. I love it and receiving the grant gives me the kind of time that is difficult to justify—time to talk with people, to design, to test, to learn and from that to create.
I’ll write more about the project and my work on it (this week I’m joining a meeting with the Habitat coordinator and one family they are currently working with to learn more about the family’s experience and what kinds of items in their house might be useful and meaningful).
But today all this build up is just so I can share a few photos of my shop with you.
In the last few weeks, thanks to that grant, as well as enormous familial generosity and the research chops of someone who is much better at learning about new ideas and techniques than I am, I have fixed up my shop!
This included putting in more outlets, installing three LED lights (that I’ve had for months waiting for just this moment), setting up a dust collection system on a cart, and installing an air filter in the ceiling to help clear out the ambient dust particles that make it past the dust collection.
Now my shop is quite cozy, and since most tools are on wheels, it is easy to move things around and make space when needed.
It’s not an aesthetically pleasing to me as an empty room, but it’s damn close and a whole lot more useful.
And I feel much more ready to work on this project, not just because I have a good, healthy set up, but because of those ephemeral qualities beneath it—the shop is a physical manifestation of belief, that others have in me, that I am working to have in myself, that I can create items of use and beauty, pieces that bring joy, perhaps even a sense of belonging in their space, to other people.
My shop is always messier than I want it to be. I just haven't found homes for all the odds and ends. With limited free time to spend in the shop, it's hard to prioritize the organizational stuff. Maybe someday!
I spend so much time working on projects for others, but it can be so rewarding to make a project for myself from time to time - even if that's just a project of upgrading the shop. (Maybe especially if it's a project upgrading the shop).