Cut the Craft

Latest Episodes:

Episode 043: Gabriel Frey Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

Episode Recorded February 2, 2022.

Gabriel Frey is a 13th generation Wabanaki basketmaker from the Dawnland. During our conversation Gabriel shares the importance of indigenous land stewardship and the role basket weaving has as a vehicle for cultural transmission. He shares the historical importance basket weaving has in preserving indigenous agency, especially in the time where Wabanaki territory was stolen, sold and repackaged as compliance rations. In spite of that trauma, basket weaving has helped preserve Wabanaki culture and its importance shines through Gabriel’s work.

To find more of Gabriel’s work visit his website: www.gabrielfreybaskets.com, and on Instagram @gabrielfreybasketmaker. Visit him at the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, Santa Fe Indian Market, and buy his book, “The First Blade of Sweetgrass,” at your local bookstore, bookshop.org, or the online corporation which shall not be named but rhymes with shamazon.

Help keep the podcast alive! Visit our Patreon, pick up some Merch, or make a one time donation! Listeners make it all possible. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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Episode 042: Sreeraghavi Mani Feb 15, 2022

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Episode Recorded February 1, 2022.

Sreeraghavi Mani is a textile origamist working out of New Jersey who has a background in design and textiles. She talks about how she has shifted her perspective from an industrial model to a personal relationship with craft. During the lockdowns, she recognized the meditative process of handcraft flowing through her and focused it on folding textiles. While she was in the process she felt calm and it helped her respond to the trauma. The result has been an amazing manifestation of her spiritual philosophy through handcraft itself, as she folded a garment for Three Asfour for their 2021 collection, Kundalini, for the New York Fashion Week!

Rāghavi’s Mentors: Debojyoti Ganguly, her professors at Parsons: Gabriel Asfour and Preeti Gopinath.

To find more of Rāghavi’s work visit her website: Pensive Penning and her Instagram accounts pensive_penning and mo.ksha_06.
Help keep the podcast alive! Visit our Patreon, pick up some Merch, or make a one time donation! Listeners make it all possible. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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Episode 040: Amara Hark Weber Dec 14, 2021

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Episode Recorded November 20, 2021.

Shoemaking chose Amara and not the other way around. Following an accident while working on her MFA thesis, Amara recalibrated her body and mind with a shoemaking class. After winnowing her courses down to that class, she subsequently built her thesis around shoes “that forced the body of the wearer into positions that she was dealing with." Although this is an important part of her story, Amara is more interested in her work speaking for itself than anything else. Do the shoes fit and stay comfortable? Are they functioning as designed? Answering those important questions to the best of her ability is her goal.

To find more of Amara’s work visit her website: https://www.harkweberstudio.com/ and on Instagram @harkweberstudio. Or in St. Paul, Minnesota!

Amara’s Mentors: D.W. Frommer, Janne Melkersson, Marcell Mrsan

Help keep the podcast alive! Visit our Patreon, pick up some Merch, or make a one time donation! Listeners make it all possible. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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Episode 039: Kiko Denzer Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

Episode Recorded October 18, 2021.

Kiko Denzer deftly mixes clay, food, and carving together with a dash of philosophy to bake in the fires of this next conversation. It’s a departure from our typical format, but Kiko has a welcomed perspective of craft and lifeways that doesn’t often show up in the craft world. He has spent most of his life teaching others how to build earth ovens, creating sustainable buildings and publishing books. Throughout the show we visit the role of craft in everyday life, the value of investing in one's local community, and most importantly, how we’re all just walking bellies.

To find more of Kiko’s work visit his website: https://www.handprintpress.com/ and on Instagram @kikodenzer and @earth.oven

Cræftspeople Kiko admires:

Martin Prechtel (floweringmountain.com, many titles, first one is Secrets of the Talking Jaguar -- all his stories bridge the many gaps between indigenous origins and modern dilemmas. A good starting place is this interview: Saving The Indigenous Soul)

Betty Seaman ( unintentional community, gardens, natural building, wonderful craft & art work of many kinds, including martial arts (she built a dojo for her spouse @muhudojo)

Nate Johnson (crafts)

Robin Wood, Wood Tools (craft business/community in Sheffield, UK, ala Bernard Leach)

Russell Sparks and Redbird (skills, hunting, community, events -- co-coordinators of The Buckeye Gathering)

Tamara Wilder (paleotechnics)

Stephen Edholm (skill cult)

Tending the Wild by Kat Anderson

Deanne Bednar (natural building)

Emily Reynolds (studying/practicing plastering in Japan)

Kyle Holzhueter (plasters/permaculture)

Angela Francis (natural building)

Esther Gokhale, posture and craft, "primitive posture," addressing physical demands of craft

Ananda Coomaraswamy, esp. Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art

The Hand-Sculpted House, by Ianto Evans, Michael Smith, and Linda Smiley

Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido

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Episode 038: Freddy Roman Nov 15, 2021

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Episode Recorded October 11, 2021.

Freddy Roman has grown up within the furniture field and mastered a variety of trades revolving around restoration woodworking and everything that goes along with it, from veneer work in neoclassical furniture to glazing antique windows. This is a thoughtful episode coming from someone who occupies the space where “trades” and “craft” are the same. Freddy shares his thoughts about the differences between handwork and machine work and what he’s learned in the process of being a woodworker. He also explains the importance of teaching handwork to folks lost skills that would’ve been commonplace a few decades ago.

