Before I had a driver's permit, I started my first business making and selling luxury pens. I fell in love with being an artisan and have been constantly pushing myself and branching out into other areas of making ever since. I have been a woodturner since 2013 and have specialized in pens.  In 2017 I apprenticed under a master blacksmith in Alaska for three months and learned how to forge knives the old way. Also in 2017 I began working as a scenic carpenter, helping build sets for Millikin's theatre productions.  

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To me, being an artisan is about taking something old that would otherwise be trash and giving it new life. Primarily with my blacksmithing work, I use reclaimed materials in my crafting of knives. Brush hog blades, table saw blades, steel bed frames, trap springs, ship rails, old tools, rail road screws, and so much more can be heated, hammered, reshaped, and reborn into a highly polished, beautiful new kitchen or bush knife. When this old steel is combined with antler, bone, wood from a sentimental or a historic source, paua from New Zealand, these knives are not just a useful tool, but a piece of history that tell a story potentially older than anyone alive today, and could outlive the current pool of the living. 

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Creating these things puts everything into perspective. When I make something that will outlive me I am reminded that though I am but a speck of dust, I can still play a small part in the storytelling of humanity. To share in the knowledge and preservation of these ancient arts is truly an honor and a privilege I do not take lightly. These crafts take much time, and no small amount of sweat, blood, tears, creativity, frustration, and joy to bring into the world. 

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In the era of instant gratification, 2-day shipping, and low-quality massed produced pieces of crap made to throw away and replace, I urge you to turn away. Yes, you can buy a cheaper knife from Amazon and get it tomorrow, but you can give one of my knives to your grandchildren when you pass away. You can get a pen for 10 cents from the store made to fit every hand with only moderate discomfort, but my pens can be made to fit your hand like a glove.

 

"Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
 Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
 Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
 Has earned a night’s repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
 For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
 Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
 Each burning deed and thought. " - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow