North House Folk School

March 13, 2020 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, North House Folk School, seventeenth-century reproductions

Some thoughts and interspersed photos from my week at North House Folk School.

Clearly North House Folk School is doing something right. Over 350 classes & 3,000 students per year? It makes my head swim. I just got back from a week-plus there – If you’ve not heard of them, their website is great. Be sure to watch the 10-minute film about the school. https://northhouse.org/

The event was called “Wood Week” – two 3-day sessions, with an in-between day of demonstrations, films, and the legendary pizza night. I didn’t take any useful photos to give you an idea of the scope of the event. There were so many courses, including mine – and I didn’t get to peek into more than just one or two. I’ll just cop out & copy the info from their website about the offerings:

“Choose from a dozen courses, including returning favorites in bowl carving with Jon Strom, spoon carving with Fred Livesay and Mike Loeffler, Krympburkar: Scandanavian-Style Shrink Boxes with Paul Linden & Jim Sannerud, and figure carving with Harley Refsal. Or, try something new with Bruce Futterer (Carving Facial Detail), Liesl Chatman (Kolrosing), or Jock Holmen (Dragon Head Carving).”

The view outside the shop where I was teaching:

A setting that is out of this world – out of mine, anyway. The lake there is so nice they call it Superior. The tide never goes out. The town of Grand Marais is quite nice too. Small, friendly, nice place for walking.

One piece that I especially liked was the evening presentations by several craftspeople, none of whom had grey hair. Lots of young people around North House, delving deeply into crafts of many kinds. We heard from Mike Loeffler and Mary Beth Garmoe about time they both spent in Sweden & Norway as part of an Artisan Development Program run by North House. Two years at North House, culminating in a several-weeks-long trip through some of Scandinavia, working and studying with various artisans. What an experience for these people.

During the week we also saw demonstrations by Dawson Moore and Rose Holdorf – Dawson’s about the spoon mule he’s developed, following some initial input from Jarrod. Rose showed us methods she uses for making a post & rung stool. She managed to get the whole thing built in just an hour, having the parts made up ahead of time. The third presentation in this lineup was Angela Robbins showing how she hews a bowl with an axe and adze. Like Mike and Mary Beth, Angela was an ADP recipient.

Here’s Rose carving in one of my classes –

I didn’t get photos of the pizza night – I’d guess 100-130 pizzas baked in the wood-fired oven on Friday night. Friday was called the “carver’s conference” and it consisted of all of the instructors demonstrating for the day. The students who had been in the first session were welcomed to stay over and see what they missed in other classes; and the incoming students likewise were welcome to come in early. After the pizza party, I gave a talk about three of the people who were either teachers of mine, (Jennie Alexander and Daniel O’Hagan) or inspiration (Bill Coperthwaite) – my talk was well-received – people were kind to sit through something that was a little different than my usual woodsy lecture.

Among the instructors in the 2nd go-round was Alex Yerks – and he & I were trying to remember if we’d ever seen each other in this country. We think not. We first met in England, and then in Australia. So this was our first US gig maybe. One other highlight – Liesl Chatman and her partner Erin gave a riveting presentation about their frequent travels in New Zealand. It was a moving talk.

Lots of things like this in the ceiling – I think they catch the dust and keep it off the benches.

A sunrise – the time changed while I was out there, so I caught a sunrise by accident.

This sod-roof timber frame must have been a class at some point. Everyone gets lots of photos of it…including me.

This is blog post #1,234 for me. That’s a lot of words and pictures over the years. More on that thought another time.

There were a lot of links for this post – I moved most of them here:

The North House blog – https://northhouse.org/blog

The Artisan Development Program https://northhouse.org/get-involved/artisan-development-program

Dawson Moore’s Spoon Mule plans – https://www.michigansloyd.com/products/spoon-mule-plans

Alex Yerks’ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alex_yerks/?hl=en

Liesl Chatman’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rivchicawarrior/?hl=en

Some 2020 classes and links

December 3, 2019 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, Jennie Alexander, ladderback chair, North House Folk School, oak furniture, Plymouth CRAFT, seventeenth-century reproductions

I’m off to teach one last class for the year, the carved oak box at Lost Art Press. Then home for a few months before 2020 season really kicks in. My teaching schedule for 2020 is a bit scattered. Several classes filled before I could even write about them, like the JA chair at Pete Galbert’s. He thinks it’s me – I know it’s the chair and his avid students. I’ll post here if any openings come up in that class.

https://www.petergalbert.com/schedule/2020/7/13/make-a-chair-from-a-tree-with-peter-follansbee

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THE JA CHAIR W PLYMOUTH CRAFT

Like we did in 2020, we’ll run that class at Plymouth CRAFT – I think twice, once in May, once in August. We’ve not put them on the site yet, but are very close to ready. If you’re signed up for our newsletter then you’ll hear about it the minute it happens. We rarely send out news, we’re too busy or distracted. I’ll also post here on the blog before registration opens. I expect it too will fill quickly, we keep it at 6 students so I can keep an eye on everything that’s happening. I don’t know how Drew Langsner did it all those years with 10 or 12 students. Here’s the link to sign up for the Plymouth CRAFT newsletter – https://www.plymouthcraft.org/contact

