tomakeandtobe
  • Home
  • about
  • workshops
  • Blog
  • contact

A few things I learned from Bill coperthwaite

3/11/2015

 
Picture
Bill and I looking through one of his scrap books.
The scrap book is sitting on top of the light-weight post and rung chair we collaborated on. Winter 2011.


Bill died at the age of 83 on Tuesday November 26, 2013 in a car crash in Washington County, Maine. I was honored to help design and build his simple pine coffin and participate in the ceremony of laying him to rest.

I'd like to share some of my thoughts about Bill, who was an incredibly important mentor and friend to me.
His ideas and philosophy have greatly influenced my development as a craftsman and teacher.


Picture





Bill and I attaching bicycle wheels to a stainless steel sheet metal-sided cart. The two wheels are tilted, they come together and almost touch each other directly underneath the bottom of the cart, this makes it able to roll along narrow, soft trails.
It could also be utilized as a stretcher cart. Bill designed it so that it could be used for moving an injured person out the 1 1/2 mile trail at Dickinson's Reach.
Summer 2012.


From our first meeting in 2004, I think Bill and I had a strong connection. 
Because I am primarily a teacher and secondly a woodworker/designer/maker, he and I understood tools and handcrafts in a similar way. 
I was very open and receptive to his ideas of simplicity and non-competitiveness, which resonated strongly with my experiences.
When I was studying sculpture at The Atlanta College of Art, people would often say something like "that sculpture/painting/etc is pretty good, I bet you could sell it." if they wanted to show appreciation for something I had made - as if the ultimate goal of making things was to be able to sell them.
After art school, I moved from fine art into crafts and functional design, but this idea of making things in order to sell them has always troubled me.
I was more interested in the processes used in the making of something rather than how marketable it was.
For me, the focus on selling could compromise my designs and the methods I choose for their making.

I have noticed that many craftspeople try to make their work complicated, unique or mysterious, as a way to help sell it. For some, complexity becomes a marketing strategy. 
It may be a selling point to show a potential buyer crafting virtuosity and complexity, a customer might choose the difficult-to-make product over a simpler one.
I was once at a craft show and I overheard a furniture maker say, "I hate it when people stop by to consider buying my work and then someone says to them, don't buy that you could make it yourself." It seemed that in the endeavor of trying to sell handwork, having a design that is simple or accessible makes it less marketable.
     Bill turned this on it's head, he said, "I don't care how good your spoon or chair or bowl is, I am just glad You made it." He was trying to focus his energies on exploring crafts that were accessible or "Democratic". When Bill spoke of Democratic design he meant that it was within the reach of most people. He liked designs that anyone, with a little encouragement and instruction, could make. Generally speaking, Bill didn't believe that craftspeople should be making stuff to sell. Once, when asked by someone who admired his spoons if he would sell his spoons he replied, "no, but I will teach you to make your own". He thought that the activity of selling took crafts ultimately into production and/or elite-ism or "working for the rich" and away from being Democratic. He once told me, " If you make stuff to sell your going to end up working for the rich, not that there is anything wrong with working for the rich, it's just not what I want to be doing". He designed Democratic tools, furniture, clothing and buildings. In many ways, this pursuit of encouragement through simplicity was his lifes' work. He made several versions of Democratic axes, scorps and crooked knives.  There are several versions of his Democratic bowl carving tools.  He designed his shoes and belt buckle (he told me the belt buckle was his favorite design). He enjoyed sharing a simplified knitting technique called 'nalbinding' which he used to make hats and sweaters. This was  partly why he was interested in yurts, that they were Democratic, he worked out a simple yet beautiful structure that is inexpensive and accessible to most people.  He was interested in encouraging people to begin working with their own hands, so investigating simpler designs, techniques and tools enhanced this goal.

 
Bill's stainless steel dust pan design and a hammer conveniently hung on a nail.
Bill's wooden tape dispenser design
Picture
Bill stitching panels of plywood together at the Wheel Barrow Symposium in 2010.


