Crafting a Revolution

About Kayden: I'm Kayden! I'm a coffee-fueled and dad-joke-filled creative. I'm a fan of spreadsheets, climbing the occasional mountain, iced coffee (year round!), anything wood-related, and don't even get me STARTED on sushi. ​ I graduated from the nationally accredited Graphic Design program at the College of Saint Rose with a BFA. Throughout my career as a Graphic Designer, I worked in an agency, a newsroom, and on marketing teams for global companies, which gives me a strong sense of designing for a wide variety of industries.   Throughout my career as a craftsman, I have worked in flooring production, construction, a cabinet shop, and a countertop/table production shop. These experiences give me the skills and problem-solving capabilities that allow me to bring your vision to life with tangible materials. ​ My wide breadth of experience has given me the foundation to methodically apply what I have learned to my design, woodworking and signmaking processes. Attention to detail, problem-solving, and considering how people will interact with the final product are a few things I take into account when working on projects.​   Follow along with Kayden on his Website  or Instagram.

About Leah Houghtaling My woodworking and art have always grown out of functional needs combined with my desire to be in motion. Each piece I create explores the natural lines and contours of the wood, allowing it to come alive with textures, lines, colors, and shadows.  I use sustainably harvested local wood and non-toxic finishes to make art and custom furniture for homes and businesses. You may find her on her Website and on Instagram.

About Joy: I am honored to participate in the long history of creativity in the community of Santa Ana, California. From my shop downtown, I make commissioned pieces for my clients and forge objects that are entirely my own. While blacksmithing is my foundational practice, I also incorporate other mediums. Film photography, cinefilm, and stained glass, are all mediums I have explored to complement and support my work at the forge. I am also a teacher and consider that part of my work as an artist as well. I am a Certified Instructor with the California Blacksmith Association, a Certified Welder with the American Welding Society, a Community Education Instructor in blacksmithing and bronze casting, and a Welding Instructor at Orange Coast College. Also, I am also on the Governance Committee for the nonprofit Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths which provides opportunities, visibility, and economic support for marginalized communities in the field of blacksmithing. You can follow along with Joy on Instagram.

Laura Kishimoto is a designer/maker living in Denver and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. She was initially drawn to furniture design because it occupies a unique position between the fields of fine art and design. Furniture can both exist as a product, addressing a specific need, or as a stand alone sculptural object. And in both cases, a user/viewer is necessary to complete the piece of furniture: whether to give it function by physically engaging with it or to give it meaning by imbuing it with their emotional narrative. Laura's creative process is defined by a constant balancing act between her intentions as a designer and the will of the material. With each piece, Laura strives to create a spatially complex, cohesive object that appears to have formed organically without human intervention. You can see her Yumi chair at the Denver Art Museum. You can follow along with her on Instagram. 

TINA TANG, CO-FOUNDER & CEO Tina is a systems engineer with graduate training in machine learning and computer vision from the University of Virginia. Prior to graduate school, she was an associate manager at Accenture focused on software product design and delivery. She has a background in art and generally loves visualization - from data viz to design to drawing and painting.  ABOUT US   Bristles, Inc. is a startup based in Durham, North Carolina. Our mission is to build creativity-enabling products that harness the insight of artificial intelligence to deliver powerful functionality as delightful, easy-to-use tools for visualizing ideas. Because sometimes, words aren't enough. We’re inspired by a classic creative tool: the paintbrush. It enables the artist to focus on illustrating their creative vision. All the while, thousands of tiny bristles are working to apply paint evenly and smoothly. In our products, we pack the power into the bristles, so you can focus on the rewarding, creative bits of your work.  Our first product is a mobile app for designing home DIY & upcycling projects. These transformations are massive creative undertakings, so we're empowering DIYers and Upcyclers to visualize, build on, and share their ideas.    You can find Bristles AI in the Apple store and Google Play store, or directly HERE. Become a patron of the podcast HERE.

Born and raised in Tennessee, Elizabeth showed great promise in both the arts and mathematics. She first specialized in engineering, earning an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and working in several engineering jobs. In 2012, she moved to Seattle, WA, and in 2015 decided to nurture her artistic side through woodworking. Her first creations included several pieces of furniture in the Arts & Crafts style, but she eventually turned to smaller objects and now specializes in bowls, spoons, and boxes. Her skills range from natural finish and simple forms to highly carved and painted forms that emulate natural motifs. She is the AAW's 2023 POP Artist Showcase recipient, and teaches woodturning at the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, WA and the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. She serves as program director and Women in Turning liaison for the Seattle Woodturners Club. You can follow along with Elizabeth on Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast HERE.

