fall/winter course catalog
2014/15
On the cover
“Winter is the Warmest Season” is the title of a children’s book written by Minnesota author Lauren Stringer. In the book a child tells of how winter, not summer, is the warmest season of all. The child attributes warmth to hats with earflaps, fuzzy boots, wooly sweaters and most importantly, the warm fuzzy feelings of the season. Here at North House we agree. Winter to us is crackling woodstoves in cozy classrooms and late afternoon light slanting through the windows illuminating student projects. Winter is mukluks, wool blanket coats and toasty felted hats. Winter is a steaming mug of fresh coffee to warm up cold hands. Winter is a white, snowy backdrop for the red, blue and yellow buildings on campus, which are themselves filled with the colors of bright paint and vibrant wooly yarns.
North House Folk School
North House Folk School is situated on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior and at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Our campus is located harbor side in the vibrant, artistic village of Grand Marais, Minnesota. A number of colorful timbered structures on the harbor serve as classrooms, defining the campus’ flavor. An outdoor masonry oven and community fire ring are scattered amidst a central courtyard. Small, handcrafted wooden boats line the beach and our 50’ schooner, the Hjørdis, is docked at the water’s edge. Prior to the beginning of classes, students gather to share a cup of coffee or tea, enjoying the morning stirrings on the harbor. Classes typically start with a campus greeting, and then students spend the morning engaged in their respective crafts. A midday break gives students the opportunity to gather for a brown bag lunch at a beachside picnic table or to check out one of the numerous eateries within walking distance of campus. At day’s end, students congregate to share their learned experiences and often on Saturday night enjoy wood-fired pizzas baked in the harborside masonry oven. Students are as diverse as the course offerings themselves. Many are discovering a new craft for the first time, and others are continuing to pursue a lifetime hobby or trade. From breadbaking to knitting, basketmaking to woodcarving, we invite you to page through this catalog and see what suits you.
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Our Mission
Enriching lives and building community by teaching traditional northern crafts in a studentcentered learning environment that inspires the hands, the heart and the mind. Five basic tenets underscore all programs and classes at the folk school: · Create a rich, positive environment that inspires life-long learning in a non-competitive setting · Help students recognize and develop their creativity, talents and interests in a studentcentered environment · Promote and preserve the knowledge, skills and stories of the past and present · Foster the concept of intergenerational learning · Provide creative and meaningful opportunities for individuals, families and groups
2
On the cover of this course catalog are more of the things that make our winters warm: loaves of fresh-baked bread (pg 21), a pair of birch skis taking shape (pg 32), and a palette of bright milk paint colors for a colorful finish on woodworking projects (pg 44). On the back cover a student works on a nordic drinking vessel (pg 43) in the wonderful winter light that comes through the windows of the woodworking shop. Although the temperature drops in winter and the harbor just outside our doors may be covered in ice, you’ll still find plenty of warmth at North House. Read on through this course catalog to see how students will be warming up the classrooms on campus in the coming months, and visit us yourself to find all the warmth the snowy season has to offer. We hope to see you on campus soon!
Community Supported
Stop by the North House campus anytime and one thing is immediately apparent – North House thrives thanks to the creativity, investment, involvement and generosity of many people. Individuals, families, businesses, funders–it’s the collective strength of North House’s diverse community that lets us thrive. How have donors helped move North House forward? Currently underway, Sharpen The Saw, a three-year commitment to use annual support to improve our classrooms. Another great example - in 2008-2012, donor giving fueled our Raise the Roof Campaign, generating $850,000+ of capital improvements to our campus. Our Outdoor Commons, the expanded & enclosed Blacksmith Shop, a new teaching kitchen–all donor supported and volunteer empowered. Donors also help make programs thrive by funding featured speakers, welcoming guest instructors and ensuring accessibility via our Work Study program. Put simply, North House’s family of supporters make a world of difference! Every donor and every gift matter! And it’s simple to get involved. Become a North House donor/member. Become a volunteer. Even both! Donors receive a number of benefits throughout the year. Two annual catalogs, our newsletter “Shavings,” and our annual report. Members even “Get The Pass” at all of our special events. See page 55 for details. 888-387-9762
N o r t jewelry h House
On the harbor
Folk School
Post Office Box 759 500 West Highway 61 Grand Marais, Minnesota 55604
phone: 218 387-9762 toll-free: 888 387-9762 fax: 218 387-9706 e-mail: info@northhouse.org Board of Directors
S
ome journeys simply need to happen, or so it seems. It was early in 1997 when a group of local volunteers started what might easily be called an impossible (or at least improbable) journey. Together, they gave shape to 23 courses that captured vital elements of the story of traditional northern craft and then published North House Folk School’s first catalog – the only hitch, the school didn’t have a classroom, much less a campus to call its home. Their far-sighted thoughts: “There are plenty of garages and community centers in the world – if this is supposed to happen we will find a way.” Flash forward to the present, and this instinctual leap has clearly proven itself to be both visionary and impactful. In 2013 North House hosted over 400 catalog courses welcoming 2000+ students from 35 states and five foreign countries; 17,000+ additional participants came to campus for three major special events, group workshops, free outreach opportunities and more; and year-round engagement is now the norm, with offerings in every season, including five-plus thematic program weeks, a maroon-sailed schooner, the warmth of woodstoves, and 100+ artisan instructor partners. What a journey (though it must be confessed that there have been one or two adventures along the way)! Put simply, North House’s commitment to “enrich lives and build community through the teaching of traditional northern crafts” is thriving. In an ever-faster moving world that is defined by a High Tech/Low Touch mantra, North House’s counter point of High Touch/Low Tech is resonating. North House is creating a vibrant sense of connection - between people, within their hands, into their hearts, anchored to the northern landscape, and looking hopefully forward. If this journey is possible, what else can we each dream? Naturally, there are many stories and sayings that have emerged along the way. Hundreds upon hundreds of friends and supporters have made the journey possible, and they each rightfully have their tales to share! One such saying by Charlie Mayo (a North House founding instructor - a.k.a. Dr. Birchbark) deserves both hearty laughter and serious reflection. In Charlie’s words – “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” All too often we are preoccupied by perfection. Charlie’s words call us forward to begin, to do, to try. Our hands long for something new and rich and full of potential – even if we may discover that the joyous act of discovery is also defined by a willingness to take a risk. As this catalog makes abundantly clear, North House’s journey continues to move forward. There is much that is worth doing. There are stories to create and discoveries to be made. We hope to see you on campus soon! - Greg Wright, Executive Director
888-387-9762
Inside about north house 2 on the harbor 3 news to note 4 special events 5 basketry 6 blacksmithing & tool making 8 boatbuilding 10 clothing 13 fiber arts 16 foods 21 jewelry 24 music & stories 26 northern ecology 30 calendar 28-29 outdoor skills 31 painting & photography 33 sailing 35 shelter 36 sustainable living 38 timber framing 39 traditional crafts 41 woodcarving 42 woodworking & furniture craft 45 instructor profiles 48 registration & membership 55
3
President Vice President Treasurer Secretary
Mary Anderson Dave Morris Paul Aslanian Buck Benson
Members at Large Print Production
John Bergstrom Jodi Belluz Nancy Burns John Farchmin Rob Ilstrup Layne Kennedy Scott Kindrick Jana Larson Anne McKinsey Kathy Rice Jim Sannerud John Schoenherr Steve Surbaugh Martha Williams Journal Print Group
North House Folk School is supported in part by hundreds of contributing members as well as the Lloyd K Johnson Foundation, Cook County Community Fund/Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation, the Flora Family Foundation, and the McKnight Foundation. Funding provided in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and private funders.
