Author: Georgia Grunfeld
“Making is a form of rebellion.” Every time we fix something, craft something, or use our hands, we are rebelling against ‘the system’, which largely discourages this kind of self-sufficiency. Even if that act is only darning a sock… declared Nick Kary in his talk ‘Remembering to Use our Hands to Make Things’ at ORFC.
The top floor of the St Aldate’s Tavern was the setting for this wonderful, poetic and informal conversation between publisher Rosie Baldwin and Nick, about his book Material: The Art of Handcrafting Beautiful Objects in a Digital Age and his forty-year-long career as a craftsman and furniture maker. Whilst Rosie sat raised on a bar stool, Nick perched on one of his vital tools: a shaving horse, which he had been using to shape elm, felled from his garden only three days before, into the three legs of a stool. Still damp and fresh, the newly cut legs made their rounds so that the audience could touch and witness Nick’s mark-making. He worked gracefully and intuitively, demonstrating his theory that crafting objects stills the mind, as he lets his body and movement do the thinking – something he refers to as his ‘body mind’.
Nick lives in his self-built home in Devon, and spent a number of years visiting fellow woodworkers and other artisans for his book. Although neither the talk nor his book are directly about farming, he was quick to point out the parallels. Growing his own trees on his land has helped bring him closer to the material he uses, as have the many relationships with farmers he has fostered locally, who donate their wood to him. This he passes on to a local sawmill so that it can be cut into planks, which he then seasons at home as and when he needs to. This relationship with nature is now almost of primary importance, and furniture creation is the outcome, which has surprised Nick. Previously, he would acquire the wood without much consideration, as the furniture was the focus.
Like farming, the furniture-making industry is plagued by similar production problems, including waste, diminishing quality and pollution. Where woodworking used to be a vital craft, we now turn to the likes of IKEA for affordable furniture; as a result, supply chains are murkier, quantity is favoured over quality, and there are high levels of waste. Nick has even decided to diversify over the years, to take the pressure off woodworking as his primary income. He now rents out two cabins that he proudly built himself, and has started a creative centre called The Brake, near his home. Over the years, he has had several apprentices, some of whom swore off the work, feeling that it was too hard a way to make a living.
There were other artisans whose stories Nick told for his book, who have a similar approach to their craft, whether it be the willow weaver growing her own willow in Cornwall on land which was once a tin mine, or the potters who find their clay in the ground locally. Like the plethora of stories which have emerged from ORFC so far, these pursuits have led to a respect of the natural world, and a desire to protect it, in order to continue the work that they love, in the communities they have helped to foster.
About the Author
Georgia Grunfeld has a deep interest in regenerative agriculture and recently took several months off work to volunteer on small-scale organic and regenerative farms across the country. During this time, she also attended the Rethinking Global Food Systems course at Schumacher College, which strongly inspired her. In the future, she hopes to make her own significant contributions to improving the food system, with a particular interest in facilitating food production that works in tandem with nature, helping to preserve our wildlife, the health of the soil, and our own health.