North House Folk School

Why hi there, hello! I would like to introduce you to four mentors / organizations who are foundational to my work as a furniture maker, artisan, and woodworking instructor. Through their generosity, I have developed an interest and skills in designing through the lens of green woodworking, creating expressive furniture that honors tradition while exploring boundaries of form and material. 

Above: Brettstuhl class with Charles Thompson. Photograph by Lin Elkins 

Chairmaker’s Toolbox

Founded by Aspen Golann, their mission is to provide educational opportunities to a diverse group of makers. Their community of chair nerds provide necessary space for historically marginalized artisans to be curious, share resources, and support hand-tool chairmaking. I have had the opportunity to meet makers and work with exceptionally talented craftspeople across the country due to class opportunities organized by the non-profit. Most recently, I spent a week in a design build class with George Sawyer, a wizard of problem solving age-old chairmaking processes. My peers in the class offered the sweetest connection—sharing our experiences, joys, and concerns, celebrating and supporting each other through seven days of making. Never have I felt more light on my feet while diving headfirst into design and construction. 

North House Folk School

As a 2021 craft education intern, I was welcomed into North House’s community. My cohort—Alex Blust, Mary Tripoli, and Wesley Hathaway—took up every inch of the milling shop that year. We taught each other everything we learned in classes and pulled stories out of instructors with brats around the fire ring. Breaking from the rigidity of machine shop woodworking, I got to know wood through hand and eye. Beginning in the woods and splitting it apart offered an intimate look into how wood grows, and how it may react to carving, bending, or drying. 

Nels Diller

I first met Nels through a summer internship program at the Folklore Village in Dodgeville, WI. Over many summers since, we worked side by side to reconstruct an 1840s Norwegian immigrant’s log home using traditional hand tools and techniques. Nels guided me through the process of building on a large scale, he helped me trust in the physics of the work, the bite of a sharp edge, and in my own capability. Every day felt like a performance of reverence for the materials, for the ingenuity of the craftspeople who came before us, and for the rolling oak savannah. In 2018, I first helped to cut and fit horizontal oak logs into the dovetail construction. Our work together culminated in a Wisconsin Folk Arts grant to build ten double-hung windows completely by hand. This spring, I referenced an original door to build two new doors to close in the space.  

Sylvie Rosenthal

Sylvie was my professor while attending UW-Madison’s woodworking and furniture design program. I had the privilege of learning from Sylvie at the very beginning of my journey. Her tips, big and small, resonate out of my subconscious while I use the mallet we made together or carve curves into an object. While I was an intimidated beginner, Sylvie’s presence opened up the wood studio to be an inclusive, imaginative, and curious space. I was honored to be her studio assistant my senior year. Each Friday, I would bike past nesting cranes on the south side of the arboretum to her studio off Fitch Hatchery Road. Her love of teaching, care to empower, and no bull environment meant I could work hard without fear of failure and ask any and all questions. She held an inspiring balance as an artist—small batch production with an art practice of carving large, storied sculptures and teaching at craft schools around the country.