My name is Karel Hekrle and this is my blog where i want to share experiences worth of considering on the way of making handcrafted woodenware or other items closely connected with our everyday lives.
My own first more serious wood-working experience started about almost 20 years ago when i helped to build a timbered house in Czechia where i was born. I could feel that it simply makes me happy to earn living like that – being mostly outside in contact with elements and having that responsibility for the quality of work. A huge deal of the good feel from the work brings the fact that i can avoid using power hungry machines. I am not polluting the environment to create something useful in everyday life. Just simple tools are needed to start – an axe, a handsaw and some knives or chisels. (Of course in time we add quite a few more and you will read also about these in my next posts.) My greatest handicap and motivation for the hard work at the same time was that i had started only in my twenties. Skills have had to be learned to make it real. Nevertheless once aboard developing skills and floating in the vast ocean of possibilities (Given by the versatility of wood as a material from renewable sources – the beautiful trees.) i could direct myself almost freely looking for the light from the promised land 😉 It did came. Through my interest in an off-grid work and how to make wooden things without use of glue/metalic fasteners i learned about the virtuosity of japanese woodworking tradition and met some people interested in the same. But even more importantly I learned about the greenwoodworking which immediately has given me answers for many questions on how to avoid supporting the culture creating an environment hostile to the diversity of nature and those who love it. There is certainly another way as i also say “We dont need to believe in “this is how the things are done””!
The work i present on socials or sell in the market is mostly focused on woodenware – spoons, bowls and other useful everyday items for dining, picnics and so tightly connected with food culture. It is an easy way to understand the wood too. Some carvings are artistic, best for some special ocassions or overeach a bit to the other areas of greenwoodworking and living. Strangely enough, many people have lost contact with the wood and its raw beauty. And as it seems to be cheaper (Not thinking about ecology and waste or the happines we feel creating things the simple way.) in many areas the wood has been supplemented by plastics.. We can ask again why..? And we can also make our own experience as users or makers not just through our eyes and mind but other senses too. Do they gather in our hearts to create emotions strong enough for our own growth and the change?
Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Treenfolks 