let me ask you something
has the seed of an idea ever come into
your mind that you thought you might
like to pursue something you want to
write or build or draw maybe an app you
want to design maybe a painting or a
poem maybe you want to start a new
business did you push that idea aside
thinking no I don’t have the time or
money to take on such a thing or maybe
somebody else should do that not me or
did you say yes Nature has a brilliant
way of nurturing ideas inside each one
of those acorns is the idea of a tree
and like those acorns your ideas when a
flourish and Grove I think we reject our
ideas without considering the ripple
effect they might have on the world
American author and essayist Ralph Waldo
Emerson said the creation of a thousand
forests is in one ACORN your one idea
might inspire so many others but you’ll
never know if you don’t say yes it would
be easy to say no to creative ideas
because they seem too big or
overwhelming I get that I felt the same
way the day I discovered a fascinating
but very obscure 20th century furniture
maker and thought somebody should make a
documentary about that guy not thinking
it would be me so today I want to share
with you how an acorn by the name of
wort metric came into my life and how
that acorn became a film Whorton Eric
was an artist and furniture maker who
came of age during the Industrial
Revolution at a time when America was
enamored with consumerism and mass
industry Wharton moved to a small farm
outside Philadelphia Pennsylvania and
began making handcrafted furniture one
piece at a time by saying yes to wood
Wharton became one of the forefathers of
the American studio craft movement which
is a style characterized by independent
artists making handcrafted pieces in
their home studios if you’ve ever bought
anything on
see you a wart ‘no thank you
I discovered wart in studio in the
winter of 2013 it was one of those
magical moments when you know you were
about to experience something truly
extraordinary you want to see inside
it’s very quiet there light flows in
from every angle standing among his
sculptures his beautiful furniture and
ephemera I could feel Wharton’s presence
I was truly awed by his creativity after
the tour I kept staring at the studio it
reminded me of the tree fort I built
when I was a kid it wasn’t that cool but
my tree fort was my Haven it was the
place that I could hide from the world
and play and dream about the future
again yeah I get the idea came to me
that somebody should make a documentary
about this guy and even though I’m a
filmmaker and I felt a kind of affinity
with Wharton I didn’t think I was the
right person to tell his story I’m not a
woodworker I know nothing about
furniture making nothing about craft
culture and how would I produce it I
live in California I have a full-time
job and where would I get the money so
when the idea came to me of course I
said no wouldn’t you
still his creativity called to me
and I thought okay Wharton I don’t know
why you picked me but I’ll tell your
story so in the spring of 2014
I said yes I felt like a linear
retelling of Wharton’s life would be an
injustice because mostly Wharton
designed pieces that were patterned
after nature in what’s called his
organic style when asked how he could
create these beautifully shaped pieces
Wharton would say the wood told me
Wharton listen to the wood and let it
guide him that feeling of the idea
coming through you is something a lot of
creative people say they feel while
working in the same way the Acorn has to
release itself to nature to become a
tree you have to release yourself to the
creative process Wharton
listen to the wood and let it guide him
I decided to take the same approach to
the film I listened for Wharton story
believing it would guide me and this is
what I heard Wharton Erik wanted to be a
painter a profession he pursued for over
a decade without success
in fact he discovered wood by carving
frames for his paintings and thought he
had a talent for it his wood carvings
gave way to wood sculptures and
eventually wood furniture and by the
late 1920s furniture-making became his
full-time profession by saying yes to
wood Wharton was finally able to express
himself as an artist one of his first
pieces was made for a local theatre
group where he also designed stage sets
and made these ingenious chairs which
were fashioned entirely out of hammer
handles during the Depression Wharton
was able to support his family by making
pieces for clients in the philadelphia
area
in 1940 he designed a room for the New
York World’s Fair which featured a
number of his signature pieces and was
seen by over 44 million people in the
late 1950s the Museum of Contemporary
crafts hosted a major show of Wharton’s
work ultimately recognizing him as the
Dean of American craftsmen Morton passed
away in 1970 leaving behind a legacy of
not only beautiful wood furniture but
also a you a dedication to a unique
design for living that would influence
hundreds if not thousands of other
makers today Wharton is considered one
of the most influential woodworkers of
the 20th century all because he listened
to the wood and said yes it took me
three years to gather all the materials
I needed to tell Wharton’s story from
the museum archives I scanned hundreds
of photos I listened to hours of oral
histories and transcribed a number of
old recordings it was a lot of work
but it was fascinating work and a number
of people helped me along the way
my first editor had to back out for
personal reasons and when that happened
I was kind of stuck really I didn’t know
