The Artist. The Craftsman. And My New Chairs.

I love artists.  With color and mood and expression and sometimes gigantic canvas they show us what it is they see.  I love to observe and absorb, let it leave me with a smile or a question and even if sometimes days later I am still so curious in understanding, the learning process is worth it's weight in gold and my world is that much bigger.

When it comes to craftsmen... oh my goodness.  Old World artists with an eye for an object we'll all soon see and a collection of exquisitely well-worn tools with stories of their own to tell.  

And when I find a craftsman who sees the natural beauty in woodgrains and repurposes wood no matter how milled it is, c'mon now... just keep talkin' to me.  

About two weeks ago I made the executive decision to change out my deck furniture.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my practically vintage and positively bullet-proof wicker sofa and chairs, a gazillion pillows and all, but they are way better-suited for a huge wrap-around porch, the kind where you paint the ceiling a soft blue-green to trick the flying insects and ward off evil spirits, and one where I don't have to keep vinyl covers on them when not in use like a '76 MGB.  I really wanted to use my deck more often and to be perfectly honest, pulling those covers off v-e-r-y carefully each and every time for fear of finding what little critter home I may have just disturbed and then wrestling them all back into place... nah, I think we'll store these for awhile.  But I knew exactly what I wanted and so I set out on that trail.  Vintage "looking" Adirondack chairs.  Four of them, with a big coffee table ready for everything from feet to food.

Living in the land of country farm markets and produce stands I really thought this would be easy-peasy.  Not so, my friend.  Yes, the bright and colorful weather-resistant collections are bountiful, even plenty to choose from that are two-seaters and foldable.  Very pleasing to the eye and the tush and the wine glass and the trunk of the car, but just not what I was looking for so I took to Facebook Marketplace, broadened my search area and WHAM... less than two hours away lives a man who makes these chairs out of wood pallets.  Oh yes you heard me right.  He repurposes wood pallets and, sugar does he do it well!

I grew up watching my dad design and create and build beautiful pieces out of a pile of wood, and my three brothers continue with the most amazing talent and the skills, and patience, Dad taught them.  Measure twice, cut once.  Think.  Create.  Satisfy your soul.  This is the way.  The pile of fresh sawdust drew me in under their feet every time, something about that warm fragrant softness to sink my fingers into.  Walking into the shed out back was like walking into the house every Thanksgiving, it was that kind of smile.  I would watch them with their freshly sharpened pencils and graph paper and scale rulers, listen to them talk about their plans and lumber store shopping lists, and then watch their perfect and precise creations become a thing.  A real and beautiful thing, perfectly smooth, perfectly angled, perfectly functioning, and perfectly smart. 

So meet Josh Webster.  Right here... Josh Webster | Facebook.  Guys, I'll cut right to the chase.  This guy is good.  This guy is a craftsman.  And he's the kind of craftsman my Dad would so enjoy meeting.  

After just a little bit of strolling the marketplace I spotted his post for two handcrafted Adirondack chairs for sale and stopped dead in my tracks.  My new chairs.  I found them.  And I found a craftsman.  Josh is extraordinarily polite, courteous, hears you, and is willing to build anything and in just a few exchanged messages my order for four chairs and a not-so-standard table in a natural matte finish was placed.  Oh yeah, annnd did I mention it's all recycled wood pallets?  Well Amen, I say to you.  The next day came a message with a photo to show his progress...  all the pieces were cut, sanded, and ready to become a thing.  He just wanted me to know.  And here's the kicker -- one week later my two more chairs and table were ready to jump in the car with the first two chairs and in just a couple of hours my deck became a thing.  My thing.

It was only a few minutes of in-person conversation with Josh while he so perfectly fit everything into my beloved 16-year old Yukon-best-friend-I-hope-you-never-leave-me-work-horse.  But it was conversation that took me right back to my Dad and my brothers because as he carried my chairs from his shed out back to my car he talked about his love of building things -- simple and beautiful things, smart design tweaks, and this summer because now his daughter is old enough to handle some of his tools and he can begin to teach her the craft, and they can work on their projects together. 

I have some pieces my brothers and Dad have built and will never, ever let them go.   I can still hear their conversations and see their interactions while they worked on their projects.  I think they were each other's biggest fans.  Only a couple of people so far have seen my new chairs and table, but that's okay because there's plenty of time -- I'll never, ever let them go.

Thanks, Josh.  And I hope you and your daughter have an incredibly amazing summer!