Intro Para: After the passing away of the legendary George Nakashima in 1990, Mira took the role of the creative director of George Nakashima's studio. She has relentlessly continued the studio's philosophy of the woodworker's devotion to the sacrifice of the tree, has preserved, and championed the studio's techniques embraced by her father. Body Text: With over forty years of practice in the studio, Mira Nakashima has an exceptionally intuitive and technical knowledge of the characteristic qualities of wood. A designer in her own right, she has taken the time-honoured traditional designs to a new artistic paradigm. As she carves out a legacy of her own, she fondly remembers her father’s phrase “Keep your nose clean and create a little beauty …show more content…
Could you tell us about the philosophy and ethos behind the Nakashima Studio, and the work it undertakes? My father was very much inspired and motivated by his experience at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, and instinctively followed the path of Soetsu Yanagi’s “Unknown Craftsman” in which good craftsmanship and good design are more important than the individual ego. Wood is not only our medium, but our partner in creativity. The simplicity, honesty and utilitarianism of the American Shaker tradition are essential to our work, as is a saying by the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, “Beauty is the divine language in …show more content…
Having a career and having a family can be challenging, what tips do you have for other women in this field who are trying to dream big? Having a career and a family is indeed challenging. When the children were young, I only worked part-time and hired a baby-sitter to keep the peace during summer vacations. Many years ago, my children went to college and moved away from Pennsylvania to start their own families, so I see them very rarely and have lost touch with them, which is very sad. Looking back, I wish I had been more insistent that at least one of them be adequately trained to carry on the family business and stay nearby, but I thought they should each do what they wanted to do and go where they wanted to