Exploring the Richly Detailed History and Art of Woodworking
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: I'm Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I'm Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.
At a store called Sansar Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland, you might see work by the wood turner Phil Brown. His many wooden bowls and containers have a smooth modern look.
One tall bowl with a wide opening is made from black cherry wood. It is so perfectly formed it is hard to believe it is handmade. How did Phil Brown make this bowl? We will answer this question as we explore the many artistic traditions of wood.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: People from almost all cultures throughout history have been making objects from wood. Some of the first wooden objects included weapons and tools. Early cultures also learned to make boats, buildings and furniture for the home from this material. However, it is not always easy to say which wooden objects existed during a historical period because they often did not last as long as objects made from clay or metal.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Experts say most current woodworking tools were developed by the beginning of the Bronze Age, about five thousand years ago. These tools include the saw, ax, chisel and drill which are used to cut and shape wood in different ways. The lathe may have been developed as early as two thousand seven hundred years ago.
This tool holds and rotates the wood. As the wood turns, the wood worker uses a sharp tool to slowly and evenly cut pieces from the wood.
STEVE EMBER: There are many methods of woodworking and each culture has its own traditions. Artistic wood creations include architectural decoration on buildings, furniture for the home or even carved animals.
For example, in Thailand, richly detailed carvings from teak and other hard woods are an important part of ancient palaces and religious buildings. Woodcarvers were a very important group of artists. A person needed many years of training with experts to be a wood carver. Wood carvings often include plant forms such as the lotus flower as well as figures taken from Hindu and Buddhist religious stories.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The carvings are very detailed and must be carefully planned. Usually, a carver draws out the patterns and forms on paper. Then the artist cuts holes along the outlines of the design. This paper is placed on the piece of wood then covered with chalk dust.
The white chalk dust goes through the holes in the paper and marks the wood so the carver has a visual guide to begin cutting. Finished woodcarvings are often painted, sometimes with gold to reflect the surrounding light. These expertly made golden carvings give an airy lightness to Thai buildings.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Some wood working traditions developed more recently. For example, wood artists in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico have been carving mask face coverings and toys for hundreds of years. But Manuel Jimenez became one of the most famous carvers in Oaxaca by creating a newer tradition.
In the nineteen fifties, he saw a growing demand for traditional Mexican art that visitors wanted to buy. He decided to experiment with new kinds of wood and forms. He started carving expressive animals such as frogs, coyotes and rabbits out of copal wood.
Soon, his whole family started helping produce these lively, wooden creatures. The Jimenez men carved the creations while the women painted them with bright colors and patterns. Other wood carvers in the area also started making their own kinds of animals. Now, Oaxaca is famous for this special kind of wood art.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Colorful paints are not the only way to finish a wood object. In countries like Japan and China there is a rich tradition of painting wooden bowls, boxes and other objects with lacquer. The first kinds of lacquer were made from resin material taken from special trees. Lacquer paint creates a very hard and smooth surface over the wood and protects it from water. Japanese and Chinese lacquer work is often red or black. Sometimes it can be decorated with pieces of silver or gold metal to create an image.
STEVE EMBER: And, sometimes wood can even decorate wood. Inlay is a way of decorating wood with a pattern or image made out of small pieces of wood. The many small pieces of wood can have different colors or patterns. Some inlay experts in seventeenth century France and Spain added valuable materials like shiny mother-of-pearl or tortoise shell to the detailed wood inlay.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In the United States, the Shaker tradition of furniture making is known for its simplicity of form. The Shakers were a religious community that came to the United States in the eighteenth century from England. They practiced an intense form of spiritual observance and believed strongly in the value of hard work and keeping busy.
The Shakers developed their own style of furniture. They designed it very carefully with the idea that making something well was an act of prayer. They made furniture that was as simple and useful as possible because they believed extra details and designs were unnecessary and wrong. But their furniture in its total simplicity became famous for its beauty.
Chairs to sit on are probably the most well known Shaker furniture. The very fine and thin wood pieces give these chairs a clean and graceful look.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Phil Brown is an American artist who creates art with wood in a different way. He lives on a quiet street in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. In his workshop, he turns large pieces of wood into fine containers. Let us meet this expert wood turner whose bowls we talked about earlier and learn how he started his career.
