My Mission
I love making things out of wood. I also care deeply about nature. Through my woodworking I hope to show people just how freaking awesome the natural world is. Take trees for example. There are over 60,000 different species of them in the world. Some grow over 100 m tall, they can talk to each other, and the oldest tree alive started growing around the time building began on Stonehenge.
You already know that the natural world is an incredibly complex web of interconnections. Plants, animals, meteorological factors and geographical features all interact to shape the world around us. Our actions also impact nature. We extract resources from nature, move them around the world and dump them places they perhaps shouldn't go. Plastics in the oceans, chemicals in soils and particulates into the air.
By making beautiful and functional things out of wood, I hope to make people care more about nature. Wood is a fantastic material. Not just for makers, but users as well. By showing people the beauty and functionality of wood, I hope they'll look at trees with love and greater curiosity. If I can get more wood inside people's homes, I'm sure they'll want more trees outside them as well. After all, trees are far more majestic and beneficial than anything that can be made from them.
I use wood from urban trees already scheduled to be cut down. This highlights the usefulness in a resource often overlooked. All my products have a simple lifecycle. By selling at craft fairs, the objects people get from me will have been sourced and made within a few hundred miles of them. I usually know exactly where each tree I use came from. Once one of my items reaches the end of it's natural lifespan, it's completely biodegradable.
I don't use any power tools in their creation. This shows that there is another way to create the things we use in our everyday lives. I teach people how to use these hand tools. This imparts a sense of independence, empowering people to do more for themselves. Giving them the skills to make their own items. Teaching them to maintain and repair the stuff they already own. This all lessens the impact we have upon the world.
So my mission, for 2018 and beyond, is to make more awesome stuff from wood. To show more people how to make things for themselves. Along the way I hope to open more eyes to the beauty of nature. In doing that, everyone can decide for themselves how best to protect the things they love.
Where does your skill and aptitude meet with a problem the world faces? Instead of writing New Year resolutions to improve yourself, decide on a Mission where you can help the world. I'd love to hear what yours is.
