I realized today that I am entirely too lacking in curiosity. I don't think it has ever occurred to me as I've shopped handmade artisans to wonder where they do all this beautiful craftsmanship. Do they have a studio? A workshop? Do they do their art on the living room floor?
In this utter failure to be curious, for instance, I have made the assumption that our fellow artisans are of the 'starving artists' variety; cramming their supplies into the corner of a bedroom or dining room. I have no idea whether this is a fair assumption or not. I have no earth-shaking research to share with you. But I thought that just in case there are those who have the curiosity to wonder what it looks like at Antiquity Gamecrafters, I would give you a small peek into where these games have their beginning.
Our humble abode has neither a garage nor a basement. This provides a bit of a challenge for a family trying to create with tools like routers, table saws, jointers and drum sanders. So this is where the extended family gets in on the deal....specifically my brother and his family. They have a very large garage and have generously allowed us to house our tools and wood in a sizable corner of it. This in itself is a great blessing, but there have been side benefits as well.
For one thing, it gives us extra opportunities to spend time with family and the kids especially love the Saturdays spent there playing with the cousins and enjoying the resulting goodies from Aunt Jody's latest baking sprees. For another, the cousins themselves are being exposed to woodworking and the possibilities for passing on handmade craftsmanship to another generation are increased. This is something that we as artisans take great delight in.
Our games only have their earliest beginnings in this shop. Most of the sanding, staining, painting and other finish work are done on every available flat surface in our small house. Someday, perhaps we'll have a large house with a pole barn, room enough for every tool and all the finish work. But I think that when we do, we will have lost a little something; or maybe my brother and his family will have to come our way. I'd better improve my baking.
In this utter failure to be curious, for instance, I have made the assumption that our fellow artisans are of the 'starving artists' variety; cramming their supplies into the corner of a bedroom or dining room. I have no idea whether this is a fair assumption or not. I have no earth-shaking research to share with you. But I thought that just in case there are those who have the curiosity to wonder what it looks like at Antiquity Gamecrafters, I would give you a small peek into where these games have their beginning.
Our humble abode has neither a garage nor a basement. This provides a bit of a challenge for a family trying to create with tools like routers, table saws, jointers and drum sanders. So this is where the extended family gets in on the deal....specifically my brother and his family. They have a very large garage and have generously allowed us to house our tools and wood in a sizable corner of it. This in itself is a great blessing, but there have been side benefits as well.
For one thing, it gives us extra opportunities to spend time with family and the kids especially love the Saturdays spent there playing with the cousins and enjoying the resulting goodies from Aunt Jody's latest baking sprees. For another, the cousins themselves are being exposed to woodworking and the possibilities for passing on handmade craftsmanship to another generation are increased. This is something that we as artisans take great delight in.
Our games only have their earliest beginnings in this shop. Most of the sanding, staining, painting and other finish work are done on every available flat surface in our small house. Someday, perhaps we'll have a large house with a pole barn, room enough for every tool and all the finish work. But I think that when we do, we will have lost a little something; or maybe my brother and his family will have to come our way. I'd better improve my baking.
1 comment:
There's good and bad in every situation. You are wise to notice the good... :-)
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