The Studio first saw light in 1997 when I wanted to try a new approach to craft education. It seemed that only folks with an MFA behind their name had value to schools or galleries or museums. Initials were deemed more important than skills or experience. So I planned my own school in a way that was different. I imagined a place of good design, a school of thought, and a refuge for learning traditional craft work. I spent one month in an empty studio at an artist’s retreat in Vermont planning. I had all the space I needed to draw which I did slowly and poorly, or paint which I did not do at all. But along with my drawing, I dreamed. I dreamed of what I thought a school of woodworking should be. I had studied the traditional MFA programs and considered joining one once. One sculpture professor
