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The Art of Making films show people who overcome the dim and dismal that is so ubiquitous today, and create beautiful things by combining art with science.
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The first shows the making of a flamenco guitar. The 299- hour project Alma Flamenca is condensed into a gorgeous 3-minute film by Dimitris Ladopoulos.
If you are interested in the precise art of carpentry, the second very short film (1 minute 41) features the carpenter, and is also by Dimitris Ladupoulos.
22 Comments
Wow; always wanted a lathe, but that’s the first time I ever saw a working one. Awesome, C-S. (Scary messy shop, though, yikes.) ;o)
Thank you Wendy. I love that the tools in the shop are labeled. My dad’s long-time passion for woodworking has always kept me interested in this precise art. When I look at the shop, it is the saws that make me say “yikes!”
Someday I would also like to work a lathe. Many years ago I was able to see how a lapidary lathe works for the rocks/thunder eggs, but I have never worked with a wood lathe.
Thank you again for stopping by, much appreciated, and I did rec the march notice, so that folks are aware.
Just a word on lathes.
Somewhere in my reading it was highlighted that the lathe is the only machine that can reproduce itself.
I always wondered where all of the baby lathes came from.
Now we know.
Thanks and recommended.
Thanks, C-S, loving the details of making things came hard to me, a somewhat hyperactive person. It’s taken me a long time to slow down and do things right, or well, and I am glad to get to that point at last. Nice to see patience promoted, we don’t learn to value it until we want something really badly that takes that art.
I assume, without debate on the merits, that you are referring to the lathe’s well-known rotational (screwing type) motion.
At any rate, I love all things related to craftsmanship. My products would not look like these beautiful works of art. No they wouldn’t.
Thank you so much for stopping by and for the rec!
Good point, Ruth. Patience is also important for safety. In my past life I took care of some folks with saw injuries. Invariably, they said, when commenting on their own digital amputation,…”I have been doing this for many years with the same equipment. And, I only glanced away from the saw for a second.”
I am like you, impatient, easily distracted. I imagine that these arts require a high degree of focus and patience.
Kind of sounds like Washington, don’t it. Know we know where politicians come from as well.
But I digress. It is a shame that that there are fewer and fewer real craftsmen around these days. Building is still quite popular in Europe and other parts of the world though.
ARG no edit. Know -> Now
It is a shame that precise arts and craftsmanship are disappearing. As a scavenger, I see a lot of discarded furniture. The decline began after the vintage era, as near as I can tell. It’s all staples and particle board. Real wood is rare these days. This is sad. That said, I once found a vintage orgam, and I was mesmerized by the wood drum on the inside of it. Some of the pianos are beautiful.
Thank you for stopping by, c, and yes, the screwing metaphor is apt!
Thanks C-S,
In the mid seventies I was making guitars, drums, flutes and dulcimers, learning from books becoming available around the time the Whole Earth Catalog was published. I was fortunate to have an extensive woodworking background from being shown how to shape scrap wood into model boat hulls by my grandfather during times he did childcare for me (it kept me safely out of trouble for hours on end, I needed to stand on a stool to work the vice and reach the rasps at the back of his bench), to high-school industrial arts with a nationally know wood working author for four years.
In the process of trying to turn those skills and accumulation of tools, into a living wage business presently, preparing wood, modifying assembly fixtures, in search of shop space (at an affordable price) with the ability to control temperature and humidity, necessary for successful outcomes with thin veneers and traditional finishing techniques (lacquers and varnishes).
Cool!! It is so nice to hear from you, nonquixote! I did not know that you were an artistic woodworker. I hope that you can find a shop, and do the work you have always dreamed of doing. I live about 50 yards from a man who does just that. He restores beautiful furniture in a small but complete shop.
Making drums and instruments leaves no room for error. It is the poetry of woodworking, I suppose.
When you get your shop, I hope you will post an article about it.
Thanks again.
“…you are referring to the lathe’s well-known rotational (screwing type) motion.”
Yes, in that each part of a lathe can be made on a lathe via rotary motion.
Regarding knowledge of the ‘screwing type’, while that topic is far beyond my pay grade, if I were to comment on this concept, I would have to conclude:
“Is there any other type worth even running up the flag pole to see who salutes?”
