Nick Kary - Material: Making and the Art of Transformation

Praise for Material

In Material , Nick Kary mines the deep knowledge of makers and creatives, and the resultant nuggets from carpenters, weavers, smiths and masons are often gold. This book offers a timely retort to a world in thrall to fast, ephemeral fashions. A marvellous mix of the heuristic, didactic and expedient; a celebration of the local, old-school and hands-on, Material is generous, wise, fascinating and fundamentally humane.

Dan Richards , author of Outpost

A profound and personal delving into the ancient connection between man and matter and our increasingly tenuous relationship with nature. An important book, brimming with insight.

Nicholas Evans , author of The Horse Whisperer

Nick Kary understands that to be a maker is to be a seeker creating to a personal standard not only out of the material of the earth but of memory, ones relationship to place and history, the force of time. The work of our hands affirms a stewardship of the land that is also an imperative. Material is a quiet, heartfelt assertion of why craft so deeply matters.

Anne Michaels , author of Fugitive Pieces

It was as if Nick Karys outstretched hand took mine and, tucking my arm under his, gently led me into an enchanted world. There is an exquisite poignancy in this book, an honesty, a fearless enquiry that shifts from sunlight to shadow, along paths mostly hidden from a world grown weary of beauty. Material meets maker in a sensuous weave of insight, wonderment, ordinariness, and deep humanity. I will read this book again, and slowly, in the way I might cup hands and, dipping them to clean spring water, pause to drink.

Mac Macartney , author of The Childrens Fire: Heart Song of a People

With grace and humility, Nick Kary has crafted a deeply felt and intimately observed portrait of a magic English landscape of authentic makers working amidst the remnants, scars and generational stories of forgotten crafts and industry. Material: Making and the Art of Transformation beautifully weaves together the pathos and promise of traditional materials and methods, and the intimate bonds that form between artisans and their medium as they bring meaning to their making. Nick Kary has gifted us, giving eloquent voice to thinking and feeling with ones hands.

Christopher Bardt , author of Material and Mind

Material

Making and the Art of Transformation

Nick Kary

Chelsea Green Publishing

White River Junction, Vermont

London, UK

Copyright 2020 by Nick Kary.

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all illustrations copyright 2020 by Lou Tonkin.

Chairmaking in Yew 2014 by Chris Waters, from Through a Glass Lately, published by Mudlark Press. Used by permission.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Project Manager: Alexander Bullett

Commissioning Editor: Jonathan Rae

Developmental Editor: Benjamin Watson

Copy Editor: Eliani Torres

Proofreader: Susan Pegg

Designer: Melissa Jacobson

Page Layout: Abrah Griggs

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing September 2020.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 120 21 22 23 24

Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Material was printed on paper supplied by Sheridan that is made of recycled materials and other controlled sources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kary, Nick, author.

Title: Material : making and the art of transformation / Nick Kary.

Description: White River Junction, Vermont : Chelsea Green Publishing, 2020.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020026889 (print) | LCCN 2020026890 (ebook) | ISBN 9781603589321 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781603589338 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: HandicraftPhilosophy.

Classification: LCC TT149 .K37 2020 (print) | LCC TT149 (ebook) | DDC 745.5dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026889

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026890

Chelsea Green Publishing

85 North Main Street, Suite 120

White River Junction, VT 05001

Somerset House

London, UK

www.chelseagreen.com

To Dolly for her unswerving commitment and belief, and to the Maker and the Wild in us all.

But who dreams the bird in the wild wood

with the berry in its beak that becomes the tree

that the woodcutter fells his eyes lit with the form

his hands seek in the wild grain which he hews and shapes

into his chair, poised now in the winter gleam

of a quiet room?

Chris Waters , Chairmaking in Yew

Contents

This book owes its life to the belief of others. To my editor Jon Rae for his unflinching support as the book slowly strayed ever further from its initial description. To my daughter Misha for her daily questions over the last year as to whether my writing has gone well. To my wife Dolly for believing in me, for her direct critical feedback, her reading and rereading, and her absolute commitment to the project and tolerance of my moods. To Tara and the staff at the Green Table caf for supplying me with food, coffee and humour. To my writing friends Chris and Pip for their constant feedback and support, to my friend Michael for always being there and to Mac for reminding me to trust myself. To Jay Griffiths for her honesty and words of wisdom. To Ben Watson, Eliani Torres and all the staff at Chelsea Green who have supported this book from its inception to its completion. To my sons Felix and Oscar for their commitment to their own visions, and to all my friends and family for their support.

The writing of this book would not have been possible without the generosity of all the makers who have allowed me to spend time with them in their private spaces, to share with me their thoughts and their reflections. I particularly thank Lin Lovekin, as her generosity and the invitation into her home helped open my vision for what this book could become. I thank Bernard Graves of Pyrites for letting me join his craft camp for the week, all the facilitators who made time to speak with me, and Rich and Mark for accepting my presence in their course. Finally, I thank Lou Tonkin for her beautiful illustrations and for understanding so intuitively what I was looking for.

Further to these individuals are all the other makers, dead and alive, whose stories feature in this book: Charles Bedford, builder, carpenter, sniper and grandfather; David and Paul Lethbridge of Barton Sawmill; Mark Wills of Blue Hills Tin; Hilary Burns, basketmaker; Geraldine Jones, basketmaker; Mike Gardner, woodsman, timber framer and sawmiller; Naomi the coppicer; Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard, shipbuilder; Nic Collins, potter; Sabine Nemet, potter; Jonathan Garratt, potter; Richenda Macgregor, potter; Lucy the apprentice potter.

Dave Budd, toolmaker and smith; Walter Kary, photographer, weaver, liaison officer and grandfather; Greg Rowland of Mike Rowland and Son Wheelwrights; Steve Overthrow, riddle maker; Philip Kazan, novelist and cook; Claire Williamson, poet and educator; Chris Waters, poet and woodworker.