A 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, North House Folk School welcomes charitable contributions that support its educational mission and vision. Gift types include annual support, memorials, in-kind donations and planned giving. For more information on giving, please contact us at 888-387-9762. ©2015 North House Folk School more details, more photos: www.northhouse.org
International Guests
In the upcoming year we’re welcoming some wonderful guest artisans from afar: Anna Gunnarsdóttir from Iceland, and Vladimir Yarish from Russia.
.
During our Northern Fiber Retreat in February, our featured artisan and speaker is fiber artist Anna Gunnarsdóttir from Akureyri, Iceland. Anna works mainly with wool, silk, leather and fish skin. Her work consists of three dimensional sculptures made of hand felted Icelandic wool and wearable art. Anna has taken part in many single as well as collective exhibitions around the world. See her courses on pages 19 and 20. We’re also excited to welcome back Vladimir Yarish from Veliky Novgorod, Russia. Vladimir has been at North House twice before, and joins us in July for birch bark weaving. He’s a master award-winning basket maker, and has worked with birch bark for more than 24 years. Vladimir has published many articles on birch bark and traditional basket making for both academic journals and popular magazines. He is currently researching the history of traditional birch bark basketry and his works have been featured in several museums. See his course offerings on pages 7 and 8.
.
Reach 2014 Membership Challenge
Tuition dollars support North House and our vibrant community of instructors, but as a nonprofit organization North House could not exist without our generous donors/ members who play a central role “keeping the lights on and brewing delicious coffee!” Indeed, member support underwrites 20% of our operations.
2m0em1b5er
With this simple fact in mind, North House is excited to announce the REACH 2014 Challenge. Here’s how it works: The goal of REACH 2014 is to catapult North House beyond the 1000 donor level. What’s on the table? A $10,070 bonus gift pledged by a generous donor. After 1,000 people become donors/members this year (we reached 980 in 2013), North House will receive a gift of $2,014 for every 50 additional donors – onward up to $10k. The math is simple: 5 steps of 50 members at $2,014 = $10,070.
Looking Sharp!
This means your tax-deductible gift of $25 can almost triple in value! Your affirmation of our mission opens the door to the future. Give today–this is THE YEAR to show your support and help North House thrive! (see pg 55 or visit www. northhouse.org) In late 2012 North House made an important commitment to its students. Appropriately titled “Sharpen the Saw,” the promise – invest $20,000+ each year for three years in a row for intentionally improving classroom resources all over campus.
.
How have we done? In two years more than $47,000 has already been invested (and we have one more year to go!). Examples are abundant: - a drum carder for fibers classes - a new SawStop table saw for the woodshop - stockpots and sauté pans for the kitchen - 24 new Ottlites (compact, full spectrum table lights) for better lighting in classes that require detailed handwork (at left) - and there’s more to come!
Important Questions why are
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ? more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Strong support from donors/members has allowed us to reach beyond our inital goal. Thanks for making it possible, and keep your eyes open for new classroom additions.
There’s a new feature sprinkled throughout this edition of our course catalog. We asked a handful of North House instructors one simple question: Why are traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world? This question is elemental not only to craft, but to the very existence of folk schools like North House. Each instructor’s thoughts were inspiring and insightful–read their thoughts on pages 12, 15, 25, 33, 38 and 40.
4
888-387-9762
.
unplugged xiii:
3 days of craft, 3 nights of music
Sept 11-13, 2014
Kick up your heels and raise your glass! At Unplugged XIII two new additions will add extra flavor–Saturday dancing under the big top tent and craft brews (beer and otherwise) with Fulton Beer. Sound tasty? Mark your calendar: September 11-13. As always, Celebrating Craft and Community is at the event’s core. Three days jam packed with coursework, dancing and the folk artisan marketplace, a fundraising auction, PLUS three nights of music featuring 12+ performers, and two concerts with NPR’s Mountain Stage Radio Show. This year there will be six mini courses during the event, including a tasting class with Fulton Beer (see full lineup on our website). Additionally, musicians are offering five courses, including Chris Smither and Pat Donohue. See pages 26 and 27.
