George Nakashima always insisted that he was a simple woodworker, not an artist. Even though major museums exhibited his works and the director of the American Craft Museum called him a national treasure, Mr. Nakashima rejected the label of artist. For almost fifty years he simply went on shaping wood into beautiful chairs, tables, and cabinets.
Nakashima had a clear goal. He intended to make each piece of furniture as perfect as possible. Even making a box was an act of creation, because it produced an object that had never existed before. Initially Nakashima used local wood, sometimes from his own property. Later, he traveled to seek out English oak, Persian walnut, African zebrawood and Indian teak. He especially liked to find giant roots that had been dug out of the ground after a tree was cut down. Nakashima felt that making this wood into furniture was a way of allowing the tree to live again.
Most furniture makers prefer perfect boards, but Nakashima took pleasure in using wood with interesting knots (结疤) and cracks. These irregularities gave the wood personality and showed that the tree had lived a colourful life.
He never failed to create an object that was both useful and beautiful. One early piece Nakashima designed was a threelegged chair for his small daughter, Mira, to use when she sat at the table for meals. The Mira chair became so popular that Nakashima later made both low and high versions. Another famous piece, the conoid chair, has two legs supported by bladelike feet. Always, Nakashima's designs were precise and graceful, marked by the simplicity that revealed his love for the wood.
As the years passed, Nakashima's reputation grew and he received many awards. His children Mira and Kevin, now adults, joined the team of craftspeople in their father's studio. Nakashima's dream of integrating work and family had come true.
