11 minute read
THE FRONT
DOUG STOWE BELIEVES OUR BRAINS ARE IN OUR HANDS
NEW BOOK BLENDS PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICAL INSIGHT.
Perhaps Arkansas’s most decorated woodworker, Doug Stowe of Eureka Springs is also one of our most erudite thinkers about the meaning of craft and its importance in community and education. The founder of the Eureka Springs Guild of Artists and Craftspeople and a co-founder of the Eureka Springs School of the Arts, Stowe is a past Arkansas Living Treasure and the author of more than a dozen books, most recently “The Wisdom of Our Hands” (Linden Publishing, $16.95), a passionate, thoughtful and highly approachable treatise on the importance of making things with our hands.
There’s a fair amount of pedagogical theory in this book. When did you get interested in education and make the connection between craft and better methods of
teaching? My mother was a kindergarten teacher, so I was watching her go off each day and I was listening to the stories she told when she came home. I had a natural interest in teaching and a fear of it because I saw what my mother put into it each day. It really became of interest because I had a daughter and when the school she was attending, Clear Spring, decided to be a high school, I asked, “Are you gonna have a woodshop?” They said, “We don’t have funding, but if you can find funding, we’d certainly start one.” So I happened to find funding, so we were able to get started. [Studying woodworking education took Stowe to conferences all over the world, where he learned about the Swedish educational sloyd system of handicraft-based education and the theories of play through geometric building blocks of Friedrich Frobel, the German educator who created the concept of kindergarten. Stowe wrote a how-to book called “Making Classic Toys That Teach” and explores the teaching theories in “The Wisdom of Our Hands.”] If you visit the Clear Spring campus, you find the giant kindergarten blocks. The kids use them to make forts and objects of beauty. One day they turned them into a giant sofa that they can all sit on. For me, woodworking isn’t just about picking up a piece of wood, it’s also about doing things that reshape our relationships to each other. Woodworking is a way we build community and we serve within that community. It’s a way of connecting more deeply with the natural environment. Developing yourself as a craftsman is not just getting your dovetail joints more closely to the line; it’s about bringing yourself more closely to the line, to your own sense of what is ideal.
Eureka Springs School of the Arts. What differences and similarities have you observed among them?
My adult students have all signed up and usually paid something to be there and made a commitment to a certain number of days and they are extremely attentive to my teaching. The kids don’t always know “what’s in it for me.” They come to woodshop because it’s expected of them. I have to prove to them that it’s of interest. Or they have to prove to themselves that it’s of interest to them. Adults are less forgiving of their own mistakes. For kids, they’re so proud of their work. I could look at it and say, “They could’ve done that better.” But they have what some of my adult students need, and that’s the willingness to forgive themselves for not measuring up to the standard. The hand slips or the mind slips or the wood doesn’t perform, one or another. So many times I’ve looked at the grain on a piece of wood, and I think, “Because the AGE: 73 grain goes this way, I have to approach it from a certain direction,” but then I find FROM: Eureka Springs that it’s tearing out. And it’s just some little misunderstanding we’ve had. Perfection A RECENT CREATION HE’S PROUD OF: “A box is elusive and maybe there’s no such thing. called ‘A Reliquary of Wood.’ It’s designed to look like a little chapel, so it’s got doors that open to reveal You’ve been a woodworker for 46 years, what would be the choir loft of the chapel and has a published author on woodworking little doors that pull out. Inside I’ve got 25 Arkansas topics for nearly 30 and a teacher for hardwoods to celebrate the diversity of our forests. I more than 20. How have each of the did another version that I call ‘The Choiring of Trees,’ three pursuits informed the others? I named after Don Harrington’s book.” think of myself as a woodworker. I teach woodworking and I write about it and I do it. That’s who I am. I don’t think there’s anything I would do differently about that. But we’re multifunctional. We’re like Swiss Army knives in a way, with screwdriver blades and all that stuff.
You seem spry at 73, but do you envision a world where you pull back
on any of your work? I’m already pulling back. I’m going to retire from Clear Spring School at the end of this semester. I’ll still be available as a resource and volunteer. With this book, I don’t know if I have another one in me or not. I still have articles I’m working on. I’ll still be teaching adults. Maybe not at the same pace. All of us get to a point where we slow down. I think we have a tendency to get a little smarter about things. When you do something a lot, you start to realize that some of the steps you thought were essential are not. Some of the things start falling to the wayside and you simplify, and I think that enables you to do what you do and maybe with a little less stress and in a little less time. Slowing down is not necessarily a bad thing.
SAY YES TO CANNABIS*
DR. YES REVIEWS ARKANSAS MEDICAL MARIJUANA STRAINS.
In honor of this month’s very important international holiday 4/20, the Arkansas Times presents the first entries in a new weekly series of medical marijuana strains that you can find at arktimes.com/author/ dryes. Dr. Yes is not an actual medical doctor, so take his prescriptions for what they are, insight from a longtime stoner who lives and thrives in the straight 9-to-5 world.
*If you’re a grown-up with a medical marijuana card. Use responsibly, etc., etc.
Northern Lights is a longtime celebrity strain in the cannabis world. Believed to be developed from Afghan indicas during the 1970s in the Pacific Northwest, it quickly made its way to the first Dutch cannabis seed catalogs and became a basic building block of modern cannabis production. Famous for its pungent pine smell and euphoric indica stone, this strain has been in high demand for decades. As patients called for more old-school strains in Arkansas, cultivators responded. You can now purchase vintage favorites such as Acapulco Gold, Panama Red and Hash Plant, and now Northern Lights is being offered by two different cultivators. I decided to pick up both versions from the Good Day Farm Little Rock dispensary to see how they compare.