family weekend Oct 17-19, 2014
Bring the whole family to North House for our Family & Intergenerational Learning Weekend, Oct 17-20. In celebration of the joy of learning together, we are offering a number of engaging and inspiring courses designed especially for families. You’ll find everything from cattail weaving (make your own pair of cattail people!) to felting, to a carving class for kid’s ONLY (don’t worry, the class is co-taught by a young-at-heart adult and his son). Designed to allow families time to enjoy the North Shore there are a variety of one-day and half-day course options–all qualifying for special adult/child tuition rates. It’s an inspiring opportunity for families to learn together. Plans also include a wood-fired pizza potluck and a family film screening. Join us! 888-387-9762
w interer’s gathering &
arctic film festival
Nov 20-23, 2014
Celebrate the crafts, customs, landscape, history and stories of winter travel and traditional life ways in the North. The event includes winter-centric coursework, a winter tent camp, gear swap, dancing, evening films, speakers and more. Featured speakers for 2014 are Eric McNairLandry and Katherine Breen. They embarked on a 1,000 km journey called “Qajaqtuqtut,” which combined history, culture, and adventure. Their team of four built traditional Inuit kayaks and put them to the test on the two month long expedition. Their journey took them across the 5th largest island in the world, Baffin. Setting out in 24 hour sunlight from Qikiqtarjuaq they travelled through Auyuittuq National Park, and then followed traditional hunting routes linking lakes and wild rivers through the interior of Baffin Island leading back to the Arctic Ocean. Shifting sea ice, tides, polar bears, and the harsh arctic environment put their team and their handcrafted traditional kayaks to the ultimate test.
w ood week cut, carve
special events
&
chop!
March 5-9, 2015
Let the woodchips fly! Our second annual Wood Week is on the books for March 2015. The week is devoted solely to woodworking in its many forms. Classes will kick off on Wednesday, and continue throughout the week. On Saturday, all students will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with other carvers & instructors, and choose from a variety of mini-courses on everything from sharpening to using scrapers to automata. Or simply hang out and carve with fellow enthusiasts. Coursework will resume on Sunday. Registration for any of the two or three day Wood Week courses also includes participation in Saturday mini courses and excursions. More information will be provided in early 2015.
n orthern fibers retreat
Feb 12-15, 2015
What could be better than focusing on fibers in the heart of winter? This five-day event celebrates all manner of fiber arts, featuring seminars and class offerings from long-time North House instructors. We’re again partnering with the Grand Marais Art Colony to bring you more than 20 course options. This year we invite featured instructor from Iceland, Anna Gunnarsdottir. She’ll offer two courses (on felted shawls and 3-D felted sculpture), as well as a talk open to the public on Saturday night. Returning this year, the Fibers for Kids workshop, and popular Lunch and Learns. Also on the schedule: a show and share, and more! Stay tuned as the weekend takes shape. 5
Winterer’s Gathering attendees enjoy an outdoor film sceeening, chilly temperatures and all. more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Antler Basketry: Open Season with Cathryn Peters
11/4/14-11/6/14
Open this year’s deer hunting season by learning the creative skills and techniques of antler basketry. In this course you learn to weave stunning rib-style baskets from dyed and natural rattan reed, incorporating a deer antler as the handle or focal point for your design. You’ll learn how to weave a wall pocket basket, incorporating the Southern “cross over turn-back” weaving technique, spacing the ribs and many more tips that comfortably introduce you to the skills of basketmakers. Antler basketry is a creative, colorful way to spend the weekend with old friends or find new friends during the course. An emerging folk-art form, antler basketry is an aesthetic complement to the deer hunting season. Dimensions approx. 14”H x 8”W x 4”D
length (days) 2.5 hours Days 1/2: 9am-4pm, Day 3: 9am-noon tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials varies (approx. $55)
Birch Bark Boxes: Scandinavian Bark Basketry with Fred Livesay 9/6/14-9/7/14
Scandinavians & Russians commonly kept small, flat birch bark boxes in their pockets for the then-popular taking of snuff. Large finger and lap jointed boxes often held coffee, tea, salt, even butter. Today they continue to hold keepsakes, buttons, spare change, jewelry, dried fruits, oatmeal or a child’s found treasures. Discover how to make these useful and decorative boxes following traditions and techniques that are centuries old, with a few new methods, too.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $20
new
basketry
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
with Jarrod StoneDahl
11/22/14-11/23/14
Birch bark is one of the most versatile and important materials of the northern hemisphere. Of the many things that can be made out of this subtle and flexible material, the woven knife sheath is one of the most important. It protects the most important tool you carry, your knife. Through the weaving of a custom knife sheath, we will explore the intricacies of birch bark: from harvest to preparation to weaving techniques, there is much to learn. This project will give students a basic understanding of the material and skill of birch bark weaving. As time allows, students may be able to complete additional sheaths.
Antler Basketry: Open Season
Antler Basketry: Open Season Birch Bark Boxes: Scandinavian Bark Basketry Birch Bark Knife Sheaths Birch Bark Tutorial Black Ash Basketry: An Introduction Black Ash Pack Baskets Boundary Waters Travel Basket Up the Trail Cattail Craft for Kids!
