My Woodworking
During the social distancing/lockdown part of the pandemic in 2020, I took up woodworking to pass the time and make things for around the house.
Some things I have enjoyed:
- Spoon carving
- Furniture making with powertools
- Making a Shaker-style stool by hand
I started woodworking to solve problems around the house when I couldn't find precisely the product I wanted to buy. The first thing I built was a table knocked together totally unevenly from random scraps to hold up my Halloween decorations at window height on the porch. I followed that by making a silverware drawer divider, then a plant stand for my home office/craft room, then building a radiator cover, then a wine rack with a cabinet that would also cover up the blinking lights of our modem. In 2020 I had a little commission for a small shelter to house an electric car charging station. Since then, I've used my skills for various home renos and little necessary objects around the house, and built a TV console for my sister when she couldn't find what she wanted in the right size for her TV room.
My building style could be best described as chaotic -- I like to have a general idea and then sort of design as I go, because I'm not great at visualizing an entire process at the start. I love being able to not only solve problems around the house, but solve problems in the building process as I come across them. In all my creative projects, I take a lot of inspiration from Jasika Nicole's concept of
I recently received a router for my birthday, and I'm looking forward to learning more about joinery soon.
If you're interested in seeing some fun stories and pictures of people's woodworking, I recommend visiting Shop Shots!
If you're looking to learn more about woodworking as a woman or nonbinary person, check out Fireweed Community Woodshop!