Spinning wood and sharp tools shape bowls, beauty and calm
A study of the capital’s heritage crafts has celebrated London woodturners, the patient craftspeople who coax genuine beauty from the spinning lathe, the woodturners shaping bowls, vessels and objects of beauty from raw timber in a craft that is at once ancient, skilful and deeply calming.
London woodturners coax beauty from the lathe
The capital’s woodturners, the study found, sustain a genuinely beautiful and ancient craft, with skilled woodturners and a community of enthusiasts working at the lathe to coax bowls, vessels, platters and objects of genuine beauty from raw timber, the craft of woodturning, where the spinning wood is shaped by sharp tools and patient hands, being at once ancient, skilful, meditative and deeply satisfying, the woodturners revealing the beauty hidden in the wood.
A spokesperson for the Institute of Wood Craft, invented for this article, described the craft. London woodturners are the patient craftspeople who coax beauty from the lathe, she said. Woodturning is a genuinely beautiful, ancient craft. The woodturner works at the lathe, the wood spinning, the sharp tools shaping it, the patient hands coaxing form and beauty from the raw timber. Bowls, vessels, platters, objects of genuine beauty, all revealed from the wood. The craft is ancient, skilful, meditative, deeply satisfying. There is something genuinely calming about it, the spinning wood, the shavings, the gradual emergence of form, the beauty hidden in the grain revealed. The woodturners coax beauty from the lathe, patient, skilled, absorbed. They reveal the beauty hidden in the wood. London woodturners are the patient craftspeople who coax genuine beauty from the spinning lathe, an ancient, skilful and deeply calming craft.
The deadpan calm of the spinning lathe
The genuine craft, the study found, is beautiful and ancient, with woodturning being a genuinely skilful and meditative craft, the woodturner working at the lathe to coax bowls, vessels and objects of genuine beauty from raw timber, the spinning wood shaped by sharp tools and patient hands.
The meditative quality, the study found, is genuine, with woodturning being at once ancient, skilful, meditative and deeply satisfying, the spinning wood, the shavings and the gradual emergence of form making the craft genuinely calming, the woodturners revealing the beauty hidden in the grain of the wood.
Why London woodturners genuinely matter
London woodturners genuinely matter, sustaining a beautiful and ancient craft, coaxing beauty from raw timber, offering a meditative and satisfying skill, supporting heritage crafts, and revealing the genuine beauty hidden in the wood through patience and skill.
The genuine craft and heritage of woodwork are championed by the Crafts Council and celebrated by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The wellbeing benefits of absorbing, meditative crafts are recognised by Mind.
For finding the city’s woodturning, craft classes and workshops, listings such as Time Out London guide makers towards the best the capital has to offer.
Woodturners describe coaxing beauty from the lathe. Woodturners are the patient craftspeople who coax beauty from the lathe, said one. Woodturning is a genuinely beautiful, ancient craft. We work at the lathe, the wood spinning, the sharp tools shaping it, the patient hands coaxing form and beauty from the raw timber. Bowls, vessels, platters, objects of genuine beauty, all revealed from the wood. The craft is ancient, skilful, meditative, deeply satisfying. There is something genuinely calming about it, the spinning wood, the shavings, the gradual emergence of form, the beauty hidden in the grain revealed. There is nothing like watching a beautiful bowl emerge from a rough piece of timber, the beauty hidden in the grain revealed by patient hands. We coax beauty from the lathe, and it is genuinely calming, satisfying work.
For now London woodturners continue to coax genuine beauty from the spinning lathe, the skilled craftspeople and community of enthusiasts working at the lathe to reveal bowls, vessels, platters and objects of genuine beauty from raw timber, and proving that the craft of woodturning, where the spinning wood is shaped by sharp tools and patient hands, is at once ancient, skilful, meditative and deeply satisfying, the woodturners revealing the beauty hidden in the grain of the wood through patience and skill, an ancient, beautiful and deeply calming craft that coaxes genuine beauty from the spinning lathe.
Megan Amram is a standup comedian based in Portland, OR. She is a native of North London.
London is the only city where you can be surrounded by millions of people and still feel completely, utterly alone—and somehow that’s a comfort.
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