I first learned about traditional woodworking while apprenticing for a forester in 
southeastern England during the winter/spring of 2003. I took a chair making workshop from British green woodworker Mike Abbott
(http://www.living-wood.co.uk) and made my first chair that summer. Eager to learn more, I spent the following summer living and working at Drew and Louise Langsner’s homestead and traditional woodworking school, Country Workshops, in western North Carolina (www.countryworkshops.org). With the skills and experience gained from my summer at Country Workshops, I moved to Vermont and began RivenWoodCrafts.
southeastern England during the winter/spring of 2003. I took a chair making workshop from British green woodworker Mike Abbott Other Livelihoods
I am not a full time woodworker. My interests and work reside amongst a range of land-based skills. In college I grew interested in an idea called Permaculture. Permaculture is a solutions-based design system that connects disciplines, with the intention of creating a culture that is truly ‘sustainable’.
My interest in Permaculture led me to seek education and training in fields related to self-reliance. Besides coppice forestry and traditional woodworking, these interests include organic food production (especially forest gardens - integrated perennial orchards) and natural home construction (earthen, straw bale and timber frame building). For more information on any of these fields, visit my links page.
The Future
I’m searching for rural land in Vermont where I want to cultivate a productive homestead, supported by diverse land-based livelihoods. In so doing I hope to provide education and examples to others interested in minimizing their ecological impact.
