Karl Karlsson
Karl Karlsson started tanning in 2016 and is the third person to have earned the title of Master Tanner through the rigorous three year training program. His journey as a tanner started while studying organic farming at a folk school in Sweden, where he experimented with tanning on his own and fell in love with the craft. He switched to Bäckedals Folk School and studied traditional tanning for three years. Since 2020, Karl runs a small scale tannery in Stockholm’s archipelago and works at Europe's largest open air museum, demonstrating and informing visitors about this amazing craft. His main areas of interest are leather tanning and fish skin tanning, focusing on the tanning techniques from northern Europe, from the Viking Age through early 1900. Despite his early change of direction, Karl still loves to grow and make food, an interest that can be easily combined with his passion for tanning. This is his first trip to North House.