http://www.woodreview.com.au 41PROFILEmember of the family – and we would
often eat dinner together.
My duties increased steadily, and
I was soon making entire pieces of
furniture under master Tokunaga’s
name. There is a sobering amount of
responsibility that can be felt when
your work bears a master’s name. For
these pieces, I was paid and often
met my teacher’s clients and business
partners. Such a high amount of
accountability certainly kept me
focused on the quality of my work.
How did you learn while you were there?
You mentioned three stages – were there
lessons as such? What sort of a teacher
is Toshio Tokunaga and how did you
respond to his manner of teaching?
Traditionally, an early apprentice is
referred to as a minerai – one who
observes. After some time spent
observing others, one is given a
steadily increasing number of tasks
(for example: shape a chair leg,
sharpen a round blade, cut a tightly
fitting joint and so on). Each task, the
apprentice is likely to have observed
only once. One chance to succeed at
its completion is permitted. If you fail
to develop a skill, it is unlikely that
you will be given another chance.
Once the majority of a craftsman’s
skillset is mastered, an apprentice enters
into the repayment stage. He or she is
fully qualified to work independently,
but continues to work with their sensei as
a means of showing gratitude.As a foreign apprentice whose time
was limited by working permits
and visas, my observation and early
work stages overlapped. I was given
observation duties, skill building
exercises and paid work simultaneously- and for each, I felt I had my teacher’s
complete confidence. Wanting to
maintain that confidence, I worked as
hard as I could, as quickly as I could,
and as finely as I could, all at once.
I suspect he intentionally kept me
well outside of my comfort zone. As a
result, I found myself developing skills
quickly. Tea times, lunch times and
late nights were spent taking notes of
everything I had learned each day.Did you ever doubt yourself and your
decision to take what may seem to others
like an extreme and even risky path?I constantly doubted myself. Having
an apprentice junior to me meant I was
not only responsible for my education,
but to a certain extent, for his as well.‘See one, do one, teach one’ became
an unintentional mantra for me – and
I second guessed myself often. There’s
an old business analogy that says, ‘Be
like a duck: above the surface, remain
calm; below the surface, paddle like
hell!’ Ducks and good apprentices
might have that in common.There was a casual deliberateness to the
way my teacher did things – and when I
was in my greatest moments of crisis or
self doubt, I simply mirrored his way of
being. Perhaps I still do.Now that you are back home in Canada
what are your plans? Will you make in
the same style? What is the significance
and importance of kanna finishing in the
context of a contemporary maker?I remember Master Tokunaga saying
that, in his mind, the kanna is the
point where human ingenuity and
nature converge. The tool itself is
composed of two components, a blade
made in the ancient tradition of forge
laminated high carbon steel, and
a carefully selected block of wood.
My instruction focused on using the
kanna to both shape and finish wood.
Our goals in the shop were to achieve
a level of design that emphasised the
richness of wood as a living material,3