For as long as I can remember, I loved working with my hands and tinkering. I am a kinetic learner; a maker of all sorts. I loved losing my dad’s tools when I was kid! In junior high school, I found my love for woodworking. I actually still use the spice rack I made then. In high school, I continued to hone my skills and found that the lathe was my go-to tool. I learned how to make furniture and construct sheds, but I got back on the lathe as often as I could.

I continued to take wood and design classes in college, and build things and work on my home. My life took turns, and I got involved with restoring British cars. Cars and sawdust don’t play well together, however. I always wanted to return to my first love and had hoped to make art on the lathe when I retired from teaching. My dreams came true last year when my woodshop was set up. I found penmaking and woodturning smaller objects to be pure joy. Now I get to go to my happy place and express my artistic pleasures often! Turning wood is very meditative, relaxing and interactive-often the wood itself informs the final shape. Artifacts in repurposed material can change my initial design, or the very structure of the piece can speak to me as I work and direct my design choices.

I love the feel and smell of working with wood and am so excited to see people respond so positively to my work. I love making useful art that could become lifelong keepsakes.