New Endeavours

Previously on Bow & Arrow blog: Shemerdine's market weekend.

The market went really well. I got to talk to a lot of people about the pieces I've done, heard a lot of stories about furniture that people have a connection with in their own homes and sold a few pieces.  The coolest part selling my pieces was that they all went to people I knew that came out to support me! Thanks guys, I hope you love them so much, because I'm sick of looking at them. Kidding... but it really it does feel like that sometimes immediately after completion, especially if the piece involved a lot of sanding (they ALL do).  That feeling changes immediately from loathing to love as soon as I put something in the drawer or place a vignette on top. Passion can be so fickle sometimes ;)

I now reside in Perth, Ontario (sorry not Australia) for the next twelve weeks to learn the skills of furniture making at Rosewood Studio, and if everything goes as planned I will be back in the new year to join for advanced training.  The town is small, picturesque, has a rich history and beautiful buildings.

This particular running of the course is unusual in that the majority of those enrolled are young people, lucky me! It's usually men, retirement age or pretty close to it. You can imagine my delight when I walked in and saw a woman my age. The same look of relief washed over her face when we made eye contact.  Already after the first day a couple of us already found our way to a local park to go on a short hike.

Ok, a brief description of the course and I'll be off.  It's an intimate studio with only eight benches. They are skill development workshops mostly focused on just that, as opposed to completing projects, although we will be doing some of those.