New Chair Class * New Open Wire Dates

Plus a Video on the 'Backwoods Chairmakers' Event

View this email in your browser New Chair Class Plus, New Open Wire Dates Some quick administrative stuff. To try to meet demand for classes on building a stick chair, I've scheduled a class in building a Welsh-style comb-back chair at our Covington storefront for Nov. 18-22. Registration for the class will open at noon (Eastern) on June 24. You can register via this link on June 24. The classes are expensive, I know. The price includes all materials, plus continental breakfast and lunch every day. (We are serious about the food.) The class size is small – six students with one instructor and an assistant. We go to great lengths to make the week special and work hard so you go home with a finished (completely finished) chair. The other bit of news here is that we have to scale back "Open Wire" a bit for the rest of the year. Megan and I are traveling a lot in the coming months, and it's difficult to juggle our Open Wire when one of us is out of town. Here are the Open Wire dates for the rest of 2024: July 20 August 10 September 14 October 19 November 16 December 14 We will post reminders before each Open Wire date. Those are the Saturdays when both Megan and I will be in the office and ready to answer your woodworking questions. Megan and I enjoy Open Wire, but we hate to leave the other in the lurch when the other is traveling or teaching. — Christopher Schwarz More on the Class A Video of the Chairmakers Gathering We kicked off the Chairmakers' Gathering with a welcome, then a few words from Patrick Cecil, a ladderback chairmaker from Cannon County, Tennessee. Patrick shared the rhythm of his work week, from cutting parts to loading 20-30 chairs onto a truck on Fridays – then doing it again the following week. He learned from and worked alongside his grandfather Arlis Thomas. By Patrick's conservative estimate, Arlis made more than 125,000 chairs during his career! (Patrick is somewhere around 25,000.) The (threat of) rain kept us inside for much of the day. Luckily, the workshop areas within Berea College Student Craft were plenty large enough to all the events and the 200 or so attendees.   We had four stages. On the Turning Stage, chairmakers who use the lathe for their parts showed how they work. The StoryTime Stage saw chairmakers share aspects of their careers and their processes; a highlight there was Drew Langsner's slideshow of his years running Country Workshops. Wood was worked and hickory bark was shaved and peeled at the Greenwood Stage. And The Assembly Stage was for chair demonstrations, including Tom Donahey showing his full chairmaking process. Terry Ratliff and Brian Boggs shared some encouraging remarks to close our terrific day.   Now that the event is over, what sticks with me is the generosity surrounding it. Twelve chairmakers traveled to Berea (often from a distance) to share the "how" and the "why" behind their chairmaking careers. The attendees came from around the country to engage. They sat in the chairs in the Gallery and flipped them over for a close look, asked questions at all the stages and during the full-group Panel Discussion, and got autographs from the chairmakers.   Chairmaking is experiencing a moment of excitement right now within the woodworking community, and it was rewarding to see the spotlight on this experienced group of Appalachian ladderback chairmakers and their work.   – Andy Glenn, author of "Backwoods Chairmakers" Watch the Video Follow Us Copyright (C) 2024 Lost Art Press. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the Lost Art Press blog. Welcome! We try our best to make this a good experience for both of us... Our mailing address is: Lost Art Press 407 Madison Ave Covington, KY 41011-1519 USA Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe