Courses

Cranks wind, gears turn, dragons chomp, and birds fly. Welcome to the whimsical world of automata: simple wooden machines that delight and amaze. Join Cecilia Schiller for a four-day exploration of the art of making wooden machines and the mechanisms that make things move. Starting with the design process in…

We will welcome esteemed woodcarver and instructor Mary May as our Featured Instructor for Wood Week 2022. In this course, Mary will teach a variety of relief carving techniques, beginning with basic shell and floral motifs. She will discuss how to work with the grain and address issues that arise…

This course will introduce students to the world of bird carving. This is a great class for beginners and experienced carvers alike. We will focus on song birds commonly found in the sub-boreal forest of the Lake Superior region. Of course, each bird is different but the general form, anatomy,…

Make the wood chips fly! This course is for students ready to stand at the chopping block and learn to use classic wooden bowl-carving hand tools – the adze, axe, gouge push knife, and others. During this class, topics including selection of wood stock, elements of bowl design, strategies for hand-hewing, use…

Create beautiful and useful things for your kitchen using simple hand tools and native woods. Participants in this course will be introduced to the Swedish traditions of ‘köksredskap,' or the process of carving functional utensils, including butterknives, small spoons, or bread boards. Students will start by splitting a green log,…

Beginning and experienced carvers will enjoy this opportunity to focus on figures carved in the Scandinavian flat-plane style. Tool sharpening and the history of carving are presented at the start of the course and the instructor will lead you through an initial figure in step-by-step fashion. Students can then carve…

We will welcome esteemed woodcarver and instructor Mary May as our Featured Instructor for Wood Week 2022. In this course, Mary will teach a variety of relief carving techniques focused on floral motifs. She will discuss how to work with the grain and address issues that arise when the grain…

Whether filled with granola or oats, Cheerios or Frosted Flakes, a breakfast bowl is a welcome companion in the morning. Small wooden bowls are warm, tactile, and ready to personally customize with decorative carving or coloration. In this class students will have the opportunity to make several bowls from fresh…

Kolrosing is like scrimshaw on wood and a great way to decorate spoons, spreaders, and plates. It doesn’t involve specialized tools, strength, or a studio. In fact, you can do it in your lap and carry everything you need in a pencil case! Rather than removing material, kolrosing is cutting an…

The shrink box is a wooden container that relies on a simple trick: Freshly cut (green) wood and dry wood behave differently. The body of the vessel is made from green wood that changes in size as it dries (putting the “shrink” in shrink box). The bottom of the vessel…

Break out the v-gouges and chisels! This tutorial format course is a great opportunity to get going on a new carving project or finish up something you’ve already started, all under the expert guidance of instructor Phil Odden. Phil specializes in Nordic-style carving and will have a variety of projects…

Carving wooden spoons is a tradition in Scandinavia, where carvers crafted spoons for home use, for seasonal income, and to give as gifts. The techniques, designs, and embellishments commonly used today are deeply embedded in centuries of cultural history, but spoon carving is also a vibrant and growing craft tradition…