In 2011, I was the fulfillment service for Lost Art Press. We had books and shirts tucked into every corner of our house – our guest bedroom was one solid brick of inventory. Within a year we had found a new warehouse and we moved all the inventory to Indiana.
But when we cleared out my basement of books and packing materials, we missed a cache of 70 “Divide & Conquer” T-shirts.
These shirts were our most popular design to date. Printed on 100-percent cotton American Apparel grey shirts, they were both comfortable and disturbing.
Last week I found this little horde of “new old stock” shirts in the basement and sent them to our warehouse. We’re selling them at a special price – $17 plus shipping. That price basically covers our costs.
We are unlikely to reissue this shirt again – we have enough on our plates. So if you want one, here’s your chance.
We’ve a plethora of woodworking classes on offer for the second half of 2019 – most of them from visiting instructors (some from far, far away).
In most cases, classes are limited to six students (the number of benches we have available, plus one for the instructor) – so the instructor has plenty of time to pay attention to you…whether you want that or not!
The storefront (837 Willard St., Covington, Ky., 41011) is located just south of the Covington, Ky., MainStrasse entertainment district, in a safe neighborhood with lots of food and drink options, as well as accommodations at various price points, from inexpensive Air BnBs to an awfully nice hotel (that honestly isn’t pricey by most big-city standards), all within walking distance.
Registration opens at 10 a.m. Eastern on January 21 for the classes below (click through to each for a description). Registration is free on Eventbrite (and I strongly recommend signing up for the waitlist if you don’t get into the class you want – cancellations do happen). About three weeks after registration opens, I send each instructor his or her class list, and you are billed by the instructor (not by Lost Art Press or me – unless it’s my class, of course).
And as I’ve written before, this is not a woodworking school; it’s a woodworking shop in which some classes are taught. Christopher Schwarz runs not only the editorial side of Lost Art Press out of the space, but also his own furniture business, and he kindly allows both Brendan Gaffney and me to use the space for furniture work as well. The classes are a lot of fun…but they are also a lot of work – amidst the other work – which is to say that while we’ll still have some in 2020, we will not be able to have as many. So if there’s one you’re eyeing below, be ready at your computer on Jan. 21 at 10 a.m., and type quickly (they do tend to fill quickly).
If you’ve any questions, shoot me an email at covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com (please do not send questions about classes to the LAP help desk).
Today we took Christian Becksvoort to the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill to see some of the buildings and – we hoped – some of the furniture. For more than a year, the meeting house and Centre Family Dwelling have been under construction. And the majority of the village’s furniture collection has been in storage.
Recently we heard they were opening the Centre Family Dwelling for tours and we drove to the central Kentucky village to see whatever we could.
After a visit to the newly restored meeting house and a substantial Kentucky lunch, we arrived for a tour of the Centre Family Dwelling. Thanks to the bad weather (snow, spitty snow and rain) the only people on the tour were Chris, Megan Fitzpatrick, two other women and me.
When we walked in, it was like seeing the building when it was new in 1834. You could smell the fresh plaster and paint. The floors were bare and unfinished. The rooms were empty. And it was just us and 21,000 square feet of building.
The $5.1 million restoration added geothermal HVAC to the building, new lighting (sorry, but I’m not a fan of it) and fresh paint and repairs.
I thought I’d be disappointed to see the building without all the furniture. I’ve visited Pleasant Hill about 20 times since 1993, and I think of many of the rooms and furniture pieces there as familiar friends. But the empty building was a bit of a revelation. And you won’t be able to see it like this for long.
Starting later this month, you’ll be able to tour the building without a guide. And there won’t be exhibits or objects displayed in the building until November 2019 (or later). So if you want to see the building in its purest form, now is the time.
When Megan Fitzpatrick posted the frontispiece of Christian Becksvoort’s latest book, Shaker Inspiration, on Instagram a few months back, I knew I would be placing an order. Not only have I admired Becksvoort’s work for decades; the frontispiece was utterly lovely, promising yet another beautiful and informative book from Lost Art Press.
What I did not expect was a book that offers as much to the professional or would-be professional woodworker as to the ardent Shaker furniture fan. In addition to a sizable section devoted to Shaker furniture, with measured drawings of Becksvoort’s own designs and reproduction pieces along with a portfolio of drool-worthy classics, the eminently readable book encompasses wood technology (informed by the author’s academic background in forestry), no-nonsense discussion of training possibilities, tips and techniques (several of them new to me) and invaluable advice on what’s involved in setting up a business and running it successfully.
Those who have read my book Making Things Work will be aware of the importance I attach to being honest about the sometimes-brutal realities of basing your livelihood on furniture making. Ever since I read Becksvoort’s no-holds-barred reply in Fine Woodworking to a reader’s letter asking how to make a living as a furniture maker, I have wanted to shake his hand.
After weeks of looking forward to that handshake, I relinquished the opportunity to meet Mr. Becksvoort at yesterday’s Lost Art Press event due to the forecast for several inches of snow combined intermittently with the dreaded “wintry mix.” But I’m looking forward to seeing him in April at Fine Woodworking Live.
Seriously diminished in volume after 24 hours of temps hovering around freezing, the snow is still lovely to look at.
The Lost Art Press storefront is open today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And at 7 p.m. we are throwing a party for Christian Becksvoort to celebrate his new book “Shaker Inspiration.”
The event is free. We will have drinks and snacks. And Chris will give a presentation of his work, sign books and shake hands. Come visit a living woodworking legend in one of his few visits to the Midwest.
The storefront is at 837 Willard St., Covington, Ky 41011. We have our complete line of books for sale, plus some blemished books at 50 percent off. Come see Brendan working on his Chester Cornett rocker. Megan’s working on a Dutch tool chest and I’m working on two Welsh stick chairs.