Tanya Nixon-Silberg (she/her) is a Black mother, native Bostonian, educator, puppeteer and founder of Little Uprisings- an organization focused on centering artivism, racial justice, and liberation with kids. Her primary artistic identities lie in puppetry and storytelling and her work moves through the lens of liberation in Black identities focusing on body remembrances of childhood and joy. Her puppetry productions and creative research have been funded by The Jim Henson Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts,Puppet Showplace Theater, Boston Cultural Council and The Boston Foundation. Tanya’s large-scale community-driven artistry has been exhibited at many Greater Boston institutions including the ICA, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Peabody Essex Museum, and Fuller Craft Museum. She is currently in a multi-year partnership with Boston and Brookline Public Schools leading anti-bias/anti-racism professional learning and curriculum development. Tanya is also the co-leader of the Un-ADULT-erated Black Joy Collective with other Black mothers in Boston, and co-producer of Play for Change with the Gottabees. You will mostly find Tanya playing and learning from her 10-year-old, groaning from her husband's puns and imagining how we all get free together. You may find information on Tanya's upcoming public art installation here. You can follow along with Tanya on Instagram.

Katrice Kelly is an interdisciplinary artist, MFA Painting and Drawing student attending the University of Iowa. She has been making art her entire life. Katrice’s more realistic works have been influenced by dream studies and rest ministries. Fibers are the main materials used to create tactile and comforting paintings. Her goal is to create work that feels familiar for everyone. You can follow Katrice and her work on Instagram.  You can follow along with the podcast on Instagram.

Olivia Jade Juarez is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and fabricator located in Chicago. She recently managed the Metalworking and Forging Department at Chicago Industrial Arts & Design Center in Rogers Park, with past experience at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado and Vivian Beer Studio Works in New Hampshire. Juarez attended high school at the Waldorf School in Rogers Park, and earned her BFA from Alfred University in New York. Her current studio practice ranges from digital design, sewing, felting, forging and metal fabrication. You can follow along with Olivia and her work on Instagram. You can follow along with the podcast on Instagram.

Gabs Conway is a sculptural ceramic artist based in Missoula Montana. Having grown up in Missoula, she was excited to return - as she relentlessly considers it home - after earning her BFA at the University of Wisconsin – Stout. Her work stems from the playful, mundane experiences of living. She explores relationships, such as that of siblings, friends, and lovers. Interested in creating forms for the reflection of human experience; asking the viewer to consider their appreciation of life, and to humble the adornment of our physicality. She remains curious of the inherent biological responses of living, and what it means to exist together in an ever changing world. You can follow Gabs and her work on Instagram and her Website. Follow along with the podcast on Instagram.

Ellie Richards is a furniture designer and sculptor interested in the role the furniture and domestic objects play in creating opportunities for a deeper connection between people and their sense of place. Ellie looks to the tradition of both woodworking and the readymade to create eclectic assemblage, installation, and objects exploring intersections of labor, leisure, community, and culture. She has traveled extensively to investigate the role play and improvisation have on the artistic process. Her work, both furniture and sculpture, has been included in exhibitions at the Mint Museum; Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design; SOFA Chicago; and the Society of Contemporary Craft. Most recently Richards was awarded Windgate residencies at the Center for Art in Wood, and in the wood/furniture design programs at San Diego State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Additionally, she maintains an active teaching schedule sharing the fundamentals of woodworking and artistic practice with a breadth of audience including appointments at Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Appalachian Center for Craft, and Haystack Mountain School of Craft.  She is currently a resident artist at Penland School of Craft 2020-2023. You may follow along with Ellie on Instagram and her website. Follow along with the Podcast on Instagram.

Chelsea Van Voorhis is a woodworker, designer, and veneer artist focused on creating fashion forward pieces with social and political commentary. She uses traditional woodworking materials and techniques to make non-traditional pieces. You can follow along with Chelsea on her Instagram and her website. Follow along with the podcast on Instagram. 

Ashley is the furniture maker behind Shallow Creek Woodcraft, based in Southern PA. Ashley is a wife and Mom of four, balancing a passionate pursuit of the craft with family time. A self-professed woodworking book nerd, lover of laughter, and deep appreciator of her maker/woodworking/artist peers. She is currently enrolled in the Northwest Woodworking Studio Online Mastery program and takes private commissions. You can follow her growth into the fine side of woodworking on Instagram.