PHIL BROWN: I'm Phil Brown. I'm a wood turner. I make bowls out of solid wood. The wood comes from our local trees and I have a shop at my home where I do the work. I've been a wood worker ever since I was a kid. And in the early seventies I wanted to get back to doing some wood work and we saw lots of interesting work in Maine on some trips there and I had a chance to get some apple wood from a friend ...what are you going to do with apple wood but maybe turn a bowl out of it. So I bought a used lathe and a book about turning and gradually taught myself to turn a bowl.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In the living room of his home Phil Brown has a special area where he shows his finished art. There are bowls of all shapes and sizes. Some are deep and large with reddish brown colored wood. Others are small with yellowish wood that has dark lines and shapes.
Mister Brown can explain exactly where and when he found each tree that he used to make a bowl. And he can show you what all the lines and rings in the wood represent. They are like maps of the tree's life. Some lines are caused by fungus organisms while others show the area where a branch of the tree trunk used to be. But to really understand Mister Brown's wood turning art, you have to visit his workshop downstairs.
STEVE EMBER: The workshop is filled with many tools and machine parts. On one wall there are shelves filled with roughly cut wooden bowls that are drying out. Allowing the wood to dry helps guarantee that it will not change shape later on. Before "turning the bowl thin" Mister Brown puts a layer of epoxy paint material over the roughly cut bowl. This hardens areas of the wood that might be softer or contain fungus. Then, Mister Brown places the bowl on his lathe.
(SOUND)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The lathe turns the wood quickly. Using a long metal tool called a gouge, Mister Brown slowly cuts away at the wooden form. With great skill he slowly keeps cutting away until the bowl has the right thinness and form.
Then, Mister Brown uses rough sandpaper to smooth the gouge marks in the wood. As the wood becomes smoother, he uses finer and finer kinds of sandpaper. He sometimes fills any holes or cracks with a mixture of epoxy glue, sanding dust, and brown paint. Finished bowls are so smooth and perfect they do not even feel like wood.
STEVE EMBER: Phil Brown shows his beautiful bowls at several fine craft stores and in art shows. He even has a bowl at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Sometimes he sells works directly from his workshop. His turned wood bowls cost hundreds of dollars. Many people have collections of his bowls in their homes.
Mister Brown says he is influenced by the work of sculptors like Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi. He says he likes to make bowls that have smooth surfaces and that bring out the natural color of wood. His finely made art is a celebration of the life of a tree and the endless possibilities of wood.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Shirley Griffith.
STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. You can read and listen to this program on our Web site, www.voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
单词注释：
chisel [5tFizl] n. 凿子
rotate [rEu5teit] v. （使）旋转
woodworking [5wud7w\:kiN] n. 木工艺，木工行业
teak [ti:k] n. 柚木
lotus [5lEutEs] n. 莲属
Buddhist [5budist] n. 佛教徒 adj. 佛教的
coyote [5kCiEut] n. 一种产于北美大草原的小狼，山狗
copal [5kEupEl] n. 柯巴脂（一种坚硬透明的树脂，用作制漆的原料）
lacquer [5lAkE] n. 漆，漆器
resin [5rezin] n. 树脂
inlay [5in5lei] n. 镶嵌
mother-of-pearl n. 珍珠母
tortoise [5tC:tEs] n. 龟
yellowish [5jelEuiF] adj. 微黄色的
fungus [5fQN^Es] n. 菌类，蘑菇
gouge [^audV] n. 圆凿
sandpaper [5sAndpeIpE(r)] n. 沙纸
epoxy [e5pCksi] adj. 环氧的
语言点分析：
believe in 相信；认为某事好
例句：Do you believe in China's traditional herbal medicine?