Birch Bark Knife Sheaths
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 9am-5pm Day 2: 9am-noon tuition $110 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $95 materials $20
Hanging Birch Bark Baskets Pine Needle Basketry Russian Birch Bark Weaving Tutorial with Vladimir Yarish Swedish Decorated Birch Bark Canisters Sweet Grass Basketry The Harvest Basket: Red-Osier Basketry Tuesi: Birch Bark Canisters with Vladimir Yarish Weaving Holiday Ornaments From Birch Bark 6
Birch Bark Tutorial
with Charlie Mayo/Julie Kean/John Zasada 9/20/14-9/21/14 2/7/15-2/8/15
No patterns to choose from here - we simply offer the personal experience of three seasoned weavers willing to pass along their knowledge. Join Charlie Mayo, Julie Kean and John Zasada, three birch bark veterans, as they tailor the birch bark weaving experience to meet your desired outcome - a simple finger ring, wall baskets and bread baskets for beginners, and satchels, shoes or hats for experienced weavers. John, a retired silviculturist, shares his knowledge of bark selection and collection while Charlie shares the varied traditions of weaving bark throughout Scandinavia and Russia. length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $180 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $45
888-387-9762
new
Cattail Craft for Kids! with Emily Derke 10/18/14
From grass whistles to daisy chains, kids are natural crafters: They love to harvest wild materials and simply “make stuff.” This intergenerational workshop is a perfect opportunity to expand those natural tendencies using cattails: With dozens of uses, they are a versatile and abundant plant found all over North America and are easily harvested. Working with the leaves, we will create cattail people, weave a coaster, and make other small projects as time permits. We will discuss harvest, preparation, and material selection, as well as edible uses and history. Participants will complete several projects to take home in this family friendly class perfect for ages 8+ with an adult. Swedish Decorated Birch Bark Canisters
Black Ash Basketry: An Introduction with Dennis Chilcote 5/2/15-5/3/15
Black ash splint is extremely flexible yet sturdy, making it a most elegant and functional material. In this course you’ll learn the craft of preparing splint from the black ash tree, then use it to make a small black ash basket. Class discussion and hands-on experience includes learning to recognize black ash trees of basket splint quality and the technique involved in producing the final weaving material. Students will pound a log with a mallet to produce splint and should be physically fit for the task.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $25
Black Ash Pack Baskets with Ian Andrus
9/26/14-9/28/14 3/20/15-3/22/15
The black ash pack basket: It’s beautiful, highly functional and can be made using simple materials. The first part of the class will be spent preparing black ash splint for your basket by pounding a locally harvested log. Next, you’ll weave the basket and finish it with a rim, handle, runners, straps and harness, using a free form weaving technique. The finished basket will stand 16”-18” high, and be perfect for forages in the woods, excursions to the grocery store, canoe camping, ice fishing, or bigger adventures further afield. It’s a classic project you’ll enjoy for years to come. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $30
Boundary Waters Travel Basket Up the Trail with Paula Sundet Wolf 10/3/14-10/5/14
Join us for a unique North House experience up the Gunflint Trail at Gunflint Lodge! This course invites you to immerse in the rich ecological beauty and cultural history of the Gunflint Trail while harvesting materials and creating a one-of-a-kind basket. Using materials you will gather from the Boundary Waters area during the class, students will make a twined “nest” basket, approximately 8”-10” in size. In addition, students will learn the coiled basket technique and make a small ornament from materials collected over the weekend. Since you’ll be collecting materials as you travel, your baskets will tell the story of where you’ve been. A variety of lodging options are available to students at special rates, allowing students to enjoy the beauty and northwoods hospitality of one of Minnesota’s premier wilderness resorts and immerse in traditional northern craft while exploring the Gunflint wilderness.
length (days) 0.5 hours 1pm-4:30pm tuition $35 per adult/child pair, $10 each add’l child early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $30 per adult/child pair materials $8 age with adult 8+
Hanging Birch Bark Baskets with Kurt Mead 9/12/14
The birch bark hanging basket is a wild-crafted, decorative household basket that’s both simple to create and equally fun to gather materials for. We’ll venture out into the wonderlands here on the North Shore to learn how to gather our materials for this keepsake basket – gathering birch bark from fallen birch trees, willow twigs for a bent handle-hanger and a little salvaged lumber for the base. The basket can be used throughout the year for indoor and outdoor decorating, holding dried and fresh flowers. Adult-child pairs are strongly encouraged to enroll together, but adult participants are welcome to join us on their own in hopes you’ll share this wonderful craft with a little one in your life.
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 (or $130 adult-child pair) early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $10 age with adult 10+
Pine Needle Basketry with Paula Sundet Wolf 9/20/14-9/21/14
Create a traditional coiled basket from locally harvested red pine needles. Starting with either a pliable birch bark base or an elegant agate base, you will work with a variation of the spiral stitch to form a basket with a distinct spiral pattern inside and out. Samples of pine needles from other pine species and information on how to gather and store materials will also be discussed. Assorted found natural objects may also be incorporated into the basket. No previous basket weaving experience is necessary, just your enthusiasm to learn.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-4pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $17
with Vladimir Yarish 7/23/15-7/24/15
North House is pleased to welcome returning scholar, artisan, and teacher Vladimir Yarish, of Veliky Novgorod, the capitol of Novgorod Province, Russia to teach this tutorial course. After scouring museums and archeological sites all around the world, Vladimir has authored a definitive guide focused on the history and myriad traditional uses of birch bark, as well as general instructions for basket-making and plaiting. This tutorial course welcomes basketmakers and weavers of varied levels for two days of instruction in a wide variety of projects. This year, Vladimir offers five new intermediate/advanced projects: the hen, the bunny, the duck salt cellar, the dog and the cat, as well as an array of other options suitable for beginners and intermediate students alike. Students will gain insight into Vladimir’s approach to preparing bark and choose from any of 20 birch bark projects, including decorative and useful, traditional and contemporary options. Note, materials fee is due to the instructor at the time of class and is based on which projects the student selects. length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $190 materials varies (typically $80 and up) age with adult 15+
Swedish Decorated Birch Bark Canisters with Jarrod StoneDahl 5/8/15-5/10/15
