Grain of Truth: The Ancient Lessons of Craft - Hardcover

Laird, Ross

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802713890 ISBN 13: 9780802713896

Publisher: Walker Books, 2001

Synopsis

On the surface, Grain of Truth is a brief, simple book in which the author makes objects out of wood – a hand plane for himself, a marimba for his children, a box to hold the cremated remains of his grandmother-in-law. It's not a how-to book, not a description of technique so much as an exploration of craft as a contemplative and spiritual practice. It shows how one's hands can serve as guides in the unfolding of awareness.The book is organized into eight chapters, based on the essential symbols of ancient Taoism (wind, earth, thunder, deep water, mountain, shallows, fire, and the unfathomable). Each chapter deals with a particular craft project – its inspiration, the materials it requires, the rewards it offers. Using sharp tools and a delicate touch, Laird uses the creative process to discover his essence.Grain of Truth is lyrical and mesmerizing. Like Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery, it explores physical discipline as a path to spiritual awakening. Like Thoreau's Walden, it places the unadorned self in nature, simple experience opening a door to unforeseen depths. Like Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, it evokes the mystical through keen observation of the natural world. It's a book to cherish.

About this title

About the Author

Ross Laird holds an M.A. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Creative Process. A poet and craftsman , he currently teaches creativity, counseling and psychology. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Grain of Truth is his first book.

Reviews

Laird, a poet and Vancouver native, reflects on the rewards and frustrations of woodworking in eight pensive chapters ingrained with sensual, sinuous language and an intuitive understanding of the topic's metaphoric possibilities. Whether describing the construction of a wooden hand plane (toolmaking, Laird says, is a particular marker in the evolution from apprentice to craftsman) or the transformation of Brazilian purpleheart wood into a reliquary for his wife's grandmother's remains, Laird artfully conveys his appreciation for natural beauty and spontaneity, his reverence for hardwoods, tools and woodworking methods and his espousal of the Taoist principals that have sustained and nurtured his creative life. Indeed, his burnished prose style counterbalances what otherwise would have been an austere memoir of one man's discipline, dedication to craft and Rilke-like embrace of solitude through work. Because of his temperament, the ongoing restoration of his in-laws' summer house becomes a "sustained immersion in the life of a family"; the construction of a marimba for his two children in the chapter "Deep Water" becomes a "creative journey... to a shadowland of doubt, fear, frustration, and depression." Drawing on past experience, he explores the intersection of creativity and depression and offers insight into confronting its enigmatic challenges. Illustrated with Taoist trigraphs and photographs of his handiwork, this meditative book provides an inspiring glimpse into the creative process. Author tour in Washington and Oregon.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

A poet by profession and a woodworker by avocation, Laird has, well, crafted a pretty little first book of meditations on the creative process. Split into eight sections based on Taoist imagery, the book outlines eight different woodworking projects that the author completed (e.g., he rebuilt a childhood dinghy) and delineates eight ways that inspiration strikes a person. These range from lightning bolts of energy and insight to our uncontrolled and dark imaginings. Laird intersperses his ambling explanations of his carpentry endeavors with reminiscences and family stories. A wonderful book to give to those who tend to spend their Sunday afternoons quietly pondering, who have neither football nor church attendance to distract them, but a marginal purchase for most libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802713890
• ISBN 13: 9780802713896
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200