To find more of Freddy’s work visit his website: http://www.periodcraftsmen.com/ and on Instagram @periodcraftsman. His Podcast is Against the Grain Podcast.

Freddy’s craft crushes: Chris Schwartz, Don Williams, Al Breed, Christian Becksvort, Will Neptune, Mike Pekovitch, Nancy Hiller, Peter Follansbee, Peter Galbert, Greg Pennington, Pinemar, @areyouafixer, Jimmy Dieresta, Megan Fitzpatrick, Wood Window Museum, Copper Pig, Ben Bogie, Joshua Klein, Roy Underhill, Callen Malsby, Tried and True Carpentry

Help keep the podcast alive! Visit our Patreon, pick up some Merch, or make a one time donation! Listeners make it all possible. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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Episode 037: Julia Kalthoff Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

Episode Recorded October 1, 2021.

Julia Kalthoff specializes in making carving axes in Stockholm, Sweden under the moniker Kalthoff Axes. As a young girl she grew up amidst textile crafts but was always curious about metal… “How did it work? How could you transform it from one state to another?” By a series of coincidences she worked at an axe making workshop and then managed Wetterlings Axe Manufacturing business. All this experience taught her a lot about the small but very important details that make up an excellent axe. After taking a break from the heavy responsibilities of her youth, she decided to create her own business. Her love of axes and green woodworking has opened her eyes to how she can help others to create a relationship with woodcrafts and the forest, with a Kalthoff axe in hand.

To find more of Julia’s work visit her website: https://www.kalthoffaxes.se/ , and on Instagram @kalthoffaxes

Julia’s craft crushes: Beth Moen, Lina Odell, and Daniel Lundberg

Also, as promised, here’s the link to the Bitter Southerner Article shared with us by Ryan S, one of our listeners, and it talks about folklore’s presence and role in everyday life. Thanks Ryan!

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Episode 036: Kirk Lang Oct 09, 2021

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Episode Recorded August 9, 2021.

Kirk Lang specializes in kinetic sculpture and jewelry with a particular focus on astronomy; the first time he saw Saturn in “real time” he was hooked! The sense of awe he felt as he looked through a telescope at the stars heavily influences his work as a craftsperson. He explores unconventional materials like titanium, niobium and meteorite which he pairs with gold and softer metals to render wearable jewelry. Kirk also teases out the interplay of meaning in his work. It’s a point where cosmic and personal mythologies can meet in something as small as a ring and yet contain a material that was formed in the expanse of the universe.

To find more of Kirk’s work visit his website: www.kirklang.com, and on Instagram @kirk_lang

Kirk’s craft crushes: John Paul Miller, Arthur Ganson, Professors Matthew Hollern and Kathy Buszkiewicz, and Andy Cooperman.

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Episode 035: Danielle Chutinthranond Sep 21, 2021

Show notes

Recorded July 21, 2021.

In this interview Danielle Chutinthranond shares her non-linear path leading to pottery and how important following her instincts has been in the process of becoming a craftsperson. She identifies her reciprocal/creative relationship between her pottery and the food intended to be served on her pieces, and even creates work based on particular entrees. Along the way she also has created a new relationship between traditional symbolism and the decorative aspects of her work. She feels the personal depth of symbolic meaning in the “Three Friends of Winter” and these motifs have helped her process her experience of the last two years through her work and identify her philosophy in new and important ways.

To find more of Danielle’s work visit her website: Monsoon Pottery, or her Instagram @monsoonpottery.

Danielle’s craft crushes: Monohanako, Rifatto, Bookhou, Eileen Fisher and @wastenomore.

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Episode 034: Christine Novotny Sep 07, 2021

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Episode Recorded July 13, 2021.

Weaver Christine Novotny identifies herself within a traditional lineage of weavers, but also sees herself as placed within a contemporary context and wants to keep weaving relevant for today. She draws heavily on her training as a painter to design the colorways of her weavings and finds the interactions of colors and design to be part of what keeps her process moving. She also has discovered the difference in commitment between painting and weaving. Painting has the capacity to change quickly with the whim of the artist, whereas weaving is a long term operation that requires a different planning scheme. Christine does a wonderful job balancing her painterly use of color with the long term progression of weaving.

To find more of Christine’s work visit her website: CAN Goods, or her Instagram feed @christinenovotny

Christine’s craft crushes: Ariana Funk, Miriam Parkman, Amber Jensen, Carolina Jaimenez, Mark Rothco, Helen Frankenthaler, Jessica Poundstone

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Episode 033: Aspen Golann Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

Episode Recorded June 28, 2021.

Aspen Golann is a dynamo furniture maker based in North Carolina who started out her craft career dabbling in weaving before being drawn to woodworking at North Bennet Street School in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently she’s been collaborating and working on a new craft equity project looking for tool makers in the field that are under-recognized for their amazing work. In the episode she also reflects upon the lifestyle she wants to create as a craftsperson; learning to “water the plant” as opposed to “keeping a snowman from melting." Tune into this jam-packed episode for more metaphorical gems as Aspen takes us on her journey through woodworking.

To find more of Aspen’s work visit her website www.aspengolann.com , and Instagram @aspen_golann.
Aspen’s craft crushes: Windsor Chair makers like Greg Pennington and Peter Galbert, people playing the long game, teachers, people in the service industry, and Chris Kerr-Ayer.

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