你相信中国传统的中草药吗？
木工艺术的历史探索
（音乐）
史蒂夫·恩伯：我是史蒂夫·恩伯。
雪丽·葛里菲兹：这里是美国之音《探索先锋》节目，我是雪丽·葛里菲兹。
在马里兰的毕士大，有一家名叫Sansar的工艺品展览馆，在那里你会看到木雕师菲尔·布朗的作品。他的许多木制的碗和容器外表光滑，造型现代。
有一个碗口宽大造型夸张的木碗取材黑樱桃木。这个木碗看起来非常完美，你很难相信它居然是手工做的。菲尔·布朗是怎么做的呢？在我们探索许多木艺传统的同时，我们将会解答这个问题。
（音乐）
史蒂夫·恩伯：史上几乎任何一种文明都曾经用过木头来制作各种物件。最早的木制品包括武器和工具。早期文明还用木头来造船，造房子和家具。但是，很难说在经过了漫长的历史周期后还会有什么木质结构的东西存留下来，因为比起陶土或金属质地的物品，木制品的寿命相对较短。
雪丽·葛里菲兹：专家认为大多数现存的木工工具制作是从铜器时代初期发展而来，这个时代距今大约五千年。这些工具包括锯、斧头、凿子和钻，它们以各种方式砍伐和雕刻木头。车床这种工具大概早在两千七百年以前就已经有了。
车床是用来固定和旋转木头的。当木头开始转动时，木工就用锋利的工具慢慢地均匀地切割木片。
史蒂夫·恩伯：木工的做法多种多样，每种文化都有它自己的传统。木艺作品包括建筑物上的装饰品，家具甚至木雕动物。
举个例子，在泰国，取材柚木或者其他硬木的木雕做工精细，它们是古代的宫殿和宗教建筑中非常重要的一部分。木雕艺人是一个非常重要的艺术家群体。一个人要成为木雕师需要跟随专家训练好多年。木雕通常包括植物的形状，诸如莲花，还有印度和佛教故事里的各种物体形象。
雪丽·葛里菲兹：雕刻是一种非常精细的艺术，每一件作品都需要细心规划。木雕师通常要在纸上勾画出他将要完成的木雕的图样，接着他会沿着图样剪出轮廓。之后再把剪过的轮廓贴在他选中的木料上，并且在其上洒满粉笔灰。
洒上的白色粉笔灰穿过剪痕留在纸上，同时也在木料上留下了记号。这样，木雕师就有了视觉上的向导让他可以开始雕刻工序。木雕成品通常都是着过色的，有时候会涂上金色，这种颜色可以反射四周的光线。这些技艺精湛的金色木雕赋予泰国的建筑以一种空灵的气质。
（音乐）
史蒂夫·恩伯：有一些木工传统近来又发展起来了。比如墨西哥瓦哈卡州的木雕艺人几百年以来就一直在雕刻各种脸谱和玩具。但是最著名的是一个叫曼纽尔·西门尼斯的木雕师，因为他创造了一种新的木雕传统。
二十世纪五十年代，曼纽尔·西门尼斯看到游客们对传统的墨西哥艺术品的需求在增长。他决定选用新的木料来做个实验，并且还采用与以往不同的形式。他开始用柯巴脂来雕刻一些生动的动物，比如青蛙，山狗和兔子之类的。
很快，曼纽尔·西门尼斯一家都参与制作这些生动活泼的木制动物。西门尼斯家的男性负责雕刻，女人们则给这些木制品涂上各种明快的色彩和图案。这个地方的其他木雕师也开始动手制作他们自己的动物品种。现在，瓦哈卡已经因为这些特殊的木雕作品而声名远扬。
雪丽·葛里菲兹：鲜艳的色彩并不是完成一个木雕的最好方式。日本和中国一些国家在采用油漆绘制木碗、匣子和其他器具方面有着丰富的传统。最早的油漆原材料是树脂，这种树脂产自一种特殊的树木。在给木制品涂上油漆后，它的表面就会坚硬光滑，并且还能够防水。日本和中国的油漆作品通常是红色或黑色。有时候还可以用银色或金色的金属在上面添上一些图案来修饰一下。
史蒂夫·恩伯：有时候甚至木头也可以用来装饰木头。镶嵌是一种用小片的木料在木制品上做出一些样式或图案来装饰的工艺。不同的小片木料可以有不同的颜色或图案。在十七世纪的法国和西班牙，一些艺人为精细的木雕镶嵌艺术带来了非常有价值的材料，如富有光泽的珍珠母或龟甲壳。