So, in that you have earned, bought, and now will pay for your courting of subjects best left for the imagination, you will now get a bit of doggerel-woof!
‘To screw, or not to screw,
Ah, isn’t that the germane question?
Whether ‘tis nobler to screw artfully,
Or merely just let the chips lathe where they fall.’
Ouch: I had to sprint out far beyond the left field parking lot to come up with that abomination.
Thanks again-woof!
Those are both very nicely produced videos, thanks for posting them. Though stylistically nice for film production, I don’t blow the dust around and would never have a cigarette in the dusty shop. Controlling wood dust is my main imperative for healthy working conditions. Approved dust masks, vacuums and re-circulating air filters are my best friends.
In between gardening, paying carpentry work and summer activities, I am salvaging several large maples that were removed for road, “improvements,” nearby (won’t improve the fall colors). I have found numerous sections of flamed maple (sometimes referred to as fiddle-back and quilted maple), the highly patterned wood used to make violins, I am sawing and storing for future use. Headful of projects from utilitarian to musical to purely sculptural for these 150 year old pieces.
Well now doremus. I certainly ‘blew’ that one didn’t I? Sure had it ‘coming!’ LOL, thanks for the bit of rotational motion trivia! I never would have thought of that.:)
Wow, maple, what a salvage score! Just reading your comments, I know that you have truly found something to do that is a meaningful following of your heart (that you were called to do). I am sending good vibes to the workshop dream of yours, I know it will come true, and I would love to see and hear more about it.
Thank you also for your comments regarding safety in a wood shop. Makes sense, while blowing the dust looks pretty on film, it is probably best to be safe around the dust, with the filters and vacuums.
Thanks. I love Flamenco music and dancing so this was just for me. My wife’s cousin has done woodworking in California and sold his products to big-time celebs. Now he has a business of making and selling a product for making precise elliptical grooves in wood. My brother did woodworking for a short while. We have several finished pieces in our house. It was too hard for him to compete with the pressboard stuff that was so cheap because it wasn’t worth what you paid for it.
That particle board stuff may look pretty in the Ikea store, but I see it every day, discarded, after being used only briefly. There is no substitute for craftsmanship. I think that people are coming around, though, to realizing how cheaply made the pressboard stuff is. At least I hope so. The elliptical groove invention (patent?) sounds really cool. Sounds like he has been fortunate with his client base and connections. There are many artistic and inventive type people in the (film) ‘biz.’
I also love flamenco music.
Thank you for stopping by and watching Alma Flamenca, and for sharing a comment.
Nice videos. Ron wants to design a guitar out of bamboo. After bamboo is “cooked” it resonants wonderfully.
Oh! Bamboo is a grass, and such a beautiful one. I had no idea one cooked bamboo, and that it changed the sound-carrying ability.
Looking at some photos…beautiful!
Crane-Station–
Thanks for the two interesting videos. The first one is particularly fascinating, and well put together. The guitar music is awesome. The “Paso Doble” has always been one of my favorite Latin dances. Apparently, there’s a dance style called Paso Flamenco, which combines the Paso Doble with Flamenco dancing. Not surprising, the Flamenco guitar is the guitar which most often provides the instrumentals for both the Flamenco, and the Paso Flamenco. I’ve played several instruments, but none of the string instruments. If my memory wasn’t beginning to get so bad, I think that I’d actually consider taking violin lessons.
I was glad that you enjoyed Camara’s Flight of the Fairies. In my reply to your post, I linked to “6″ other performances from the PBS Special featuring Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra. (Not that I expect that you’ll listen to all of them). But one performance, which features the orchestra, the six soloists, the Johann Strauss Chorus AND the Harlem Gospel Choir, will knock your socks off, I promise. It was the theme song of the Olympic Games in Spain. You may have heard of it, Amigos Para Siempre. Hope you get a chance to view it.
Blue
Thank you so much, I especially love gospel choirs. This must be spectacular, and I will view them tomorrow, on Fathers Day. The very young violinist was amazing, thank you for turning my attention to him.
I cannot WAIT to hear the Hallelujah Chorus!