A Chair, A Bowl And Some Other Things

On Monday morning the woodworking students were given an assignment: go into the forest, cut down as many hazel (nut) trees as you need, and then create a chair from your imagination. And, do it all in a week, working with a partner. My partner was too busy with his project, so I proceeded on my own. I sat down and thought about chairs. What role do chairs play in human culture? I decided that chairs are about status. When I was a kid, there were two armchairs at our dinner table…they were for my parents. They are the heads of the house, so they are distinguished by using the chairs with arms. Another place chairs represent status is the king’s throne. The king sits in the biggest, most ornate chair. The chair, really, defines the man. So with these thoughts in mind I decided to make a chair that the king of the woods might sit in. It sort of looks like an “ent,” like maybe it might just walk back into the forest and disappear. I think it belongs in fantasy and less in reality. Kind of strange.

While I was off making my fantasy chair, Barb was impressing me with all things clay. For only being a beginner, I was pretty impressed with her creations. Here they are…

Barb thought you all might like to see her baby bump. She is now 13 weeks and our baby is the size of a peach (or a jumbo shrimp). She has been a little tired but mostly is doing great. We go for lots of long walks, which is good exercise for us both, and it is a great time to talk about our day and connect. Yesterday we walked south of Vickleby (our village) and found Alvaret, a huge open area of limestone, covered with 1 ft of soil. The area is miles and miles around and nothing grows on it – it’s wide open. It really explains why all the old buildings on this island were built of stone.