What a year!

What a year! I thought the act of archiving my skills would be about what I have learned in the past, but the process has spurred me on to the future. The act of learning is expansive; it is not about learning one medium or one tool but combining all the tools you come in contact with to help you resolve your place in the world.

When Gretchen and I started building this site we realized it was awkward for me to send pictures of my drawings for the web site, so with a nudge I went to my discomfort zone (technology) and learned Procreate to create drawings on the iPad. I discovered I could put many drawings together to create animations; we added that to our site. Now I use the iPad to resolve furniture design problems, size images to trace for my printmaking, etc.

It has spilled over into every aspect of my creative life. Each new tool, craft or skill I learn goes onto a list in my head that helps me resolve creative problems. The more tools and skills the more possibilities. Creativity is about having lots of experience and skills to draw upon. We started this site to archive woodturning but have realized we have so much more to draw upon. We look forward to the next year and where it will lead us. Thank you for going on this journey with us!

This was published in the Studio newsletter. You can read more here.