雪丽·葛里菲兹：在美国，夏克尔风格的家具制作传统因造型简约而为人所知。夏克尔是一个宗教团体。这个宗教团体于十九世纪从英国来到这里。他们锻炼出了一种强烈的精神习惯，他们笃信工作努力和生活忙碌的价值。
夏克尔派发展出了他们自己的家具风格。他们带着做好一件事就是一个祷告的信念来谨慎地设计他们的家具。他们把家具做的尽量简单实用，因为他们相信过多的修饰和图案是没有必要的，并且是错误的。然而正是整体风格上的简约成就了夏格尔派家具独特的美感。
椅子可能是夏克尔派中最为人所知的家具。上乘的木质和精薄的木片使得这些椅子看上去干净优雅。
（音乐）
史蒂夫·恩伯：菲尔·布朗是美国籍的木雕艺人，他的木雕手艺与众不同。他的家在马里兰毕士大的一条安静的街区上，那里靠近华盛顿。在他的工作室里，大片的木料经他加工后就成了精美的容器。让我们走近这位木雕专家，我们一开始就谈到的木碗的制造者，来听听他是怎样开始他的木雕生涯的。
菲尔·布朗：我是菲尔·布朗，我的职业是木雕师。我用结实的木料制作碗具。我用的木料取自当地的树，我在家有一个店铺，那儿也是我的工作室。在我还是个小孩的时候我就已经开始做木工的活了。七十年代初我想回去做一些木工活，我们在去缅因州的旅行途中看到很多有趣的木制品，那时我从一个朋友那里得到一些苹果树的木料。能用苹果木做材料的能是什么呢？大概就只有碗具了，所以我买了台旧车床和一本关于木雕的书，慢慢的我自己琢磨着就会做碗了。
雪丽·葛里菲兹：菲尔·布朗家的起居室里有一个特殊的角落，他在那里展示自己的作品。那些碗具形态大小各异。有一些碗又深又大，材料是红棕色的木头。又有一些碗颜色微黄，带有模糊的线条和形状。
布朗先生可以准确的描绘出他是在何时何地发现那些他取材做碗的树的。他还可以告诉你木料上所有的纹路和年轮代表着什么。这些东西就像是树木生命的地图。有些纹路是菌类生物留在树上的，而有一些表明了树干的长向。但是，要真正了解布朗先生的木雕艺术，你就得参观一下他们家楼下的工作室。
工作室里堆满了各种各样的工具和和机器部件。有一面墙上有几个堆满了尚未完工的木碗的架子，让木头干燥之后能保证它以后不会变形。在“把木碗打薄”之前，布朗先生要在粗糙的木碗上涂上一层环氧涂料。需要加硬的那部分木料有可能是比较柔软或者是菌类生长过的地方。然后，布朗先生才把他的碗放到车床上。
（声音）
雪丽·葛里菲兹：用车床旋转木料的速度很快。布朗先生用一种叫圆凿的长条金属工具慢慢地给木料造型。他用他了不起的手艺慢慢地把不必要的木头削掉，直到手中木碗的厚度和样式让他满意了为止。
接着，布朗先生用粗糙的砂纸打磨圆凿留在木料上的刻痕。随着木头越来越光滑，他选用的砂纸也越来越精细。有时候他会用环氧胶混合着用砂纸打磨下来的木屑和褐色涂料的混合物来糊木碗上的凿痕和裂缝。完工后的木碗光滑精美，看起来根本不像是用木头做的。
史蒂夫·恩伯：菲尔·布朗先生在几家精致的工艺品商店和艺术展上展示他那些漂亮的木碗。他甚至还有一个木碗被收藏在华盛顿特区的史密森美国艺术学会兰威克艺廊里。有时候他就在工作室里直接卖出他的碗。他的木碗价值几百美元。很多人都在他们的家中收藏布朗先生的木碗。
布朗先生表示他深受雕刻家像亨利·莫尔和伊莎穆·野口勇的作品的影响。他说他喜欢他制作的木碗表面光滑并且透着木头的本色。他所精心制作的艺术品就是庆祝一棵树的生命，庆祝它所带来的无穷无尽的可能性。
（音乐）
雪丽·葛里菲兹：这里是雪丽·葛里菲兹，本节目由达纳·德曼格撰写。
史蒂夫·恩伯：我是史蒂夫·恩伯。您可以登陆www.voaspecialenglish.com下载本节目的文本和录音文件。欢迎您下周再次收听我们的美国之音特别英语《探索先锋》节目。
（音乐）