"The doors have arrived and they are spectacular. I'm thrilled with them! Thank you again for all your assistance in processing this "long distance" purchase."
-- Gretchen
Los Gatos, California

"These are awesome doors. You had that thing crated well, very well. And beautiful, gorgeous, very, very, clearly well-made doors. Heavy duty. We like them a lot. Awesome! Love em! Man, they look great! Looks really, really, really cool."
-- Montie
Dumas, Texas

Handcrafted for a Purpose

- How building carriage doors is like baking a pie

My good friend Nancy, whose reputation for baking is legendary, recently came back from a pie-baking workshop. Her husband Jim confessed that he had been skeptical that she would learn anything new, because her pies were already “to die for”. Jim proceeded to tell me, rolling his eyes upward and unconsciously swallowing, that this new pie is “PHENOMENAL”.

“If I had known I was going to see you,” he said, “I would have saved you a little piece.” Right.

Anyway, among the secret ingredients and ancestral techniques, Nancy told us about one step in pie-building that caught my imagination. She said that when you get the bottom crust in the pan, and all the ingredients are ready to put in, you first take a moment to “fill the shell with intention.” The pie is being crafted for a purpose. What do you hope to accomplish with it? Blessing on someone? Comfort for a hurt? Celebration of a joy? Let the pie be filled with that intention first.

I like that. That’s what I do when I am crafting carriage doors. I think about the doors I am about to build. Will they enclose a workshop full of sawdust and projects? An artist’s studio with sunlight streaming through the glass? A kids’ play room with toys and games strewn on the carpeted floor? I like to think about that use, and picture the doors creating a space to fulfill a specific dream.

The doors at one home will stand open while the barbeque sizzles and people play badminton in the adjacent yard. At another, a classic car gets its waxing and relaxing in the lifestyle to which it originally became accustomed. At another, the automated doors swing open just as the owner turns the corner with headlights beaming and windshield wipers beating a fast splashing swish, and then close behind, shutting out the blowing rain.

I think about these things as I build a door. I picture what the owner has told me.

Fill the pie shell with intention. It’s like a pie prayer, Nancy said.

Let all things created be filled with intention. Let all that is touched by our hands be sent off with a prayer.

- Richard Hampton

(Incidentally, if you like hand-crafted cooking, check out Nancy's Blog: http://cookshootblog.com/)

The mark of authentic quality

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