Happy New Year

Another year comes to a close and my thoughts like many of us turn toward the new year. It’s so silly as it is just another day on a calendar, but all of us attach such importance to the completion of another lap around the sun.

We assess our year and make big plans for the next. Maybe it’s silly but its a lot of fun too. Personally I’m excited for a new year. I’ll be travelling a lot this year both domestic and abroad. I’ll be attending HandWorks and the Studley exhibition as well as Woodworking in America. I’m hoping to wrap up some plans to teach some more out there in the world too.

I have some big projects planned here on the blog and a lot of exploration into unfamiliar styles of furniture. The 20th Century beckons to me and the genesis of this idea goes all the way back to a presentation at WIA 2009 when Oscar Fitzgerald spoke on the subject. I don’t know where the interest in Midcentury Modern has come from, I don’t watch “Madmen” but I’m fascinated by the lines of the Atomic Age.

Of course The Hand Tool School is plodding ahead. 2014 was a quiet year production wise as my membership exploded for my early semesters and I focused heavily on individual assistance of many new woodworkers just discovering hand tools. It was a truly rewarding year and in 2015 I hope to continue this tutelage but push forward into many new projects and some individually packaged products instead of just following my semester model.

In other words, it should be a great year FULL of challenges. I hope the same to all of you, my lovely readers, and may all your saw cuts be laser straight.

How About You?

Do you have any big plans for the new year and your wood shop? Big projects? Classes? Conferences?