North House Folk School

Carver's Conference

Friday, March 14, 9am-9pm

As a special feature of this week, all classes will take a break on Friday to allow everyone to participate in demonstrations, presentations, and eat pizza. Locations will vary; see Welcome Center for details.  Participation in the Carver’s Conference Day is free for all in 2025. The public is welcome to attend.

9:00 am Talk: The Felloe-ship of the Rim: Preservation of Nordic Wheels, Wagons & Carriages with Fred Livesay

Longtime North House instructor Fred Livesay has not been spinning his wheels this past year. He's really been getting a-round, traveling to Europe to join a multinational & intergenerational group of craftspeople, writers, cinematographers and museum professionals who have come together to learn, preserve and resurrect the forgotten art of the wheelwright in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. He wouldn't say he's a big wheel in this fascinating craft, but we wood. Join us for a morning of discovery and learning. 

10:30am Featured Demonstration: Carving Motifs of the Tyldal Chair with Lara Domeneghetti

Lara Domeneghetti will demonstrate carving techniques using historic tools. 

12:00pm Lunch and Learn: Film Screening: Träslöjden

The National Hemslöjd Committee of Sweden has produced a set of woodworking videos about traditional joining methods in furniture carpentry and other wood slöjd. They’re in Swedish, but the visuals are highly informative. We’ll screen a few over lunch; BYO lunch and pull up a chair. 

Afternoon Demonstrations |   1:30-4:00 pm

Gather for presentations from makers on particular skill sets. Observe, ask questions, consider what your next course might be and learn. Some demonstrations offer participants the chance to try a skill.

• Hewing Timbers with Peter Henrikson
• Flat Plane Figure Carving with Charles Banks
• Woodcarving with Ceclia Schiller
• Chip Carving with Charlene Lynum
• Norwegian-style Knife Making with David Susag
• Green Woodworking with Mary Tripoli
• Woodcarving with Wesley Hathaway
• Kolrosing with Liesl Chatman
• Milk Paint with Maeve Gathje
• Bowl Carving with Jon Strom

5:30pm | Wood-Fired Pizza Potluck Dinner

The classic North House student gathering makes a rare winter appearance! We will fire the brick oven and make plenty of pizza dough; you provide the rest. Please bring a topping or two and we’ll have a great smørgasbord of options. Come early (5:30pm) for Happy Chopping Hour to prep toppings. Baking will start at ~6:00. BYOB. 

Evening Gatherings

All Wood Week students and the public are invited to attend these free gatherings. Locations vary; will be posted on the Welcome Center doors daily.

Tuesday, March 11  | Open Shop and Skill Share, 7pm-9pm

As a special perk of Wood Week, North House will be open for students to carve away the evenings. Bring your own project; hosted by a volunteer instructor. Note: some hand tools will be available for use, but students are encouraged to bring their own. Hosted by Maeve Gathje. Skill Share: Simple Figure Carving

Note, the weekly Community Singing Circle on campus will be from 5:30-7:30pm. All voices are welcome!

Wednesday, March 11  | Talk: Chasing the Lost Lore of Kolrosing in Scandinavia with Liesl Chatman 7pm-8pm

The humble decorative art of kolrosing, which adorned three quarters of a million wooden Toten spoons in Norway in the 1800’s, is literally classified as an endangered folk art in Norway. Jögge Sundqvist said that “for sure, kolrosing is dead in Sweden.” Liesl, through the support of an American Scandinavian Foundation fellowship went to Sweden and Norway to uncover what she could about the history and lore of kolrosing. The story of Toten spoons that Liesl found and will tell, is a beautiful yet sorrowful one that fades away with industrialization and Nazi Occupation. Visiting major museums, Liesl studied kolrosed spoons and other items that were from the early 1600’s forward. Along the way, she and her wife Erin spent time with Beth Moen, Julia Kalthoff, other folk artists,  and faculty at Sätergläntan and Rauland Akademit where she was invited to teach kolrosing to the next  generation of Swedish and Norwegian Slöjders.

Thursday, March 13 | Remembering Harley Refsal Story Circle

To know Harley was to love him: he was an irrepressible joy to be around, an international leader in cultivating folk art, and of course, a steady presence at North House and especially Wood Week. Wood Week 2020 was his final visit to North House, something no one knew at the time. Join us for a special circle and share your story of Harley. The live audio of the event will be available via zoom so those who can’t join us around the woodstove can be with us remotely.  Register here.

Friday-Saturday, March 14-15 | Pop Up Exhibit: Carved Wooden Bear Toy Collection 

A collection of 25 traditional folk toys from the Bogorodskoye region of Russia will be on display during Wood Week. The small village of Bogorodskoye has long been the most celebrated center of wood carving in Russia. Villagers have been selling wooden toys to pilgrims trekking to the nearby Holy Trinity Monastery for hundreds of years. The basswood mechanical toys have moving parts that come to life when gently swinging the wooden ball pendulum. On loan from a collector who bought the toys in outdoor markets while working for a stint near Moscow, the collection of bears playing instruments, swatting bees and hiding vodka bottles will entertain and inspire you.

Saturday, March 16  | Featured Presentation with Lara Domeneghetti: Tracing the Tyldal Chair: New Perspectives on Its History and Movement

Featured Guest Lara Domeneghetti will offer a fascinating talk on the history of the Tyldal chair, a highly ornamented birch and pine chair from ~1150 AD Norway that has inspired centuries of imitation (see the Glencairn's Tyldal for Bryn Athyn Cathedral a twentieth-century revival). Lara is the leading  global expert on the chair, its history, and the tools used to carve and will share the stories she has uncovered in this ancient wooden object. 

Sunday, March 17  | Open Shop and Skill Share, 7pm-9pm

As a special perk of Wood Week, North House will be open for students to carve away the evenings. Bring your own project; hosted by a volunteer instructor. Note: some hand tools will be available for use, but students are encouraged to bring their own. Hosted by Mike Loeffler Skill Share: Get A Grip: Jigs, Horses and Clamps

Featured Guest Instructor

This year’s Featured Guest Instructor is Lara R. Domeneghetti, a highly accomplished woodcarver teaching for the first time in the US. Lara hails from an Italian multigenerational family of woodcarvers and gilders, but found her artistic home and passion in medieval Norwegian-style carving. Lara will offer two courses exploring the Tyldal Chair, a highly ornamented birch and pine chair from ~1150 AD Norway. Lara will also be our Carver’s Conference day Featured Speaker.