H indm an has ne ver had to recruit workers.
One guy pulled over when he saw H indm an
working and offered to work fo r free i f he could
learn the a rt o f handcrafted restoration.
Above: Hindman’s crew
converted the garage of
a 1935 apartment to use
as its main workshop.
Weather permitting,
the guys enjoy fresh air
and sunshine while
they work.
p ain t jo b th e se d ays is fo u r o r
fiv e y e a rs. W h e n h o u se p ain t
w a s h an d -m ixed , th o u gh tediou s
to a p p ly , it lasted fo r d ecad es.
(H e ’s w o rk in g on d e v e lo p in g
his o w n .) It’s ju st an o th er e x -
am ple o f h o w o u r e x p e c ta tio n s
h a ve sh ifte d , h e says. “ P e o p le
w o u ld lik e th e ir p ain t to last 40
y e a rs, b u t th e y d o n ’t w a n t th e ir
p ain t to ta k e tw o w e e k s to d ry ,
and [th e y w a n t] to b e able to
p ain t in J a n u a ry .”
Y e t m ore and m ore p e o p le
are ch o o sin g H in d m an ’s w a y o f
d oin g th in gs, from his com p an y’s
clie n ts to p e o p le across th e
c o u n try w h o h a ve jo in e d in this
sh ift to w a rd w h a t th e in v e n to r
Sau l G riffith calls “ h eirlo o m
d e sig n ,” a sp irited rep u d iation
o f th e th ro w -a w a y p rin cip le s o f
co n su m er cu ltu re. Ju d gin g from
th e reb o u n d in g D I Y e th ic and
the p o p u la rity o f b o o k s such as
Sarah S u sa n k a ’s
N ot So B ig
House
, a lo t o f A m e ric a n s are
re c o g n izin g th at so m e th in g ’s
m issin g in co n te m p o ra ry so c i-
e ty . T h a t in tan gib le valu e g o es
b y a lo t o f n am es - q u a lity , au-
th e n tic ity - b u t read ers o f this
m agazin e w ill re c o g n ize it b y
this on e: craftsm an sh ip .
T h e p o w e r o f craftsm an sh ip
m ay b e w h y H in d m an has n e v e r
had to recru it co lle ag u es: Jacob
B arnes - w ith tw o years under his
belt, the m ost senior em p loyee
- s h o w e d up a fte r grad u atin g
from th e U n iv e r s ity o f T e x a s ,
w h e re h e stu d ied g e o g ra p h y
and en viro n m e n tal scien ce.
“ H is g rea t-g ra n d fa th e r and
g ra n d fa th er w e r e b oth w o o d -
w o rk e rs ; he ju st h ad it in his
m ak eu p , in his g e n e s ,” H in d -
m an says. T a y lo r Y arb ro u gh ,
w h o ’s b een th e re alm ost as lo n g,
w a s an o th er re ce n t co lle g e grad
w h o fe ll in to th e fo ld , after
w o rk in g as a m anager at a h otel.
G illis S c h w a r tz , fresh ou t o f
la w sch o o l, w e n t to D allas to
w o r k fo r a firm . S ix m on th s
late r, he sh o w e d up on H in d -
m an’s d o o rste p .
D av id L o esch p u lled his car
o v e r o n e d ay w h e n H indm an
w a s ou tside w o rk in g on the
p ro to ty p e bu ngalito: “ H e cam e
u p, and his first w o rd s w e re :
‘I f y o u teach m e to do th is, I’ll
w o r k fo r y o u fo r fre e .’ ” H in d -
m an to o k him on (and paid him ).
W ith a cou ple o f d iffe re n t ca-
reers in his p ast, including an
eigh t-year stretch at D ell C o m -
p u ters, H in dm an understands
th e significan ce o f m akin g fu ll-
tim e w o r k o u t o f w h a t y o u
lo v e to do.
“A lo t o f p eo p le, i f th e y to o k
up a craft like this, w o u ld d iscover
w h a t th e ir cap ab ilities a re ,” he
says. “ I f th e y ju st did it - i f th e y
ju st sta rted w o r k in g w ith th e ir
hands. B u t y o u ’d n e v e r k n o w i f
y o u d id n ’t do th a t.”
+
re d riv e rre sto ra tio n s.co m
J u lie K . H anus is
A m e rica n
C ra ft It
senior editor.
Red River craftsmen,
from left: Scott Jackson,
Shane Shannon, Jacob
Barnes, John Hindman,
David Locsch, Taylor
Yarbrough, and Gillis
Schwartz.
060
american craft
fcb/m arn