   


   Bill was interested in how people worked, he believed the process people used to complete their task was important. I think that many people today are focused on the quickest way to get a job done. It seems that to many, speed in completing a task is the most important thing. The most valued thing is to be done with the work, regardless of how one's mental state or community fared while one was doing it. Being done with the work or being able to get others to do the drudgery of work would allow for the true goal of life, which is leisure, recreation or play. Bill thought that if more people appreciated work, we would begin to live in a more just and sustainable world. To help people appreciate work, I believe Bill thought he had to understand work. I think this is why Bill liked understanding tools and ways people did work. Especially manual labor and hand crafts. I liked working with Bill because he took the time to devise all sorts of ways to carry heavy things efficiently and to do work with less drudgery. For example, he used straps over his shoulders when moving heavy timbers. Additionally, he designed wheelbarrows with large wheels and belly and shoulder straps to make them more enjoyable to use. He had an appreciation and interest in the improved design and beauty of all sorts of everyday objects. Things used in working around the house such as brooms, dust pans, graters, spatulas, and tape dispensers. For me, this care he put into taking the drudgery out of work has the potential of making work more enjoyable, it may then become a creative and fulfilling act.  When Bill had a task to do that seemed tedious or large, he would break it up into shorter time slots. He once said, "If I work an hour a day pulling spruce along the main trail or break-up the job of splitting my firewood, it will eventually get done and it won't seem so burdensome."  Khalil Gibran says,"work is love made visible" when I think of how Bill worked, I think of this quote.
    When Bill would travel the world, he would seek out people that were working. Especially people that were working with their hands in a thoughtful conscious way.  He would study the way they were working and especially any techniques or tools they were using. He especially liked to study their tools, particularly ones that they had devised themselves or had been made locally. He would often try and purchase these tools to bring them home to be objects of study and inspiration for new designs.
    He would also collect images of interesting tool designs and products and ways of working. He would poor through old magazines and collect images for his scrap books. He had different scrap books with subjects such as; Tools, Swedish Handcrafts, Boats, Shave Horses, etc. He said he was surprised that more people didn't have these scrap books and how good it would be to look through other people's collections if only they had them. He said, "I thought by this point in my life, people from all over the world would be sending me items for my scrap books." 
   I would have liked to have spent more time working with Bill, I was looking forward to collaborating with him on other projects. He offered encouragement and affirmation of many of my goals and beliefs. I will miss his support and friendship. I am sad that I won't get to hear about the next project he was excited about working on.

   

 
Picture
The Cache Yurt at Dickinson's Reach

rick donaldson
3/21/2015 06:48:11 am

I'm so glad that you are back. How about some pictures of the house and current projects

Jonathan
3/26/2015 06:22:47 am

I'm sincerely interested in reading more about your thoughts on the craftsman and the marketplace. I sense a conflict between Bill's position of "not making stuff to sell" and his buying of other people's tools. Isn't there a difference between working for the rich (being an employee, or, worse, a slave to another) and working for one's self (by making stuff to sell)?

I admire the tape dispenser. I'm putting it at the top of my list just after the spoons that I've started.

Jonathan

Kenneth Kortemeier link
4/3/2015 11:00:39 am

Hi Jonathan,
Good question. I think that Bill definitely had some contradictions between his ideals and his actions. Although he didn't broadcast these inconsistencies, he didn't hesitate to talk about them when someone asked. For example, regarding (his lack of) self sufficiency in terms of food production, he often responded with: "why should I grow and store my own food when Hannaford's has all the freezer space I would ever need?".
I didn't manage to accompany him on any of his international trips, where he bought tools from local craftspeople he met, I only heard stories when he came back. I know he was glad folks were willing to sell tools to him, and he said that they were often surprised that a "rich" person would be interested in buying their tools. I think he thought of it as research and preservation of knowledge about working and tool design.

I don't think Bill saw a difference between being self employed and/or working in some other arrangement when selling hand work. Because of the competition with mass produced items, time consuming hand-made items are usually more expensive. That's why he thought only rich people would buy them. He was interested in and encouraging of bartering and other exchanges that made "purchasing" handcrafts more accessible.

I am glad you liked his tape dispenser, I enjoy that design as well. I think he had a weight in it to make it a bit heavier on the desk, so that it didn't slide around too much. It still took two hands to get the tape out of it - one to hold the dispenser and the other to pull the tape out.

Doug C
8/4/2015 02:47:31 am

Hello Kenneth, another wonder article! Though I never met Bill, his books and story's I've heard of his life are alway inspirational. I've just received Peter Forbes and Hellen Whybrow"s book "A Man Apart". Thank you for you insight into this mans thoughts

All the best to you and your family.

John Gardner
2/25/2016 05:34:28 pm

Thank you for your thoughts and obvious love for his life and life's work. Our home is full of bits and pieces he sent back from travels over at least sixty years that I know of. As was clear to you and most who knew him , tools were things of wonder. They might offer elegant solutions to otherwise dreary chores or simply have a beauty of their own.


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Kenneth Kortemeier,
    enjoying the process of making.

    Archives

    December 2016
    November 2016
    March 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.