BUILDING A LEGACY
by Frank M. Kiska
I have been involved in the restoration of furniture for about 15 years now. It started out as a hobby and evolved into what is now my profession. In the beginning, I thought that the only way to repair furniture was to totally ‘refinish’ any given piece that I was working on...because I didn’t know any better. I had no idea in the beginning what a ‘burn in’ was... what brushing powders were... what various filling materials were... what toners and glazes were... and the list goes on. I would read a lot of books and articles on the restoration of all kinds of furniture. It was basically trial and error on my part in the beginning. I would learn by my mistakes.
There was really no ‘formal education’ available for the repair and refinishing of furniture. Various suppliers would offer ‘intense’ weekend training... but how much could I learn in a 72 hour period? Most of the time when I would take these courses... I felt that I knew more than what the instructors were teaching me. This was the wrong attitude to take. I was letting my ‘ego’ dictate to me that ‘my way’ was better than ‘their way’ and that my way was the correct way to do any given job. It was correct for me because I felt comfortable in my own techniques.
I am privileged to know fine finish craftsmen from all around the country... professionals who also are comfortable in their own techniques in approaching furniture repair and restoration. We all agree that it doesn’t make any difference how you achieve your results... just as long as you are satisfied with the end product. We also agree that you should never stop learning and experimenting with other techniques that should come your way. Stagnation in one’s profession means the ‘chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too string to be broken’. A true professional will always strive for knowledge to make him a better craftsman as well as being a better human being.
With severe government mandates that are coming our way... a lot of us will just give up and find a new profession. There is right now a severe shortage of ‘qualified’ craftsmen in our field. We cannot nor should we allow this to happen. The future does not look bright at all.
This "Association of Restorers"... "Our Association"... will make all of us stronger in all of our particular crafts through networking with each other... learning from each other... and supporting each other. We live in a disposable society today... The majority of the masses out their believe this... but I don’t and I know you don’t either. We are all considered to be ‘dinosaurs’. Lets all show them that we refuse to become ‘extinct’.
We have all been given a very special gift... a gift that should be shared with each other. This gift should also be passed down to others that feel the same as us. We should never allow our ‘legacies’ and the ‘legacies’ of men and women who came before us to cease to exist.
Obviously, I will support this organization. I will do all in my power to promote and recruit ‘craftsmen’ that feel the same as I do. Right now... more than ever... we need each other. We need this organization... our legacies depend on it.