Friendly Hands Bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest —Deuteronomy 14:29
T
he first thing you noticed about Gino was his hands. They were massive and broad, strong and competent, with fingers so thick that his son can recall a time when, as a young child, he was unable to encompass any one of them with his entire fist. They were hands that knew what they were about and showed not the slightest hesitation as they approached their appointed task. I sometimes imagined them coming to the shop by themselves, fully capable of meeting the day’s challenges without Gino being there. Gino Masero, one of the thirty-two members of the English Association of Master Carvers, was my teacher, my mentor, and my friend. In addition to teaching me ordinary, everyday skills like carving hair and sharpening tools, he bestowed a much more important gift—he generously opened a window into his soul. And what I saw there, combined with what I learned at his workbench, made it possible for me to become a professional woodcarver. On the morning that he began my lessons, Gino had me place my short, stubby hands on the workbench, the left palm up, the right palm down. He studied them for a moment and then solemnly told me that I had “carver’s hands.” He pronounced them large enough to comfortably grasp a carving gouge and strong enough to control it. That