Erin Irber and Hanneke Lourens of Coast Collective join co-host Katie Thompson for a chat about their new business, their experiences as individual artists and business owners, and much more. Coast launched in July 2022, representing 12 Artisans with a collection of finely crafted furniture. Ready to ship at the click of a button. Collection No2 launched October 5, 2022 with an additional 12 new pieces.  Be sure to follow Coast Collective on Instagram at @coastcollective.us and their website, coastcollective.us. Image credit - Hubbard M. Jones

Estrapala Woodworking is owned by wife and wife team, Sara & Marika. Sara has a position as a research faculty at Mizzou and Marika currently stays at home with their toddler. When they are not occupied with life they love to spend their time in the woodshop. While they both have separate interests in different types of woodworking their styles compliment each other when they chose to work together on projects. Sara is fascinated with the beauty of natural wood specifically burls. Sara also has a love for ornate boxes. Marika is sharpening her skills on the lathe and also enjoys making cutting boards and scroll saw projects.  Most of the pieces made are custom orders but they do have a small inventory on hand from time to time.  You can follow along with Sara and Marika on Instagram and their Website.

Based in Canada, Pooja Pawaskar is the Indian-born artist behind Whirl & Whittle. Crafting wooden and ceramic pieces which celebrate the inherent beauty in each object’s peculiarities, Pooja chooses to embrace blemish in her works and herself in a world which relies heavily on flawlessness and statics. Her work is grounded in the belief that the world around us and the things within it are unique rather than imperfect. Growing up in a multigenerational home in Mumbai, India, Pawaskar was introduced to woodworking at a young age by her grandfather, a formally trained carpenter and model maker. She spent many of her days observing him make furniture and hand-carved pieces. His love for design and grasp of technique captivated her and bled into her own practice. Driven by a fascination with design and art, Pooja studied architecture at Mumbai University; however, it wasn’t until her final year her passion for building furniture was unearthed. This realization inspired her to shift gears and apply for a furniture design program at the Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2014, she relocated to Savannah, Georgia, USA, to pursue her passion for woodworking and furniture. After the initial cultural shock, Pawaskar recognized that this was what she was waiting for. Surrounded by avant-garde technology and excellent collaborators, she used the following two years learning and exploring her passion for the handmade. Upon graduating in 2016, Pawaskar began her career as a furniture designer at Stylex Seating in New Jersey—an opportunity that brought her incredible growth but left her craving for handmade pieces. On weekends she would work on honing her woodworking skill at a communal workshop in New York City. In 2019, Pawaskar relocated to Canada and decided to pursue her passion of becoming an artist. In late 2019, she registered her business, and Whirl & Whittle was born. You can follow along with Pooja on Instagram and her Website.

Des is a wife, Mom of two, and sports masseuse as well as woodworker. She was introduced to woodworking by her father at a young age. She learned the value of being able to make something you needed or wanted with your own hands and that was carried into adulthood. Now she makes a wide variety of things from signs to furniture. Follow Des on Instagram. Follow guest host Bonnie on Instagram.

Andrea Gordon, MFA is a categorical career leaping nerd that has gone from aspiring musician, to sound design, to kitchen work, and settled on woodworking and art in the last 3 years.  She has been wood turning for the last year and started a tiny business in April 2022 selling pens and other little wood trinkets.  She is 1st generation USA born Colombian on one side and 3rd generation Jewish from Brooklyn on the other.  She married Carla, a Puerto Rican zaddy two years ago and they have Stella, a sassy mini-schnauzer.  Together, they bought a 70 year old house (in this economy!?) last year and have been slowly bringing it, and her new garage into the 21st century. You can follow along with Andrea on Instagram and Etsy.

Monique Livingston is a wife, mom, and artist creating works of art and food from her home in Utica, New York. Monique has a degree in fine art and is using what she learned in school to create her own art business. As she creates and builds up skills she also ventures into new crafts, such as woodworking.  You can follow along with Monique on Instagram.

Soo Joo is an artist and designer currently based out of Seoul, Korea. She is a bright, emerging voice in craft and works in a variety of mediums from wood to ceramics. Her strong, minimalist forms honor Korean aesthetics and evoke a sense of calm and purposeful movement. She is a graduate of RISD and has completed residencies at Anderson Ranch and Penland, and recently had her work featured in the RISD Korea Alumni Exhibition. You can follow Soo on Instagram at @soo_joo_studio and visit her website at http://www.soojoo-studio.com/