Looking out at 2026

In August of '24, I had the good fortune of joining several highly respected craftspeople at a lunch hosted by Peter Lamb in Kittery, ME.  The guest of honor was Jögge Sundqvist, who was touring the U.S., teaching classes and visiting friends.  Jögge, a renowned craftsperson and woodworker from northern Sweden, creates pieces that are colorful, playful, and poetic.   

(photo from Joel Paul)

The lunch was a humbling experience, to say the least, and personally inspiring.  Jögge kindly listened to me prattle on about my challenges with market, how I make stuff, sell stuff, and then struggle to make enough for the next event.  All good problems to have, don't get me wrong, but the process has left me wanting, wanting to make more meaningful pieces that push form and meaning in new directions, and wanting not to feel like I need to turn more tops.  Jögge, nodding in understanding, turned and said: "It is all sculpture."

I was reminded of this exchange while teaching at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts this summer.  Haystack is a highly respected craft school, drawing the very best artists and craftspeople as instructors from around the world, so it was a true honor to be there.  But the experience left me feeling out of my depth.  Or, more accurately, I felt out of my field.  Listening to other instructors talk about the meaning of their work, what exhibitions, museums, and television shows had featured their work, and what books they had published, I found myself navigating a space that felt very unfamiliar.  While various classes asked students to give "form to the self through non-representational sculptural narratives" or "explore storytelling through fiber art," my class sought to teach students to turn a bowl on a pole lathe. That's it.

I want to be clear: I am not at all looking down on—or casting aspersions toward—the other wonderful instructors at Haystack, nor on the School’s more artistically oriented approach. That said, the experience left me with a sense of yearning: a desire to say more through my work.

While teaching craft skills is important and vital work—and work I genuinely love—I want to dedicate part of the coming year to producing a body of work that is more intentionally focused on a theme, a form, and/or a technique.

All of the instructors were asked to give a ten-minute presentation on their work, and I chose to speak about craft pedagogy, slöjd, and embodied thinking.  

(Photo: Eric McIntire)

This is a deeply important part of my practice right now, and I feel passionately about it. At the same time, the experience made me realize that I don’t even have a portfolio of my own work.  I make.  I sell.  I repeat.  In the new year, I want to change that.  I will still do a few markets, but my studio time will be focused less on production and more on creation.  I have a few leads on galleries that want to show my work next winter.  Now all I need to do is make a body of work!

That said, I have even more teaching gigs next year, and a few at schools new to me, so I will be busy!  In April, I will be teaching a five-day introduction to spoon carving and pole lathe turning at Peter Galbert's Workshop.  Instructors at Pete's read like a whose-who of the green woodworking world, and I am really honored to be part of the lineup.  In May, I will be teaching a five-day introduction to wood turning at Snowfarm, another truly impressive craft program.  Finally, I will be teaching classes at the Nantucket Historical Association for about two weeks in July.  I will run short-form adult classes in carving and turning, as well as kids' classes in carving.  Alyssa will come along for a little vacation, and as luck would have it, my friend Michael Frassinelli has an artist's residency on the island at the same time.  It should be a wonderful trip.

Lastly, I am working on two articles for woodworking magazines.  I don't want to say too much right now, but stay tuned. One should publish within the next few months.

That is all (phew)~!?!

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve, everyone.  Stay safe and hug your loved ones.

Thanks for a great 2025!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

    As 2025 winds down, I wanted to express my gratitude to all the individuals who have supported my small business throughout this year and beyond.  It has been a formative year for me professionally, as my craft and my teaching continue to grow.  

    I taught for nearly fifty days in 2025, which was a new record for me.  A healthy portion of that was "Carving Club" at Tinkerhaus, in Newburyport, MA.  This after-school class for kids in grades 3-5 seemed to be a big hit:

We carved soldiers, and made thrones for them:

We made dice, both big and small:

And we received a generous gift of tools from the Flexcut company:

    I continued to teach many classes for adults at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA, and at Sanborn Mills Farm in Loudon, NH.  Both of these schools have been major supporters of my teaching, and I want to say a special thank you to them.  I also taught at several new schools, including Haystack in Deer Island, Maine, Historic Eastfield in New York, and the Newburyport Art Association in Newburyport, MA.  It was a real honor to teach at Haystack, as it is widely considered one of the most important craft schools in America.  The space is truly lovely--set on the coast, with mid-century modern architecture.  The quality of the craft and the instructors there was really something else, and it got me thinking in new directions about my own work.  I will reflect more on that in a future post on my goals for 2026.

Haystack was magical

Haystack, right on the coast of Maine

    I set up at markets one weekend a month, at North Andover and Newburyport, and learned some important lessons.  It has taken me several years, but I am starting to learn that there is a season for woodcraft sales.  While you might get a few good days around Father's and Mother's Days, and occasionally you will have a patron who cleans you out, for the most part, I need to concentrate my efforts on fewer events closer to the winter holidays.  I will continue to show monthly at the Newburyport Farmers' Market through the summer, as it builds ties to the local community, but will wait until after Thanksgiving for more market weekends.  

    One final highlight for me was traveling to the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa, and even getting into their archives to study some interesting boxes and canisters.  I then went up to Milan, Minnesota, for the Spoon Gathering and had a chance to catch up with Alex, Paul, and Ty. 

So, once again, thanks to everyone who has supported my teaching, learning, turning, and carving in 2025.  I am humbled that so many folks want to follow along in my journey.  And most importantly, I want to say thank you to my wife, Alyssa.  Without her support, none of my craft work would be possible.  As she said when I was contemplating stepping away from my high school teaching job and taking on craft full-time, "You can be paid poorly doing a lot of things--teaching is only one of them."  Her encouragement for me to take a leap mid-life and pivot professionally, and her steadfast financial support while I get on my feet, make all of this possible.