Hope that you all are well. We’d be nearing the midway point of our season, with an eye towards fall classes, if things didn’t abruptly change for us all a few months back. As of now, our school is closed for the season. We’re actively making plans for next season and look forward to getting together in craft once that can safely happen. We’ll share the news with everyone as those plans come together.
The town of Berea (and Kentucky as a whole) is cautiously beginning to reopen. Businesses are opening with reduced hours. Restaurants are planning for in-house dining. We’re optimistic that, while very different than a few months ago, we’ll find a safe way to gather together again.
While we are quiet and in-person classes are tough right now, there are interesting opportunities out there. Digital classes around carving and small hand-work skills seem are cropping up. I’ve listed a few here, by no means is this an exhaustive list.
Opportunities and new digital content:
- The Austin School of Furniture have added a couple of virtual classes, including a couple digital carving evenings with Aspen Golann.
- North Bennet Street School is adding digital content.
- Daniel Clay of Saturday Box Co. has wonderful chip-carving designs and kits available. Check out his work on instagram.
- Mary May is live-streaming her carvings each day on her twitch.tv channel (along with a heap of digital content on her website).
- Peter Follansbee made a video series on making a joint stool from riven wood and it looks like he’ll be documenting his basket making next. Follow his blog or find his youtube channel.
- One more for those of you looking to learn spoons. Barn the Spoon of the U.K. offers an online “Spoon Club” video tutorial, with design and technique instruction along with new weekly videos.
Send a message if you’re looking to learn something specific and I’ll try to point you towards a correct resource and maker.
–andy glenn (glenna@berea.edu)
