(On what would have been his 111th birthday, I’m remembering the life and legacy of George Katsutoshi Nakashima.)
A while back, on a sunlit afternoon in New York City, near an illuminating window within the confines of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I ran across a small table by George Nakashima. Astounding in its simplicity, beautiful in its form, shining in its appearance, it was immediately apparent why a table like that had attained the status of art and been deemed worthy of exhibition.
One of Nakashima’s hallmark creations, I would learn later, is a Peace Table he made for the United Nations. It turns out he was also an insightful soul, chock full of good counsel for life, as well as knowledge about wood and its wonders.
Nakashima mentored many wood artists, always encouraging them to do their work in such ways, with such integrity, that they could “rest for the night with an honest face.”
Sterling advice for us all, indeed, whether or not we know much about wood.
[From ALL YOU NEED IS (MORE) LOVE, to be published in September, 2016. For similar ruminations and reflections, see LIFE’S TOO SHORT FOR ANYTHING BUT LOVE, Woodneath Press, 2015.]
A View from the Hill 