Craft in America

I had an "impulse check-out" at the library last week: Craft in America by Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton.


Coffee table books are like comic books for me - a chance to kick back and look at pictures, only occasionally burrowing into the text for more information. I'd like to say I draw inspiration from them. Perhaps I do in a subconscious fashion, but in all likelihood I'm not going to hone my skills to similar high-art tasks.

Here's the particular object that caught my attention and imagination:


A smooth, woody plant roots to the floor, grows toward the ceiling, and gracefully sprouts a branch into the air. The wood closely matches that of my piano and the two would be so lovely side-by-side. I see my accompanist seated at the piano as I breath deeply into my flute to warm the metal. The sheets of music on the stand rise up, just as the stand grows to the sky, and the melodies swirl into the air like a summer breeze blown down from the hillside...