My GDF jar had several tight, compact, welltrimmed and cured nugs that were covered in dark orange hairs and lightly dusted with trichomes. The smell was a sharp pine mixed with pungent citrus, while the flavor was somewhat sweeter. The effects were relaxing, clear-headed and wonderfully euphoric. It pleasantly uplifted my mood while I was doing chores and listening to music, but then transitioned into a relaxing full body stone that made me want to sit in the yard and watch the clouds. It also took away all of my anxiety for the duration of the effects, which was between 1-2 hours. Overall it was a great experience. STRAIN: Northern Lights Indica CULTIVATOR: Osage Creek Cultivation THC: 25% PRICE: $40 per 1/8 ounce before tax
Osage’s nugs didn’t look considerably different, but that’s where the similarities end. The smell and flavor were extremely light, and I could barely pick up a slight skunky sweetness. The effects were also light, and can best be described as an introspective head high that wasn’t particularly relaxing or enjoyable. It lasted 30-45 minutes and made me a bit anxious, so I was happy when it was over. This was a complete waste of $40. The winner of the Northern Lights showdown was easily Good Day Farm. I’ll definitely be avoiding Osage’s version in the future, but I highly recommend GDF’s Northern Lights if you want to experience the joys of a true oldschool cannabis classic.
STRAIN: Gorilla’d Cheese 50/50 Sativa/Indica Hybrid GENETICS: GG #4 x Clementine CULTIVATOR: Revolution THC: 27% PRICE: $49.99 per 1/8 oz before tax
Since I first got my Arkansas medical marijuana card a couple of years ago, I’ve found that Revolution (formerly known as Delta) delivers quality cannabis more consistently than any other cultivator in the program. Although the price is also higher than average, I am rarely left with buyer’s remorse. So when I saw that Native Green Wellness in Little Rock had a new batch of Revolution’s Gorilla’d Cheese in stock, I couldn’t wait to try it out. My jar contained three large, fluffy nugs completely encrusted in trichomes. The trim on the buds could have been a bit better, but I didn’t mind because they were so wonderfully grown and cured. The smell was very pungent and reminded me of a fresh container of grated parmesan cheese mixed with overripe citrus, but the flavor was a light, creamy citrus. The effects hit me fast with an uplifting, euphoric head high and then a wave of physical relaxation that started in my head and went down my whole body. It felt like I melted into the couch for a couple of hours of foggy, unproductive bliss. Gorilla’d Cheese is one of the most potent and effective 50/50 hybrids I’ve had the pleasure of trying. You get mental and physical effects in equal measure, and it all combines into a very relaxing, enjoyable, long-lasting experience. I highly recommend this strain for everyone, but beginners should approach with caution because of the high THC content. Revolution’s Gorilla’d Cheese easily holds a place in my top five strains available in the Arkansas medical market. STRAIN: Blue Dream Sativa-dominant hybrid GENETICS: Blueberry x Haze CULTIVATOR: Bold THC: 20.64% PRICE: $42.99 per one-eighth ounce before tax
Beloved throughout the cannabis world, Blue Dream has been one of the most sought- after strains of the last decade. It’s famous for having an uplifting high and a sweet berry flavor. This has been one of my favorite strains for many years, so I picked some up from Native Green Wellness in Little Rock to see if Bold Team Cultivation’s version lives up to its famous reputation. My jar was filled with lime green nugs that were small, compact and lightly frosted with trichomes. I was immediately greeted with a strong smell of sweet berries that reminded me of a berry-flavored bubble gum. The effects were definitely uplifting, but not energetic or hard-hitting. My brain felt fuzzy and relaxed. I abandoned my productive plans for the evening and was very content just listening to music for the next hour. Blue Dream has a gentle, cerebral high that can be enjoyed anytime, and by all different types of cannabis patients. It’s perfect for creative pursuits, taking a long walk, or just chilling out. I would have liked the effects to last longer and the price point to be a bit lower, but I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to any cannabis patients who have yet to try it, especially beginners. STRAIN: Grape Pie #2 Indica-dominant hybrid GENETICS: Cherry Pie x Grape Stomper CULTIVATOR: River Valley Relief THC: 23.4% PRICE: $40 per one-eighth ounce before tax
I’m always excited to try cannabis from a new cultivator. So when products from River Valley Relief showed up on local Weedmaps menus, I made a quick trip to pick up Grape Pie #2 from Good Day Farm Little Rock dispensary. Several different strains are newly available from River Valley Relief, but when I opened the jar, I knew I chose wisely. Inside, I saw pristine buds. Each perfectly trimmed purple and green nugget glistened with frosty trichomes. An intoxicating aroma of sweet, creamy grapes and berries washed over me with hints of peppery, earthy fuel. The smell carried through strongly to the flavor, making this some of the most delicious cannabis I’ve tried in recent memory. Immediately after vaping I received a quick wave of euphoric energy, which settled into a relaxing, giggly, chilled-out stone that lasted about two hours. I found the effects to be pleasantly potent in a way that could appeal to longtime cannabis users and beginners alike. Grape Pie #2 simultaneously provides gentle sativa euphoria without heart-pounding anxiety and a mellow, relaxing body sensation without overwhelming sleepiness. I could enjoy this during the day while doing chores, or in the evening watching TV or hanging out with friends. Even the packaging impresses. It’s elegantly designed and includes not only the standard THC percentage, but also the CBD percentage and the strain’s top three terpenes. If Grape Pie #2 is an indicator of the type of quality and genetics we can expect from River Valley Relief, I can’t wait to try other strains. Highly recommended.
