Out of the Forest

Chuck Herrman

While working in the woodland nothing seems to be the equal of the observant eye. Hidden within are an assembly of forms, textures and colors which are shouting, "Look Here". Trees, the forest masters, vertically dominate reaching upward with a gigantic mass solidly rooted in the sylvan soil. Human imagination need only keenly watch to find the composition already within the this great organism.

In the early 1970s Chuck Herrmann learned much while working in the sawmill of his close friend Edwin T. James. Edwin an experienced sawyer and woodsman enjoyed sharing his forest wisdom with his young friend:

"Chuck, leave some marks on all your work so it can be known as hand made",

"This is locus Chuck, bury it in the ground and it will last two years longer than stone",

"Look closely Chuck when you saw a dooryard tree, it's bound to filled with iron" These were but a few of the observations gifted to his friend over the next thirty seven years.

The objects presented at the new Sheldon Museum exhibit reflect Chuck's hands on knowledge, from felling the trees, to the wonders that occur at the mill and finally their final form at the workshop. Works that are true to the material derived from those special skills which academic training often lacks.

"The limitations of a method secure its style,

engender a new form

and lead to creativity”

George Braque

Collection Images

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