It would be part of my scheme of physical education that every youth in the State—from the King’s son downwards—should learn to do something finely and thoroughly with his hand, so as to let him know what touch meant; and what stout craftmanship meant; and to inform him of many things besides, which no man can learn but by some severely accurate discipline in doing. Let him once learn to take a straight shaving off a plank, or draw a fine curve without faltering, or lay a brick level in its mortar; and he has learned a multitude of other matters which no lips of man could ever teach him.
John Ruskin
Time and Tide by Weare and Tyne : Twenty-five letters to a working man of Sunderland on the Law of Work – (London) 1867
-Jeff Burks
Rousseau could not have said it better
Great post. That is some sound advice! I see my friend’s children, and to a degree even my own, and wonder what they are going to learn – how to turn on and off the TV, how to text faster than most clerk’s can type, or how to avoid an honest day’s work but still manage to get paid. That’s not for me. I insist on learning skills for myself and teaching those skills to my children as well.
Best picture yet. I like the way the chimney on the stove steps to keep many glue pots hot. I suspect the artist that painted this image was also a woodworker.
Jeff, that’s a great picture. Who is it by? BTW thanks for all of your great posts.
Snekkerverksted (Joinery Workshop) – 1881
By the Norwegian painter Gustav Wentzel (1859-1927)
Great painting! Does anybody know what the piece of furniture/shelving on the left is called? Or is it a stack of stools on top of a wood stove?
Thanks for the artist info Jeff!