Instead of a barn – a workshop
At first, in 1991, Vidas says he produced “nothing”. He liked to turn, even more he wanted his own lathe, so he welded his own works. The workshop was set up near the house, instead of the former barn, in the village of Klišiai, Rokiškis district. In those days, many things were lacking, so they started making practical things. When he decided to make window frames, he took apart the old ones, figured out how to make the connections and made new ones. Some of the stools made back then fell apart, the flower stand that my mother asked me to make turned out a little crooked, but the beginning was made. V. Kirstukas says that only now, when he has been working with wood for more than 30 years, he can say that he has gained experience.
There was no use in haste
Vidas says that there were no masters around who he could ask for advice and learn from, so he had to learn from his mistakes. They wanted to make the first products as soon as possible, but the rush did not help – they remained defective. Over time, the desire to sell their products arose. “I thought – in order for my item to be bought, a person needs to like it. Then I realized that the product should be finished to the end, not thrown away. If something failed, it’s better to put it aside, finish it later, but exactly as originally planned,” explains the master.
American “Fiction”
“I always wanted to definitely try something new. When you’ve already made one thing, it’s not very interesting to repeat it,” explains the interviewer, how the turned wooden hats appeared in his workshop. The interviewer says that this is an American “fiction”. “You can add it to this rather than soup, it is more suitable as a decoration, although after attaching a band and adding padding, you can dress up when going to the holidays,” says the man about the wooden headgear. In total, he made about 15 hats, one was purchased by a collector from Biržai, several were bought. Carved hats are nothing new, they are also made by wood craftsman Rytis Zaveckas from Panevėžys, whose work Vidas admires. And he did not see the top hats in Lithuania. They are produced in this way and become thin, a millimeter thick. Before finishing the decoration of the hat, the craftsman puts a lamp inside and illuminates it so that the chisel does not go through, while tightening the rubber, he cuts the glasses.
They don’t like the same
Driven by curiosity – will it work – Vidas has made a one and a half meter wooden cannon on wheels. At the moment, it is no longer in the workshop, it was given to a person. Other items are more common – candlesticks, spoons, burnt dishes, bowls of various sizes, but he says he doesn’t like the same things, he is looking for variety, more interesting ways of decorating. “People don’t like uniform, smooth, perfectly polished dishes. Then you can choose a porcelain or ceramic dish. I want the characteristics of the wood to be revealed, leaving the roughness and naturalness where necessary,” explains the interviewer.
Sometimes Vidas appears with his things at fairs in Biržai, Rokiškis district. After being in a noisy crowd, he relaxes after chatting with people. I would like to participate in Klaipėda Sea Festival or Vilnius Kaziuk Fair, but moving things from one place to another causes inconvenience.
Schemes – in the head
The master lathes from birch and maple wood, but would like to try oak or ash, although ash scales. I liked making segmented dishes, which were glued from pieces of wood and turned. There was a lot of work. A difficult thing is drying and gluing the wood. As the wood dries, the product may split. Such cases are inevitable, but Vids came up with a way to save the damaged item – he connects the tears with wooden butterflies. The interviewer says that he hardly makes drawings, all “visualizations” are in his head, down to the smallest details. When everything is carefully thought out, then 80% of the time. the work is done, all that remains is to put a piece of wood in the machine and run it. However, if you put a tree and you don’t know what will happen, it may not work. When he began to engage in woodworking more seriously, he replaced the first lathe with a larger one – he made it himself, some were provided by Levukas – a good metal craftsman from Pagoje.
When cooking for others, Vidas does not spoil himself very much, he says that the potter would like to make a door from a scrap of food, but he is running out of time. The latest activity, about which not much is said yet, is the production of urns, more about that when the work gets going.
