The things we make are not simply objects, but symbols of who WE ARE and WHAT WE OBSERVE in life. This week we sit down with our first ceramicist guest ever, Jordan Koons — potter and educator, to figure out what the things we make are trying to tell us about life and ourselves.

We use Jordan’s personal manifesto as a map for the episode:

1) Jordan's double-walled vessels, an ornately carved exterior wrapped around a hidden interior, as a metaphor for what we project externally to the world versus who we are internally.

2) Negative space representing human vulnerability as the price of real human connection, and

3) Why chasing "perfection" in handmade work might be missing the whole point of making it by hand in the first place.

We hope this conversation stirs up thoughts and emotions inside all of you and you’ll share your thoughts with us in the comments.

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the unfiltered AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467⁠⁠⁠ [http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467]

Episode 71 - What YOUR work says about YOU and LIFE (w/ Jordan Coons)

FACT -> Marketing is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to sell the things we make.  However, marketing often comes with an “ick factor” for many of us, as we are exposed to HUNDREDS of advertisements PER DAY, many of which are dishonest and misleading, with the products prioritizing convenience and profits over the environment.

How can we break this cycle?  Enter Dave Dennis, co-found of Ventana Surfboards & Supplies who takes us through his thinking about ETHICAL MARKETING, and helps us understand that there is no easy perfect solution here, but we can CERTAINLY DO BETTER over time.  He also discusses the problem of Greenwashing, where companies intentionally misrepresent their environmental friendliness as a means to sell product.  Join us for a revealing and eye-opening conversation, and let us know if you decide to try the “TELL NO LIES” CHALLENGE?!

Ventana Surfboards & Supplies: ⁠https://ventanasurfboards.com⁠ [https://ventanasurfboards.com/]

Ventana’s Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/ventanasurfboards⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/ventanasurfboards]

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the unfiltered AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠ ⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467⁠⁠ [http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467]

Episode 70 - How to MARKET and SELL Your Work ETHICALLY

How can we be creative when we don't know what the final goal looks like?  This is OFTEN  the case when we work in teams on collaborate projects, be it at work or in craft.  How do we know if what we've produced is good enough?  Erik and our esteemed guest, FARMER NICK (a wonderful landscape architect, environmentalist, farmer, husband, and all around beautiful human) talk about how they had to be creative on demand in their netflix show while not knowing exactly how thing would turn out in the end.  I think this situation likely applies to ALL OF US in various situations in our life.

Also, Farmer Nick tells us why plants are SO IMPORTANT to our lives and personal well-being as humans, what they teach us about patiences, and what are some of the biggest mistakes we make and how we can easily make improvements.

Follow Nick on Instagram!  https://www.instagram.com/farmernick/

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the unfiltered AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon: ⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467⁠⁠ [http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467]

Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water)mentioned in today's show: http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Episode 69 - Making it up as you GROW (w/ Farmer Nick Cutsumpas)

We've all been there: Bought the tool, watched the videos, bookmarked the plans. Organized the shop one more time. And somehow the actual PROJECT never happens.

This episode is about the INTENTION-BEHAVIOR GAP — the well-documented, deeply human tendency to plan, prep, and research without ACTUALLY DOING THE THING.  Is preparation even really about the work? Or is it about avoiding the risk and uncomfortable feelings of finding out the work won't be perfect or we're not good at something in the beginning? We dig into why "getting ready" feels so productive when it's often just a really elaborate form of procrastination.

Our RESIDENT Ph.D Psychologist Sherry Pagoto breaks down why intentions so rarely convert into action, and how we can SOLVE THIS PROBLEM with simple realistic steps.

Strap in, because it's time to stop TALKING and start DOING

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the unfiltered AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon: ⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467⁠ [http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467]

Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water)mentioned in today's show: http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Episode 68 - Trouble GETTING STARTED on something? This episode is for YOU!

Have you been to a concert where the crowd was involved, singing, dancing, screaming along to their favorite songs. You probably left thinking, "THAT WAS SO AWESOME". Have you been to a concert where you weren't quite sure what the artist was doing?  You sat there quietly trying to make sense out of what you were witnessing.  You might have left confused or you may have left thinking, "geeeez I've never seen anything like that, how interesting!".

In both of these cases something different was happening.  In the first case, the art was clearly FOR the AUDIENCE, THE AUDIENCE AS PARTICIPANT.  In the second case, the artist was exploring an idea they had or chasing something deeply personal and the art was FOR the ARTIST, with THE AUDIENCE AS WITNESS.  In this episode we welcome a close personal friend of Paul's, his college roommate and professional Jazz Bass Player (!!), Thomson Kneeland,  to help us understand IS ART FOR THE ARTIST, OR IS ART FOR THE AUDIENCE?

