Ken:

Thank you for helping me seed the development of my own career as a
tradesman so clearly. I have been trying to do this for myself lately, but
sometimes these things are just too close to see.

> amazing variation of structures. Keep in mind that every brick that is
> set in the world had someone not only make it... but someone for a brief
> instant had to think about it when they set it. A brick building is
> thousands and thousands of small thoughts. A stone building such as a
> cathedral is often very much more thinking.

...and something more, beyond the "thinking" of it, occurs within each
instant.

I believe this is true of all things made by hand of the basic materials,
mud, wood, water, metal, etc.. Each time the muscle of the tradesperson's
hand moves the material, as each thought of the craftsperson's mind sets
shape and location, as each touch of the artisan's heart reflects on
refined surface; in each of these small acts a spark of their own life
passes into the building, and becomes a cumulation that is the life of the
building itself.

This is true for all the trades, now as in the past, "Masons, Carpenters,
Joyners, Carvers, Painters, Bricklayers, Plasterers; in General all the
Ingenious Persons that are concerned in the Famous Art of Building."  as
listed by John Leeke in his 1669 translation of Vignola's General Rule of
the Five Orders of Architecture.

John (his 8th-great grandson) Leeke

by hammer and hand great works do stand
by pen and thought best words are wrought

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