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MAKE A SHAVING HORSE WITH TIM MANNEY

While on the subject of Plymouth CRAFT though – we did just post Tim Manney’s first shaving horse class. Not using one, but making one. A 3-day class with Tim guiding you through the steps to build the horse he wrote about in Fine Woodworking, July/August 2017 (issue #262) – there you’ll see a quote from Curtis Buchanan, who estimates that in over 34 years, he’s spent 21,000 hours at a shaving horse. “The one (shaving horse) I’m using now was designed and made by Tim Manney and it’s the best I’ve ever used.” Need more than that? Sign up here:

https://www.plymouthcraft.org/build-a-shaving-horse-with-tim-mann

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Also, while I think of it, there’s still a few spots left in Plymouth CRAFT’s classes working on the Plymouth Tapestry –

https://www.plymouthcraft.org/plymouth-tapestry-registration

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CARVED DECORATION 17TH CENTURY ENGLISH STYLE

Image of Wood Week

I do have a couple things coming in 2020 about carving oak – I’ll be back at North House Folk School out on Highway 61. I’ll teach carving oak patterns twice during “Wood Week” – a series of classes that run the gamut. This place is right on the shores of Lake Superior (it’s like an ocean, but different) – an astounding experience that I’m happy to repeat. Looks like there’s room in my two classes, (most of my others are full, so this might be the one shot – and the setting & surroundings are amazing) so come join us.

https://northhouse.org/events/wood-week

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CARVED OAK BOX

The other is Roy’s. April. Make a carved oak box. Whoops – filled instantly. Sorry I’m late posting this stuff, but Roy’s place is really popular. I think he just opened registration yesterday. Not my fault, really. A lot can happen between now & then, so the waiting list won’t hurt – https://www.woodwrightschool.com/classes/waiting-list-wish-list

https://www.woodwrightschool.com/classes/carved-oak-box-w-peter-follansbee-2020

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I’ll try to squeeze in one or two more, but it’s getting tight. I have some custom work to do, but always welcome more. I also have a student or two coming here for one-on-one work. You can email me if you have questions regarding private lessons or ordering furniture.

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MAUREEN’S FIBER ARTS

Closer to home, at home, in fact, my wife Maureen has kept up her knitting/felting/shibori scene and has a number of things in her etsy shop. Just like my wooden stuff, when you buy some it makes room for us to make more. https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

A couple of samples of her work; it keeps us warm all winter.

Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018 pfollansbee Uncategorized Follansbee, green woodworking, North House Folk School, Plymouth CRAFT, slöjd, Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship

At Greenwood Fest, our friend Peter Lamb https://www.instagram.com/gerrishisland/ came in on Saturday night to make a presentation of the Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship award. The Fellowship aims to honor Wille and Bill and continue their legacy.

Here’s a blurb about the Fellowship –

“The Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship is awarded to craftspeople to further deepen the meaning, skills, and connections among those passionate about simple living and handmade objects. The Fellowship provides financial support to green woodworkers and other craftspeople to travel from their home country and share their thinking about handcraft, showcase their skills and design work, further their own research, and extend the international community of interest.”

This year’s recipients were Dave Fisher and Robin Wood, both well-deserving. Dave dressed down for the occasion, not wanting to show Robin up…

Today Jögge Sundqvist wrote on Facebook about contributions being made in Wille’s memory to the fund for this Fellowship – spurred me on to spread the word. You can also make a spoon to contribute to an auction in September.

Another blurb:

“Memorial contributions in honor of Wille Sundqvist may be made to the Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship Fund at the North House Folk School, via check (noting “Slöjd Fellowship Fund”) and sent to North House Folk School, P.O. Box 759, 500 W. Highway 61, Grand Marias, MN 55604, USA …….or via paypal.me/Slojdfellowship

Also, craftspeople and other Slöjders from around the world are invited to make a spoon in honor of Wille and contribute it to North House (same address as above) in time for their on-line auction to be held in early September. All proceeds from the sale of spoons will be added to Slöjd Fellowship Fund.

Questions can be directed to Peter Lamb at PeterLamb@kneetoknee.com or to Jögge Sundqvist at jogge@surolle.se or to Tom Morse at North House Folk School at tmorse@northhouse.org ”

At our Fest, we had most of the previous Fellowship recipients – just missing Beth Moen

Wille Sundqvist and Bill Coperthwaite Slöjd Fellowship group photo

back, left to right: JoJo Wood, Jane Mickelborough, Dave Fisher, Peter Follansbee

front, left to right: Jarrod Dahl, Robin Wood

we’ll put some bleachers out in the sun and have it on highway 61

March 9, 2017 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved bowls, carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, North House Folk School, pole lathe, riving, seventeenth-century reproductions, spoon carving

I only have a few photos for this post – I was too busy to shoot much…

I just got back from teaching two classes at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. http://www.northhouse.org/index.htm Being thrown into an immersion experience like that at North House reminds me of my beginnings at Country Workshops in the 1980s.

