Saturday, December 5, 2009

730 Days of Blogging


12/6/09 ..... Whoa ... Another year goes by. This was the 30th year for Dorset Custom Furniture and my second year of writing about it ... Stephen King, in 'On Writing', says 'Writing is refined thinking.' I agree with him on that. For me, photographing and writing about what we do makes me 'think' differently about work and life in general, the interactions with clients and friends, nature and family, and everything else that goes by in our sometimes rushed charge to get through the workday. It was a challenging year but we still had some very interesting projects ... a stairway we built in Vermont and sent to California, a desk interpreting the style of a famous British architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, a banjo project, a room of walnut paneling, some slab top tables, some very cool metal chairs ... and many others. Thanks for reading and if we made something for you this past year, thanks for that too ....

Sunrise 12 4 08
Well, a year ago I told myself I would write a blog for 6 months and see how it went .... Writing ... it's interesting. It makes a record .... I can see the broad scope of the last year by scrolling back through the posts .... While it's not all here, it's more than I have for the previous 28 years of doing what I do. Those other years are mostly a bunch of little pictures in big portfolios. Nice to look at, but essentially, they're just pictures in books. Ditto the website .... There's not much life there. Pictures of furniture I can see pretty much anywhere, but this year, we have projects, processes, people I work with every day making things, asides like 'a walk in the woods', golf, 'repairs' and 'making a casket', more like, really, the actual stuff of life and work. Definitely not just the pictures. So, on we go .... making stuff. Sharing our methods, keeping our clients in the loop .... Year 30 coming up .... Looks to be a challenging one, but on we go, not knowing what lies ahead except that it will be interesting. Thank you all for reading and responding; I've met some great folks on line here and hope I helped some of them with their projects and inspired others to reach higher with their craft. While I'm rambling, Kit and I send you our best wishes for the Holiday Season .... Peace ....

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I find your posts both interesting and inspiring so I hope you continue to share. At some point down the road it would be great to see you put out a little video here and there if you were so inclined.

Rough times in the economy are ahead but given what amazing work your shop produces I can't see you guys lacking work! Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009!
-Charles

Wayne said...

Hello Dan,

Quality, originaility and integrity is what comes to mind while viewing your work on the blog. I keep a tight set of links to quality woodworking sites and blogs and your has become one of the more interesting. Looking forward to another 365 days.

the best,
Wayne

Will Rees Fine Wood Working said...

I hope to have a 30+ years career as you have had, and i hope you go another 30 years! Your woodwork diary says it all-life and work, work and life, they are very much a part of eachother. It's a shame that the many definitions of professionalism call for sterile personalities and opinionless individuals.