In the back room, a board is never just a board. It carries the pale track of the plane, the dark crescent left by a stubborn knot, and the small arithmetic of hands that knew where a joint should turn. A finished figure begins here: not with polish, but with attention.
Begin with the grain
That order changes the way we make things. We cut the first shape, leave the tool marks legible, and add color only where the story needs a signal: a red cap, a blue sleeve, one ochre tack. The result feels less manufactured because every decision remains visible.