Category Archives: quotes and excerpts

Revelations in Snow

Out of the bosom of the Air,        Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken Over the woodlands brown and bare,        Over the harvest-fields forsaken,              Silent, and soft, and slow              Descends the snow.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Snow-flakes” (1863) Yesterday … Continue reading

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Barefoot Shrink Pot

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet. Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet (1923) Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by the magical surface of a tree when the bark peels off cleanly in … Continue reading

Posted in finding wood, Lettering, photography, quotes and excerpts, shrink box, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Amy Lowell’s Green Bowl

Ever since encountering Amy Lowell‘s Imagist poem The Green Bowl, published in her first poetry collection in 1912, I had wondered about it. Was it inspired by an actual bowl? If so, does it still exist? Who was Roger, the … Continue reading

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Bright Bowl

Saw a king fisher on a tree over the water. Does not its arrival mark some new movement in its finny prey? He the bright buoy that betrays it! Henry David Thoreau, Journal Entry, April 11, 1856 As I was … Continue reading

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My New Old Arkansas Stone

A whetstone is no carving instrument, And yet it maketh sharp the carving tool; And if you see my efforts wrongly spent, Eschew that course and learn out of my school; For thus the wise may profit by the fool, … Continue reading

Posted in Lettering, quotes and excerpts, sharpening, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Thanksgiving Time

One thing about late Autumn, it displays the stubborn simplicities of the earth. Man may contrive himself into all kinds of human complications, but this earth which bore him and will be his home until the end of his days … Continue reading

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Duckling Revisited

The ducklings liked the new island so much that they decided to live there. All day long they follow the swan boats and eat peanuts. Robert McCloskey, Make Way for Ducklings (1941) As I finished this latest little duck bowl, … Continue reading

Posted in ale bowls, bird bowls, cherry, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Merging Shrink Pots

The five-year-old said he loves his dad’s hugs and fly fishing together, so I came up with this pair of merging shrink pots carved with a line from Norman Maclean’s novella A River Runs Through It. The larger pot is … Continue reading

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Tulip Tree Flowers

Hardly too much attention can be bestowed on flowers…Flowers were made to be seen, not overlooked. Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 15 June 1852 My son, Noah, and I got out to the river together for a couple hours of trout … Continue reading

Posted in nature, quotes and excerpts, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Esherick Exhibition

Over the last several years, I’ve enjoyed a deeper exploration into the work and life of Wharton Esherick. There is much to admire and contemplate. Esherick believed he had been overtrained as a painter and discovered his most creative expression … Continue reading

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