This type of box or canister has roots deep in Sweden’s folk craft history. Simple tools and simple materials are used to create a thing of beauty, with design possibilities only limited by the imagination. The techniques employed with this style of canister allow large containers good for storing coffee and tea or other dry goods inside. In this class students will learn about the different qualities of birch bark and what kinds work well for canisters. We will learn to lay out and cut simple but ingenious joints to lock the bark together and how to shape and fit the base and lid. The birch bark can be stamped with homemade punches made from deer antler and painted with homemade paints mixed from natural earth pigments and linseed oil. length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1:1-5pm, Days 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials $30
Sweet Grass Basketry with Paula Sundet Wolf 1/17/15-1/18/15
Work with locally harvested sweet grass, cattails, and sedges during this two-day class while learning the art of coiling a sweet grass basket. We’ll incorporate an elegant agate as a base for the basket. Hands-on instruction provides students with an introduction to the traditions and skills of basket weaving, and discussion about how to identify sweet grass and gather materials for future projects. No previous basket weaving experience is necessary, just your enthusiasm to learn.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-4pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $17
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 7-9pm, Day 2: 9am-5pm, Day 3: 9am-noon tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $10
888-387-9762
new
Russian Birch Bark Weaving Tutorial with Vladimir Yarish
Pine Needle Basketry 7
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
The Harvest Basket: Red-Osier Basketry with Tina Fung Holder 10/11/14-10/12/14 4/25/15-4/26/15
The bright burgundy-red branches of the red-osier dogwood make this native regional shrub a standout in the northern landscape and a prime candidate for basketmakers in the north. With straight, flexible twigs, red-osier is perfect for learning basic basketmaking skills and creating inspiring pieces. In this class students will make a frame basket with a handle (also known as melon style). First they will learn how to spin cordage with iris leaves, braid cattail leaves, and then shape and weave the basket using the cordage and red-osier stems. Beginners are welcome, as with a little enthusiasm and no previous basket-making experience participants leave the workshop with a fine looking basket. Experienced basketmakers will enjoy exploring new horizons working with red-osier.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $30
new
Tuesi: Birch Bark Canisters with Vladimir Yarish with Vladimir Yarish
7/20/15-7/22/15
Solid-sheet birch bark canisters called tuesi have been made in Novgorod, the hometown of esteemed basket maker Vladimir Yarish, since at least the 10th century. Though many kinds of bark canisters were made across the other parts of Russia, Scandinavia and the Baltics, the tuesi was typical for the end of 19th and early 20th century in Novgorodian province. Used to store perishables like milk, sour cream and honey, this challenging form is regarded as the highest art of birch bark craft. Using carefully harvested single sheet cylinders Vladimir will provide from Russia, students will create a water-tight canister and a lid with a handle. The diameter of the cylinder varies based on the size of the tree from which it is harvested, but the finished product will be roughly five inches in diameter. Take your basketry skills to the next level in this intermediate to advanced level course with a beloved international guest instructor. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $285 materials $150 payable to instructor
Weaving Holiday Ornaments From Birch Bark with Julie Kean/John Zasada 12/6/14-12/7/14
Start your holiday season off with a weekend on the North House Folk School campus weaving traditional and contemporary ornaments from birch bark. Explore the range of birch bark weaving holiday projects from the traditional Swedish woven heart to a 3-dimensional birch bark star, which are both highlighted in North House’s “Celebrating Birch” book. Working with colorful embellishments, learn to weave and string birch bark beads for a traditional garland. You’ll have a wonderful collection of gifts and ornaments to share with family and friends at the completion of this course. Students are welcome to take just the first day of this course for 50% of tuition and a reduced materials fee. length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $150 single day rate available ($65/$75) early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials $30 ($22 for those enrolling in single day option)
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Blacksmithing: The Basics & Beyond
blacksmithing & tool making
blacksmithing
Blacksmithing: The Basics & Beyond Damascus Folding Jackknife: Make Your Own Forge & Craft a Crooked Knife Forge-Welding a Damascus Blade and Other Items Forging the Scandinavian Small Forest Axe Tools for the Shop: Service Learning in the Blacksmith Shop 8
toolmaking Building the Northwest Trade Gun Crooked Knife: Craft Your Own Sharpening Tutorial Tool-Making for Wood Workers and Others
888-387-9762
Blacksmithing: The Basics & Beyond with Dave Hanson/Cody Myers 4/20/15-4/22/15
Always wanted to try your hand at the forge? This is the place to start and continue to develop your blacksmithing skills. You will be introduced to the basic skills of the blacksmith including safety, fire control, tools and equipment in both a classroom and ‘on the forge’ setting. Student projects will be tailored toward individual skill levels. The class will begin with basic projects such as decorative nail-in-hooks to learn hammer skills. More advanced projects such as basic tool making and decorative/ornamental work will be encountered as class progresses. The first day, the class will use coal forges and the remainder of your time may be on either a coal or gas forge. This course is tailored to meet your needs on the forge while ensuring consistent and quality work. You will leave with a higher skill level regardless of where you start. Materials fee includes the use of coal/gas for forgework and the cost of steel, etc. An optional fourth day is available for students who would like to continue learning for an additional $85 in tuition, $45 in materials. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $270 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials $195
Building the Northwest Trade Gun with Brent Gurtek
3/24/15-4/3/15
Students will learn the history and craft of the “Northwest Trade Gun,” a muzzle loading firearm associated with the 18th- and 19th-century Great Lakes fur trade. Lightweight, rugged, versatile and inexpensive, it fully answered the shooting needs of this region and remains a fine north woods hunting arm. A brief history of the Great Lakes fur trade and the conditions leading to its design will fuel discussion as students undertake this challenging but rewarding project. Hand tools will largely be used in constructing an authentic Northwest Trade Gun, using essentially the same techniques employed by the early makers. This project is appropriate for first-time gunsmiths, but past experience in woodworking will be helpful. Some customization will be possible.