what to do
she had been with me throughout the
production and she knew all the footage
and we had already decided how to
approach the Edit so at this point I
really needed an influx of cash to pay a
second editor to work with me so I
launched a Kickstarter I made a
promotional video about Wharton and how
I needed money to finish the film and to
my surprise a number of backers came
forward and supported the film
ultimately accruing enough money for not
only the Edit but also music and sound
design and special effects editing any
film is a labor of love but cutting a
documentary is really a special kind of
patience we had over 40 hours of
material we were trying to cut into
maybe like a 60 minute film and it’s
like a big puzzle that sometimes really
frustrating you really you kind of want
to give up sometimes but and there was a
certain point where I kind of had enough
of Wharton
[Laughter]
the next day I’d get up and work out
another part of the story and that would
finish another piece of the film and
after several months the film was cut at
that point I could begin working with
composers to do the music and sound
editors to do the sound design and a
graphic designer to do animated
sequences at last the film premiered
this fall at the Barnes Foundation a
museum in Philadelphia Pennsylvania
where we hosted a panel discussion about
Wharton Eric and the making of the film
so getting back to my original question
has the seed of an idea come into your
life and if so what did you say I think
people get caught up and comparing their
ideas to others and they think they
don’t have the time or money to produce
them or they think somebody else should
do it not me
nature doesn’t think about time or money
when an acorn drops to the ground it
doesn’t compare itself to anything when
called upon to create a tree out of a
tiny acorn it just says yes Warren Eric
was a failed painter that discovered
wood and in doing so he founded an
entire art movement his creativity
inspired me to create and sometimes it
was hard and frustrating and there were
times I wanted to give up but I kept
going and eventually the Acorn became a
tree the lesson I learned in making this
film is that it’s not up to us which
seeds of creativity come into our lives
but it’s incumbent upon us to nurture
them our creativity inspires others
Wharton made furniture I make movies you
you can make anything if you just say
yeah yes yes let me leave you with this
quote from American author and
theologian Frederick Beecher
the life I touch for good or ill will
touch another
and in turn another until who knows
where the trembling stops are and what
far place my touch will be felt the next
time a seed of an idea comes into your
life I hope you say yes thank you
[Applause]
you
has the seed of an idea ever come into
your mind that you thought you might
like to pursue something you want to
write or build or draw maybe an app you
want to design maybe a painting or a
poem maybe you want to start a new
business did you push that idea aside
thinking no I don’t have the time or
money to take on such a thing or maybe
somebody else should do that not me or
did you say yes Nature has a brilliant
way of nurturing ideas inside each one
of those acorns is the idea of a tree
and like those acorns your ideas when a
flourish and Grove I think we reject our
ideas without considering the ripple
effect they might have on the world
American author and essayist Ralph Waldo
Emerson said the creation of a thousand
forests is in one ACORN your one idea
might inspire so many others but you’ll
never know if you don’t say yes it would
be easy to say no to creative ideas
because they seem too big or
overwhelming I get that I felt the same
way the day I discovered a fascinating
but very obscure 20th century furniture
maker and thought somebody should make a
documentary about that guy not thinking
it would be me so today I want to share
with you how an acorn by the name of
wort metric came into my life and how
that acorn became a film Whorton Eric
was an artist and furniture maker who
came of age during the Industrial
Revolution at a time when America was
enamored with consumerism and mass
industry Wharton moved to a small farm
outside Philadelphia Pennsylvania and
began making handcrafted furniture one
piece at a time by saying yes to wood
Wharton became one of the forefathers of
the American studio craft movement which
is a style characterized by independent
artists making handcrafted pieces in
their home studios if you’ve ever bought
anything on
see you a wart ‘no thank you
I discovered wart in studio in the
winter of 2013 it was one of those
magical moments when you know you were
about to experience something truly
extraordinary you want to see inside
it’s very quiet there light flows in
from every angle standing among his
sculptures his beautiful furniture and
ephemera I could feel Wharton’s presence
I was truly awed by his creativity after
the tour I kept staring at the studio it
reminded me of the tree fort I built
when I was a kid it wasn’t that cool but
my tree fort was my Haven it was the
place that I could hide from the world
and play and dream about the future
again yeah I get the idea came to me
that somebody should make a documentary
about this guy and even though I’m a
filmmaker and I felt a kind of affinity
with Wharton I didn’t think I was the
right person to tell his story I’m not a
woodworker I know nothing about
furniture making nothing about craft
culture and how would I produce it I
live in California I have a full-time
