Issue Six: Book Recommendation - Yanagi's "The Unknown Craftsman"


We are announcing one Issue Six article each weekday until pre-orders open on February 1st. If you don’t already have a subscription and just wanted to order a copy of Issue Six by itself, you may do so on February 1st. 

If you signed up for an auto-renewing yearly subscription, your card will be automatically charged exactly 365 days from your original purchase date. Any questions about your subscription status can be directed to info@mortiseandtenonmag.com. 

For our Issue Six book recommendation, we contacted Arsenios Hill, a carver and toolmaker living in the desert of the American Southwest. He recently found himself captivated by Soetsu Yanagi’s rich and reflective work, The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty. Yanagi was the founder of Japan’s Folk Art Movement that began in the 1920s, and he found his greatest inspiration in the everyday, vernacular items made by anonymous makers. His book looks in detail at specific areas of craft philosophy such as “Pattern,” “The Beauty of Irregularity,” and “The Responsibility of the Craftsman.” Arsenios notes that this book is not a how-to guide, but is instead a thought-provoking study for the contemplative craftsman. The thoughts contained in this book might inspire you to look in a fresh way at creating functional beauty in your woodworking.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post announcing the last article in Issue Six…

 


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