length (days) 11 hours 9am-5pm tuition $825 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $775 materials $565 some variation possible ($520) age with adult 16+
Damascus Folding Jackknife: Make Your Own
Forge-Welding a Damascus Blade and Other Items
5/26/15-5/29/15
5/20/15-5/24/15
with Dave Hanson/Cody Myers
The folding pocket knife needs little introduction as a handy and vital tool to have in your pocket. Starting with a folding jackknife kit, students will learn blacksmithing skills by modifying the blade and handle--it’s the perfect way to begin! Students will receive a Damascus steel billet, and will learn to forge it to shape, pack the cutting edge, and shape, draw, temper and normalize this high-quality blade. Students will then make the sides of the knife, called scales, from antler and wood, making a useful knife that is easy to carry. Students will also gain an understanding of knife assembly, which is important knowledge to have when it comes time to design your first custom knife! The finished knife will measure approximately 3.25” in size when closed. All materials will be provided.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $360 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $340 materials $195
Forge & Craft a Crooked Knife with Jarrod StoneDahl 2/6/15-2/8/15
The crooked knife, formally known as the mokotagan, is a very old type of woodworking tool unique to North America and predominantly found around the Great Lakes region. It is a nomad’s tool, born out of the need to be versatile yet easy to transport. The knife is used one-handed and pulled toward oneself which gives the user great control and frees up the other hand to hold the wood being worked. When in use, a properly designed crooked knife is a joy to use. These knives historically have been used for carving paddles, snowshoe frames, and as the primary tool for birch bark canoe building, but can be used in place of a drawknife or block plane. In this extended session, we will use the stock removal method to create the shape of the blades, harden and temper the steel in the forge and then mount the blade to custom fit handles. Instruction will also be given in how to use the tool efficiently.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 1-5pm; Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials $25
Crooked Knife: Craft Your Own with Jarrod StoneDahl
11/20/14-11/21/14
The crooked knife, formally known as the mokotagan, is a very old type of woodworking tool unique to North America and predominantly around the Great Lakes region. It is a nomad’s tool, born out of the need to be versatile yet easy to transport. The knife is used one-handed and pulled toward oneself, which gives the user great control and frees up the other hand to hold the wood being worked. When in use, a properly designed crooked knife is a joy to use. These knives historically have been used for carving paddles and snowshoe frames, and as the primary tool for birch bark canoe building, but can be used in place of a drawknife or block plane. In this two-day class we will use pre-made blades to mount into a handle that is custom fit and shaped by the student. Through this process students will have a truly personal knife. This class will also have a strong focus on how to sharpen and use the knife efficiently. Students interested in forging blades should take the Forge & Craft Your Own Crooked Knife.
Highly prized for centuries, Damascus steel is the elite art of the blacksmithing world. Damascus is metal goods created using different types of high carbon tool steel and a technique that gives them a distinctive appearance. Like a baker uses kneading and folding to create a loaf of marble rye bread, the blacksmith uses welding, folding and drawing techniques to create steel that is not only incredibly strong and sharp, but also distinctively beautiful with its swirling, intricate patterns. In this class, you will learn how to forge weld Damascus steel, and you will focus significant effort on a Damascus knife blade. This class is open to students at all skill levels, from students anxious to pick up a hammer for the first time to experienced smiths developing new skills. Depending on skill level your blade may or may not be fully completed. Surface finishing, including grinding and polishing, will also be covered. Cutoff pieces of your blade may be used for jewelry and other projects. Materials fee includes the use of coal/gas for forgework and the costs of steel, etc. An optional sixth day for extra knife work is available upon request for $85 plus a $60 materials fee.
length (days) 5 hours 9am-5pm tuition $445 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $425 materials $305
new
Forging the Scandinavian Small Forest Axe with Robert Burns
11/18/14-11/21/14
The Scandinavian small forest axe was designed to be light and portable, commonly used while hiking to gather wood, and used in wood carving. Students will learn to forge the axe head, harden and temper, and fit the handle with bladesmith Robert Burns. The heads will be created using the wrapped and forge-welded method of construction which uses a low carbon steel body and high carbon steel for the edge. The heads will then be forged to shape and refined by hand with files. Students will leave with a fully functional and razor sharp axe ready to use for camp chores, felling, or carving. Small adjustments to the alignment, shape, and grind of the bit can greatly affect the axe’s performance in different applications. Students will be able to subtly tweak their axe for best performance. Some forge welding experience and knowledge of basic forging techniques such as drawing out, bending, and punching (the more the better) is very helpful.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $360 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $340 materials $145 age with adult 14+
Sharpening Tutorial with Dennis Chilcote 3/21/15-3/22/15
“Get the Edge” might be another appropriate title for this course. Chisels, planes, gouges, knives, scissors, spokeshaves and more--these tools of the trade function at their best when the cutting edge is truly prepared for business. Ready to slice butter? This comprehensive overview of sharpening will help you understand the types of cutting edges, characteristics of steel, tempering, and the difference between grinding and honing through a series of demonstrations and hands-on applications. Power sharpening and hand sharpening will be explored. You are strongly encouraged to bring up to five hand tools to sharpen as a class project.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $150 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials $35 Building the Northwest Trade Gun
888-387-9762
with Dave Hanson/Cody Myers
9
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $15 more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Tool-Making for Wood Workers and Others with Paul Linden 3/5/15-3/8/15
This course is an introduction to working with and heattreating the common high-carbon steels used for edge tools. We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different steel types and put this knowledge into practice by creating several tools. We will analyze a number of different tools and compare their performance. Can you really make a nice, working knife from an old file? Blacksmiths and tool-makers know that you can, and we will do it in this class. We will each make a scratch awl and a small carving knife to start, but additional tools like marking knifes, scrapers, small chisels, and larger or curved knives are all possibilities. Registration in the March session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate! The third day of this course will be offered Sunday, March 8.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials varies ($25-$40) age with adult 12+
Tools for the Shop: Service Learning in the Blacksmith Shop with Dave Hanson/Cody Myers 4/17/15-4/19/15
A busy blacksmith shop means a need for lots of tools! In this service learning course, students will focus building out our supply of tongs, crafting a variety of sizes. As time allows other tools, such as hammers, chisels and punches, will be fashioned as well. Under the guidance of instructors Dave Hanson and Cody Myers, you’ll make lasting and practical contributions to our shop that will be appreciated for years to come. Use your existing skills, or learn a few new tricks of the trade. Your registration fee includes a daily lunch. For a full experience, consider registering for Blacksmithing: Basics & Beyond immediately following this course. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $75 includes lunch each day early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 age with adult 15+
Birch Bark Canoes: Traditional Construction
