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THE LOVE OF STEPPING BACK IN TIME
by Fred Brehant

One of my influences growing up was Eric Sloane, from his humble beginnings, he became a gifted artist and writer penning books detailing life in early America. Through his pen and ink renderings and detailed paintings, and his interpretation of life, he could make that early life of our forefathers come alive. In one of his many books, he wrote a phrase that still rings in my ears today, so much so that I made a sign and hung it in my woodwright shop. It reads “Life’s employment is life’s enjoyment”, how true that is. You need to love what you do to have a full life.

There is something to be said for the space you work in, depending on the flavor of lifestyle you choice, the space can be an influence of style and energy that is reflected in your work. Growing up with the influence of colonial America all around me, I found myself blessed. Some 30 + years ago I found a place to work that shared the same love and passions which I grew up with, fast forward to now, working for myself, I love going to work every day. From the woodwright shop, which was once an 1860 carriage house, or blacksmith shop, constructed by my dad and I from salvaged timbers of an old barn, the character of my workspace means a lot to what I make and build.

One of mt latest projects was a custom pulpit and communion table for a local church. While working on the table I was asked to carve the phrase “DO THIS IN REMEMBERENCE OF ME” on the front of it. Just recently I met a wonderful craftsman that had just the carving skill to accomplish that task, his name is Rick Liegl. Rick is a Connecticut based woodworker who creates one-of-a-kind items with antique hand tools. Like the early woodworkers of New England, he builds chairs, benches and chests using colonial mortise and tenon joinery. He is also a gifted carver creating hand hewn spoons and bowls from locally sourced trees. I knew he had the skills to carve that phrase in that communion table, and he did a wonderful job.

I love it when I have the opportunity to meet craftsmen like Rick, my love of early New England history helps me meet craftsmen that share the same passion, working with their own two hands to create the items they do. Its exciting to see these same colonial crafts still existing and being practiced in these rolling hills of New England.
How about you? It’s not too late to learn how to make something with your own two hands, it’s well worth it.

Fred and his wife, Terry, are owners of
F. Brehant Village Blacksmiths & Woodwright, LLC.
For more information visit www.fbrehant.com.

For more information on Rick Liegl can be contacted at Colonialcraftsofct@gmail.com

For information on Eric Sloane and the Sloane Museum visit
https://portal.ct.gov/decd/content/historic-preservation/04_state_museums/eric-sloane-museum-and-kent-iron-furnace