To read a brilliant essay Thomson wrote about this topic, click the link below to go to his substack:

https://open.substack.com/pub/quantafugue2718/p/the-shared-horizon?r=a9gvw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and theirreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠ http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467

Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water)mentioned in today's show: http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Episode 67 - Is ART for ARTIST, or is ART for the AUDIENCE?

What happens when two friends sit down and wrestle withlife’s biggest questions? In this episode we unveil a new segment called 40,000 ft: What is something that has happened to you recently and what did you learn from it in a global sense? (i.e. when you zoom out to 40,000 ft.)

Erik shares that people avoid going near his dog Teddybecause they see he's part pitbull, and that gets him thinking about innate bias, and what biases he has with respect to woodworking. Paul shares his experiences of recent travel and how that has changed him to be OPEN to theuniverse, accepting what life has in store with a sense of unexpected joy instead of being anxious trying to control this chaotic world. And of course, things will go off the rails at times. Join us for an honest, unscripted conversation that just might shift how you see the world—and yourself.

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and theirreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠

http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467

Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water)mentioned in today's show:

http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Episode 66 - Barstool Confessions #6 - Learning from Life Experiences

INCREDIBLE Sculptor Spencer Schubert drops in to make the case that good taste is exactly what's stopping you from starting. Your early work is going to suck — that's not a warning, that's a promise. Spencer, Paul, and Erik dig into why the creative struggle never actually gets easier, how to build systems that work on the days your willpower doesn't, and whether gatekeeping is protecting craft or killing it. ALSO, just FYI, Your life is about 4,000 weeks long, what will do do with that time???

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the irreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467

To browse the Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water) mentioned in today's show:  http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Spencer's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/esschubertsculpture/ 

Spencer's Website: https://www.esschubert.com/

Episode 65 - Your LIFE is 4000 weeks, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?

What kind of person are you? Emotionally Stable? Neurotic and Exciteable?  Open to new ideas? Have you ever taken a personality test before? We all know some elements of our personality but have you had them formally measured and then thought about how those traits might affect what you make, how you make, or how you approach making art in general?

Today with the help of TWO Ph.D. psychologists, resident WIBS psychologist Sherry Pagoto, and psychologist/woodworker Brad Appelhans, we all take the BIG 5 PERSONALITY TEST and then interpret the results as it relates to our making and art.  You might be surprised to find how much your personality traits define your path in art & craft.

Take the Big 5 Personality Test HERE (5 min, no spam): https://www.personalityassessor.com/big-five2/

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the irreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467

To browse the Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water) mentioned in today's show:  http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Episode 64 - How your PERSONALITY TYPE affects your CRAFT/ART

When you say something is BEAUTIFUL, what do you actually mean?  Why do you think it's beautiful?  Is beauty genetically programmed witihin humans, or is it culturally learned, or Is it a divine gift from god?  We take on this fascinating topic with our amazing friend Jeff Hein (an absolutely INCREDIBLE painter and maker), who raised this question in the first place and WHAT A FUN DISCUSSION IT WAS.  

Jeff has his own podcast called the Undraped Artist and you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/@theundrapedartist

Jeff's instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jeff_hein_art/

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the irreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467

To browse the Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water) mentioned in today's show:  http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs



Episode 63 - What is BEAUTY and Where Does It Come From?

In today's episode of the Master Series, we discuss the visionary American artist and furniture designer Wharton Esherick, celebrated as the father of the Studio Furniture Movement.  Esherick believed furniture and sculpture were one and the same — that a chair, a table, or a staircase could be as emotionally resonant as any painting or bronze. His most iconic pieces pulse with organic, twisting forms drawn from nature, none more famous than his breathtaking spiral staircase, hand-carved from red oak, which stopped the world at the 1939 New York World's Fair.  Did you know he started as a painter and only discovered wood by accident, carving frames for his own canvases? Did you know his entire home and studio on Valley Forge Mountain was itself a 40-year work of art — every door, cabinet, and light pull shaped by his own hands — now a National Historic Landmark and Museum??? Speaking of which, our special guest today is the Executive Director of his museum, Julie Siglin!  

To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the irreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467

To browse the Gorilla Glue Wood Filler and Wood Glue (less water) mentioned in today's show:  http://gorillatough.com/woodworkingisbs

Episode 62 - The Master Series: Wharton Esherick

Woodworking is Bullsh*t (@pjasper) · Zencastr

Woodworking is Bullsh*t (@pjasper)

A podcast centered around design, creativity, and the search for authentic inspiration in woodworking and beyond, hosted by Paul Jasper, Erik Curtis, and Mary Tsai.

Join our Patreon for a VIDEO FEED of the show on YOUTUBE, and the ever lively AFTERSHOW:

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Woodworking is BULLSHIT!