Kale Vogt
August 7, 2024
I walked in today to an “Apprenticeship Agreement” sitting on my desk. It was no surprise; yesterday while driving to our (somewhat) local lumberyard, Chris brought up the topic. When I first began at Lost Art Press, it was understood that my training would become more formal at some point.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently,” he mentioned during our drive.
We chatted about what the agreement would look like: a project-based arrangement over the course of a year that includes other aspects of the business (i.e. selling, furthering education, deadlines etc.)
The projects would come as a set of four. Within a year’s time, I will build four chairs, each increasing in complexity and level of independence. The first will be of Chris’s design and patterns; the last will be an independent build of a design of my own.
I felt a welling in the pit of my stomach as we talked. Suddenly, my professional and personal life felt immaculately aligned.
Last week I turned 30. (I’m not fishing for birthday wishes – I’ve never been much of a birthday celebrator. In fact, the idea of a party makes me want to crawl under a rug. Instead, I typically “celebrate” this time of year by turning inward and reflecting.)
This welling was that of eagerness. It was as if my body was screaming “Yes, yes, yes!” to me.
“You can take some time think about it,” Chris said towards the end of our drive.
But there wasn’t much “thinking over it” to do for me. I find the structure of the agreement comforting and the discipline a helpful motivator. This is a literal dream come true.
Don’t worry, I won’t get mushy here about my reflections for the past year. Instead, I’m looking forward to the year ahead.
As of now I can’t say with any certainty what my chairs will look like, and that’s what thrills me most. Allowing myself space to experiment and evolve has been a lovely consequence of becoming a student again.
But I can say with certainty that this time and what comes of it will be documented and shared. Growth has seemingly lost much of its value in this world of instant gratification we live in. I want to be transparent about my journey for anyone who cares.
Next week will be my first chair of this four-chair series. I’ll be building Chris’s Irish chair design alongside him in a class he’ll be instructing.
For now I don’t have much to add besides: Let’s get to work.
Christopher Schwarz,
Aug. 10, 2024
I didn’t have a speech prepared, so I just blurted out: “I know this is corny.”
Kale and I signed our apprenticeship agreement on Friday. I printed the text out on our nice letterhead. One copy for Kale, and the second for me.
“I’m doing this because everything here,” I said, gesturing around the building, “came to Lucy and me because of our crafts – writing and woodworking. Without those crafts, we would have none of this.”
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