Overview

In the tradition of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, legendary furniture craftsman and teacher Gary Rogowski offers a profound meditation on finding focus, mental clarity, purpose and clarity in the modern age of distraction. In an era when there are countless competing claims on one's attention, how does one find the internal focus to be creative? For master furniture craftsman Gary Rogowski, the answer is in the act of creative work itself. The discipline of working with one's hands to create unnecessarily beautiful things shapes the builder into a more complete human being. In the tradition of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Shop Class as Soulcraft, Rogowski's Handmade is a profound meditation on the eternal value of manual work, creativity, human fallibility, and the stubborn pursuit of quality work. Rogowski tells his life story of how he became a craftsman and how years of persistent work have taught him patience, resilience, tolerance for failure, and a love of pursuing beauty and mastery for its own sake. Part autobiography, part guide to creativity, and part guide to living, Handmade is a book for craftspeople, artists, and anyone who seeks clarity, purpose, and creativity in their work - and it's the perfect antidote to a modern world that thinks human labor is obsolete. AUTHOR: Gary Rogowski is a furniture maker, designer, teacher and author. SELLING POINTS: . Future classic in the tradition of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Shop Class as Soulcraft. . Will have deep appeal in the self-help/personal growth market. . Wide appeal beyond woodworkers, hobbyists, and craftsman - a book that every artist and everyone interested in creativity and spiritual growth. . Endorsed by Nick Offerman, America's favourite celebrity woodworker. . Stirring celebration of what is human and fallible in human creativity and work, perfect for everyone worried about automation eliminating their work.

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9781610353144

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Reviews

Gary Rogowski has written an engaging biography that traces his development from a youthful student searching for a meaningful path in life to a highly respected and accomplished furniture maker and teacher. Alternating chapters describe his experiences as a woodworker and as a hiker and mountaineer in his native Pacific Northwest, illustrating his view that the lessons learned in each endeavor are the same. They are lessons in the quality of thinking that allows one to overcome internal barriers to internal goals. While furniture makers will recognize many of the lessons learned as their own, this book will appeal to anyone who has worked hard to identify and develop their own gifts. -- Miguel Gomez-Ibanez, President, North Bennet Street School A rich life's worth of journeys both at the workbench and upon the trail, 'Handmade' can show us the way out of the woods, sure, but even better, it teaches us that maybe in the woods is the place to be. Gary Rogowski leads us gently but surely upon the path to a type of success we may not have previously considered. (Hint: it involves blisters). -- Nick Offerman, woodworker & author of Paddle Your Own Canoe

'Do good work. There will be evidence.' We would all do well to heed the advice of Gary Rogowski. He is one of those rare individuals who has come to peace with excellence. In this charming tale, he reveals a few of his secrets and plenty of his mistakes, so the rest of us might listen and learn. From tales 'of wood' to tales 'in the woods, ' Rogowski's aim is true. --Joyce Cherry Cresswell, novelist, essayist, poet, and author of A Great Length of Time.

'Do good work. There will be evidence.' We would all do well to heed the advice of Gary Rogowski. He is one of those rare individuals who has come to peace with excellence. In this charming tale, he reveals a few of his secrets and plenty of his mistakes, so the rest of us might listen and learn. From tales 'of wood' to tales 'in the woods, ' Rogowski's aim is true. --Joyce Cherry Cresswell, novelist, essayist, poet, and author of A Great Length of Time. Gary Rogowski loves to rock climb and also has a deep love for woodworking. Both disciplines require courage, concentration and a developed sense of method; one wrong step, one wrong cut. Gary's book delves into this synchronicity with enjoyable anecdotes of climbing and woodworking interlaced with serious discussion of the importance of focus, practice, patience and how we become masters of craft. --Roland Johnson, contributing editor, Fine Woodworking, and author of Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Bandsaws A rich life's worth of journeys both at the workbench and upon the trail, Handmade can show us the way out of the woods, sure, but even better, it teaches us that maybe in the woods is the place to be. Gary Rogowski leads us gently but surely upon the path to a type of success we may not have previously considered. (Hint: it involves blisters). --Nick Offerman, woodworker and author of Paddle Your Own Canoe

Author Information

Gary Rogowski is a furniture maker, designer, teacher and author. Since 1974 he has built public and private furniture commissions for clients and galleries nationwide. He is a former contributing editor to 'Fine Woodworking Magazine' and has written hundred of articles and several books, including the bestselling 'Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery'. He is also a playwright, novelist, and essayist. Rogowski has taught and lectured throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany. In 2015, he gave the first-ever lecture in English at the École Boulle in Paris. Rogowski is the founded and director of The Northwest Woodworking Studio: A School for Woodworkers, in Portland, Oregon. In 2015 he founded a nonprofit organization, Woodworking Ideas Northwest to mentor high school students at the bench.

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