boatbuilding nuts & bolts
early bird discount
The early bird gets the worm (or the early gull gets the herring?) For most coursework, we offer a reduced tuition rate for students who sign up at least six weeks in advance. more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
build your own
Building The Classic Wooden Rowboat: Build Your Own Susan Skiff Cedar-Strip Boatbuilding: Build Your Own Canoe or Kayak Pram Boat Building: Build Your Own Traditional Norse or Swedish Pram Wood-Canvas Canoe: Build Your Own Wood Canvas Canoe Repair I: The Beginning Wood Canvas Canoe Repair II: The Middle Wood Canvas Canoe Repair III: The End 10
learn the techniques Birch Bark Canoes: Traditional Construction Building the Fisherman: Joe Seliga’s Square-Stern Wood Canvas Canoe Form Cedar-Strip Boat Construction: Techniques & Fundamentals Fundamentals of Traditional Wooden Boat Building Techniques of Pram Boat Building: Old World Boatbuilding Traditions 888-387-9762
Birch Bark Canoes: Traditional Construction
Cedar-Strip Boat Construction: Techniques & Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Traditional Wooden Boat Building
6/15/15-6/18/15
7/1/15-7/7/15
10/10/14-10/15/14
with Erik Simula
Explore the history, construction and use of the Native American birch bark canoe in this hands-on course. Paddled for centuries on the lakes and rivers of the interior, all the necessary materials can be sustainably harvested from a healthy boreal forest: birch bark, cedar, spruce root and spruce gum. During the course you will work on several birch bark canoes in different stages of construction. Coursework includes harvesting and processing materials, canoe design characteristics, hand tool usage, traditional construction techniques, and historical use. This is a rare learning opportunity for anyone interested in the construction and history of the birch bark canoe. length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $360 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $340 materials included
Building The Classic Wooden Rowboat: Build Your Own Susan Skiff with John Beltman
10/6/14-10/21/14
This is an ideal boatbuilding course for someone who has always dreamed of building a classic wooden boat and spending the time to fully enjoy the traditions, smells and trades of the wooden boat building shop. In just over two weeks students will mill the lumber, lay the planking and finish a flat-bottomed, square-stern 11-foot rowboat. Working with the talents of a professional boatbuilder, students will build their own Susan Skiff, a classic wooden boat with a carvel-planked bottom and lapstrake sides. Set for rowing or attaching a small outboard motor to enjoy a fishing outing, this classic wooden boat will provide a lifetime of memories and skills for the builder. Students are strongly encouraged to bring a partner to help…this can be a great family project. In this tutorial course, you will have an apprenticeship experience working side by side with trained professional boat builder John Beltman. length (days) 16 hours 9am-5pm tuition $2700 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $2,600 materials $925
new
Building the Fisherman: Joe Seliga’s Square-Stern Wood Canvas Canoe Form
with Jeanne Bourquin 5/26/15-5/29/15 6/17/15-6/19/15
with Ken Koscik
With more than just aesthetic appeal, cedar-strip boats are known for being lightweight, strong and quick to build. Gain the know-how and confidence to complete a boat project in your own backyard through seven days of hands-on instruction building a tandem canoe with other students. Techniques involve setting up the strongback and templates, planking, fiberglassing and fitting out the canoe, as well as other boatbuilding skills. Just like the title says, a solid foundation of the ‘techniques and fundamentals’ provides the skills to complete your desired cedar-strip boat building project. Students are also invited for informal evening slideshows that introduce the techniques of birch bark canoe construction and steam bending. Separate tuition payment and cancellation policies apply to this course. At the close of the course, the student-built canoe project will be for sale at a defined price to interested students (cost of materials). If multiple students are interested, a raffle will decide who will go home with the tandem canoe. An easy project to cartop back to your waterway and start your paddling adventure! length (days) 7 hours 9am-5pm tuition $560 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $525 materials included age with adult 14+
Cedar-Strip Boatbuilding: Build Your Own Canoe or Kayak with Ken Koscik
9/25/14-10/5/14 9/24/15-10/4/15
Enjoy the contrast of light and dark wooden strips, the quiet lapping of water on wood and the pride of craftsmanship that stems from building your own cedarstrip boat. From start to finish, cut thin cedar planks and learn to assemble an appealing pattern for your canoe or kayak. Students may choose from three cedar-strip boat projects: an 18 1/2’ tandem cruiser canoe, a 16’ tripping canoe or a 17’ kayak. Students must bring a partner, family member or friend (or two!) to help…this can be a great project that will result in a lifetime of memories. Due to the nature of this course and intensity of instruction, this class is limited to two boat projects per session. length (days) 11 hours 9am-5pm tuition $1865 $3,500 per boat early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $1,865 materials $1,635 age with adult 14+
In 1938 renowned Minnesota canoe-builder Joe Seliga built a form he called a square-stern canoe. Joe built just 33 wood/canvas (or fiberglassed) canoes on this form, the last one in 1971. Recently, the Seliga family graciously donated the form to North House to use for classes. Join Joe’s friend and fellow Ely canoe builder, Jeanne Bourquin, for thought-provoking days engaged in understanding and building on this historic form. The rich traditions and skills of wooden boat building will be encountered at every corner. The goals are simple: Immerse in the Seliga legacy and pull forth a nearly completed boat, ready for finish work. This course will take place over two sessions: one focused on bending ribs and planking the boat, the second on taking the boat off the form, canvassing and filling. Students may register for one or both sessions and take an active role in creating a piece of Minnesota history.
Explore the grace and craft of wooden boatbuilding and unlock the secrets of hand-crafting your own wooden watercraft in this six-day hands-on course. Combine classroom sessions with shop time to become familiar with the entire wooden boat-building process, from transferring boat plans into real size through lofting to steam-bending and proper caulking techniques. By the end of this course you’ll feel more comfortable pursuing your own project knowing you learned from an experienced boatbuilder. The class project for the course is the cherished Susan Skiff, a classic wooden rowboat with a carvel-planked bottom and lapstrake sides. length (days) 6 hours 9am-5pm tuition $510 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $480 materials included
Pram Boat Building: Build Your Own Traditional Norse or Swedish Pram with John Beltman
3/11/15-3/22/15
Take this one-of-a-kind opportunity to build a customsized, traditionally built wooden lapstrake boat, originating in design and construction from the fjords and fishing villages of Norway and Sweden. You may choose from two options: 1) the Norse Pram (12 days), an inshore craft that makes an excellent tender or rowboat at the lake, and is often referred to as the “water wheelbarrow” of the fjords of Norway; or 2) the Swedish Pram (10 days), a square-ended wooden watercraft, built in a wide variety of shapes and sizes to meet the specific needs of the intended user, traditionally fishermen, farmers, or tenders. In consultation with the instructor, you build and design your own 10’ to 16’ pram using traditional materials including white spruce, white pine, oak and copper fastening to meet your intended uses for the boat. Students interested in building the pram as a sailing vessel are welcome to do so. The pram is built using old-world, simple and honest construction techniques. Students will learn to ‘loft by eye,’ making it a great project for the first-time boat builder, who will walk away with a lifetime of skills, or experienced builders interested in this unique style of construction. In the traditional fashion, the boat will be finished with pine tar, linseed oil and turpentine. Students are encouraged to bring a partner to help…this can be a great family project that will result in a lifetime of memories. The instructor will consult with each student six weeks prior to start of the course to assess materials needed for the intended boat to be built.