One focus at North House is community, and it is quite palpable. The legendary pizza night, centered around the large wood-fired oven, and finely honed through years of practice is a memorable experience. The classes I was there to teach were part of “Wood Week” which as you can imagine means all the classes offered that week (8 in all) were woodworking. Other disciplines at North House include fiber arts, blacksmithing, food, boatbuilding and more.

All the students in my first class were named Tom. I think. Made it easier…

With three classes at the first session, and five the next, there was no shortage of inspiration, nor of comrades. The evenings were spent in large and small groups exploring spoon and bowl carving, looking at and trying out new tools, techniques, benches and materials. It seems that almost everyone (except me) also plays a musical instrument, so the spoon carving circles were on the periphery of the old-timey music circles. There was much overlap. The best nights ran much later than I could handle.

All the while, Lake Superior was right there, outside the shop windows, and lapping at the courtyard between the buildings. It’s a pretty big lake, I hear. Looked it.

I’m liking these large-group gatherings. Last year I went to three of them, Greenwood Fest in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Spoonfest in Edale, UK and Täljfest at Sätergläntan in Sweden. This one had a smaller crowd, but that lent it an intimacy that was nice. I still missed stuff – I got no photographs of the other classes, and few of my own.

Jarrod trying out Dawson Moore’s Spoon Mule:

Tom Dengler kept distracting me with his woodenware:

one of the oak carvings the students did…

I caught up with some old friends, and made some new. Like the other events, this one is run by many hands, including a group of young interns. Nice to see these young people exploring some type of creative outlet involving natural materials. There were a smattering of young people in the classes too, but no group gets higher marks than Spoonfest for adding youth and women to the woodworking community.

These creatures were more common than squirrels.

I had a day off early on, and took a long walk in a state park about half-an-hour away. If this tree were closer to the school, someone would have nabbed it by now…

North House is celebrating their twentieth year – get on their mailing list so you can be a part of their 2nd-double-decade.

Some of the many people there, apologies for not including everyone – there was a lot happening:

Jarrod Dahl, https://www.instagram.com/jarrod__dahl/

Roger Abrahamson, https://www.instagram.com/rogerabrahamson/

Fred Livesay, https://www.instagram.com/hand2mouthcrafts/

Phil Odden & Else Bigton http://www.norskwoodworks.com/

Harley Refsal http://www.northhouse.org/courses/courses/instructor.cfm/iid/86

Dawson Moore https://www.instagram.com/michigansloyd/

Tom & Kitty Latane https://www.facebook.com/thomas.latane

Tom Dengler https://www.instagram.com/twodengler/

Bowl class, tip of the iceberg

June 5, 2014 pfollansbee Uncategorized bowl turning, Follansbee, green woodworking, Jarrod StoneDahl, North House Folk School, Robin Wood

For decades I have worked wood surrounded by people – dozens, scores, hundreds, thousands of people. But in one sense, I work wood primarily in isolation. All these people were visitors to the museum, so watching me work. In many cases, I met woodworkers of all stripes, but it was very hit-or-miss. I just finished my most recent stint as a student, rather than instructor, this time in Robin Wood’s bowl turning class at the North house Folk school. This is the sort of inspiring time I remember back when I was a regular student in classes, mostly at Drew Langsner’s Country Workshops – to be surrounded by people who’ve come from all over, to concentrate on learning, sharing and exploring aspects of hand-tool woodworking. What a time! North House Folk School has a great reputation, for good reason. Excellent facility, setting, people, and offerings. Look at the range of classes… http://www.northhouse.org/

I knew it was going to be great to meet Robin and learn of the bowl turning work he’s been practicing all these years. But there was way more to it than that. First of all, Jarrod Stonedahl helped organize and execute the class. He and Roger Abrahamson built the lathes for example. (links: http://www.rogerabrahamson.com/index.html and http://woodspiritgallery.com/ )
But it was the whole scene that served to keep us occupied. Birch was the standard timber available up there, but Jarrod could not let the bark just be hewn away, so -quick – a lesson in harvesting birch bark. Later he showed me how to cut the arrow-lock/finger joints that he uses in his “boxes” – one of which we’ve had at home for quite some time.

Roger has been a pole-lathe bowl turner himself for many years, and had once visited my shop at Plimoth. He made a couple of bowls, traipsed around the shop helping people and generally sharing his skills. same with Jarrod.

But of course, Robin was the show – his teaching style is just what you’d expect, based on the writings on his blog. Extremely knowledgeable, patient, and helpful. His English was pretty good too. Axe work, bowl turning, tool making, bowl design, history – we covered a lot of ground.

An added bonus was the spoons there – I brought a couple but really the star there was far and away the youngster Jojo Wood. More on that later.

The facility was excellent – windows on three sides looking out to Lake Superior. It was a pretty big lake. I didn’t really have the time or the money for this class, but had decided that I have let a few opportunities go by in recent years, and this one I drew the line. I’m glad I did.

Here’s some photos – If I tell you all about it, I’ll be here all night. I’ll use captions.