job and where would I get the money so
when the idea came to me of course I
said no wouldn’t you
still his creativity called to me
and I thought okay Wharton I don’t know
why you picked me but I’ll tell your
story so in the spring of 2014
I said yes I felt like a linear
retelling of Wharton’s life would be an
injustice because mostly Wharton
designed pieces that were patterned
after nature in what’s called his
organic style when asked how he could
create these beautifully shaped pieces
Wharton would say the wood told me
Wharton listen to the wood and let it
guide him that feeling of the idea
coming through you is something a lot of
creative people say they feel while
working in the same way the Acorn has to
release itself to nature to become a
tree you have to release yourself to the
creative process Wharton
listen to the wood and let it guide him
I decided to take the same approach to
the film I listened for Wharton story
believing it would guide me and this is
what I heard Wharton Erik wanted to be a
painter a profession he pursued for over
a decade without success
in fact he discovered wood by carving
frames for his paintings and thought he
had a talent for it his wood carvings
gave way to wood sculptures and
eventually wood furniture and by the
late 1920s furniture-making became his
full-time profession by saying yes to
wood Wharton was finally able to express
himself as an artist one of his first
pieces was made for a local theatre
group where he also designed stage sets
and made these ingenious chairs which
were fashioned entirely out of hammer
handles during the Depression Wharton
was able to support his family by making
pieces for clients in the philadelphia
area
in 1940 he designed a room for the New
York World’s Fair which featured a
number of his signature pieces and was
seen by over 44 million people in the
late 1950s the Museum of Contemporary
crafts hosted a major show of Wharton’s
work ultimately recognizing him as the
Dean of American craftsmen Morton passed
away in 1970 leaving behind a legacy of
not only beautiful wood furniture but
also a you a dedication to a unique
design for living that would influence
hundreds if not thousands of other
makers today Wharton is considered one
of the most influential woodworkers of
the 20th century all because he listened
to the wood and said yes it took me
three years to gather all the materials
I needed to tell Wharton’s story from
the museum archives I scanned hundreds
of photos I listened to hours of oral
histories and transcribed a number of
old recordings it was a lot of work
but it was fascinating work and a number
of people helped me along the way
my first editor had to back out for
personal reasons and when that happened
I was kind of stuck really I didn’t know
what to do
she had been with me throughout the
production and she knew all the footage
and we had already decided how to
approach the Edit so at this point I
really needed an influx of cash to pay a
second editor to work with me so I
launched a Kickstarter I made a
promotional video about Wharton and how
I needed money to finish the film and to
my surprise a number of backers came
forward and supported the film
ultimately accruing enough money for not
only the Edit but also music and sound
design and special effects editing any
film is a labor of love but cutting a
documentary is really a special kind of
patience we had over 40 hours of
material we were trying to cut into
maybe like a 60 minute film and it’s
like a big puzzle that sometimes really
frustrating you really you kind of want
to give up sometimes but and there was a
certain point where I kind of had enough
of Wharton
[Laughter]
the next day I’d get up and work out
another part of the story and that would
finish another piece of the film and
after several months the film was cut at
that point I could begin working with
composers to do the music and sound
editors to do the sound design and a
graphic designer to do animated
sequences at last the film premiered
this fall at the Barnes Foundation a
museum in Philadelphia Pennsylvania
where we hosted a panel discussion about
Wharton Eric and the making of the film
so getting back to my original question
has the seed of an idea come into your
life and if so what did you say I think
people get caught up and comparing their
ideas to others and they think they
don’t have the time or money to produce
them or they think somebody else should
do it not me
nature doesn’t think about time or money
when an acorn drops to the ground it
doesn’t compare itself to anything when
called upon to create a tree out of a
tiny acorn it just says yes Warren Eric
was a failed painter that discovered
wood and in doing so he founded an
entire art movement his creativity
inspired me to create and sometimes it
was hard and frustrating and there were
times I wanted to give up but I kept
going and eventually the Acorn became a
tree the lesson I learned in making this
film is that it’s not up to us which
seeds of creativity come into our lives
but it’s incumbent upon us to nurture
them our creativity inspires others
Wharton made furniture I make movies you
you can make anything if you just say
yeah yes yes let me leave you with this
quote from American author and
theologian Frederick Beecher
the life I touch for good or ill will
touch another
and in turn another until who knows
where the trembling stops are and what
far place my touch will be felt the next
time a seed of an idea comes into your
life I hope you say yes thank you
[Applause]
you
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