Arthur Espenet Carpenter: Education of a Woodsmith

Press release: “Art Carpenter, self-taught woodworker writes about his process of becoming a designer of innovative and creative furniture. His book, 160 pages with magnificent color photographs, has been over 20 years in the writing.…

‘Name a contradiction, and Art Carpenter lived it. He was a square among hippies; a master craftsman who knew how to cut (or at least round) corners; a modernist with a rustic aesthetic; a much-revered icon who disliked being an object of attention. Even his name seemed to embody the happy union of two things normally kept apart. Though he hated the pun, it fit him perfectly. He was indeed a woodworker with deep aesthetic sense, or put the other way round, a born artist who knew how to get things done.'” -Glenn Adamson, head of graduate studies at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

To order: Send $55 (includes tax and shipping) payable to Arthur Carpenter III to 120 Mountain Lane, Mill Valley, CA 94941.

About Lloyd Kahn

Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:

One Response to Arthur Espenet Carpenter: Education of a Woodsmith

  1. Sounds like a man with a great perspective on things. Some of us want our work to be the thing of value, some are fortunate enough to be the face/name of what we hold dear. Sadly many now want to be famous or rather infamous for no particular reason other than self promotion.

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