This Build Your Own option allows you and your friends/family the option to build either a Norse Pram, a boat with a rounded, more complex ‘sweep’ to it, allowing it to gracefully roll over swells, or a Swedish Pram, a boat with squared end, simplifying construction. **Norse Pram: 12 days - $1,400-$1,700 for materials **Swedish Pram: 10 days - $1,000-$1,200 for materials hours 9am-4pm tuition $3,225 per boat
May Session: length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $260 materials included June Session: length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials included
888-387-9762
with John Beltman
Wood Canvas Canoe Repair 11
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Techniques of Pram Boat Building: Old World Boatbuilding Traditions
Wood Canvas Canoe Repair I: The Beginning
3/11/15-3/15/15
12/2/14-12/5/14 8/4/15-8/7/15
with John Beltman
An old Norse saying goes, “A man without his boat is a mere prisoner.” This class is a one-of-a-kind study and hands-on look into the techniques of traditional Norwegian and Swedish boat builders: We’ll explore the developments and skills required to build wooden lapstrake boats that have plied the fjords and fishing villages for centuries - stemming as far back as the Viking era and into today across Scandinavia and the Baltic. In a group setting, you will build a 10-16’ wooden rowing pram. Along the way, you will learn how to ‘loft by eye,’ design and build a full-size rowing pram using lapstrake techniques, bevel watertight planking, cut compound bevels for framing and riveting while working on a full sized boat. After this course you’ll be capable of returning to your own backyard and building a pram at minimal cost. Simplicity of boatbuilding, use of readily available lumber (from your own lumberyard!), no mold construction, minimum number of tools including simple carving knives, versatility of creating different shapes or customizing the boat to your needs, (which may include sailing, iceboating and a variety of rowing positions, depending on how many people wish to use the boat), make this approach to boatbuilding a valuable investment of time and energy. length (days) 5 hours 9am-5pm (some evenings) tuition $455 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $425 materials included
Wood-Canvas Canoe: Build Your Own with Jeanne Bourquin 3/24/15-4/3/15
Poetry on the water – wood-canvas canoes are the classic boats of the Northwoods. In this course you are immersed in the complete process of building your own canoe from steam-bending her ribs to stretching and filling her canvas. Participants generally build the 17’6” Atkinson Traveler, but the 16’6” Oteer or Lutre models are possibilities as well. Canoes are built, canvassed and filled during the class and then taken home, painted and varnished – and will provide many years of pleasure on the water. Many hands make work light, and students should plan to bring a partner (or two!) to help…this can be a great family project that will result in a lifetime of memories.
with Jeanne Bourquin
Repair I: On day one, we’ll survey each canoe, make a work flow plan and discuss sources for wood, fasteners, paint, tools, and other repair supplies. All students should plan on participating Day 1, but may not need to stay for the entire session. On Days 2-4, students will make and bend ribs, gunwales and decking, splice stem ends, fix planking, and replace decks, thwarts, and yokes. This session will include some work in the evenings.
Wood Canvas Canoe Repair II: The Middle with Jeanne Bourquin 1/13/15-1/16/15 9/22/15-9/25/15
Repair II: On Days 1 and 2, students will clinch, finish up any remaining work replacing ribs and planking, and make seats, keels, gunwales and any other parts. Students who are ready make begin sanding and fairing the outside on these days as well. Days 3 and 4 will either be focused on sanding and fairing, or canvassing and filling for those students who are ready. length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $75/day materials varies
Wood Canvas Canoe Repair III: The End with Jeanne Bourquin
2/3/15-2/6/15 10/27/15-10/30/15
Repair III: This session is primarily focused on canvassing and filling over the first 2 days. Days 3 and 4 are for the final steps, including the outer gunwales and keels, stemboards and seats. length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $75/day materials varies
www.northhouse.org
“There is not
a utilitarian need
for traditional crafts in today’s world as there was many years ago.
As a teacher of handmade jewelry,
I have observed another kind of need.
This need is grounded in the desire to understand one’s heritage
through the making with one’s own hands.
The creativity, design and execution of traditional crafts also supplies our world with
Wood-Canvas Canoe Repair Series
more details, more photos:
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ?
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $75/day materials varies
length (days) 14 hours 9am-5pm tuition $2,750 for 2-3 builders per canoe early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $2,750 materials $2,200 $4,950 per canoe (tuition & materials) age with adult 14+
with Jeanne Bourquin Breathe some life into that old wood-canvas canoe in the rafters and turn it into a classic wooden canoe suitable to be paddled for another generation or two. The process of repairing a wood-canvas canoe can be a daunting journey that requires careful planning and prioritizing. To help you on your way, expert builder Jeanne Bourquin offers three repair courses, each focused on particular steps of the journey. Bring your canoe and start from the beginning, or join in along the way, depending on what needs to be done to your boat. Because four hands are better than two, participants are strongly encouraged to bring a partner to help complete the work at no additional charge. Students will pay a per day rate of $75 per canoe. After registration, students will discuss their project with the instructor to determine how many days they should plan on attending. At right is a general outline for each session to assist you in your planning.
why are
a beauty that acts
as a therapy for the mind, heart and soul.” Pram Boat Building: Build Your Own Traditional Norse or Swedish Pram 12
- Molly Sharp, jewelry 888-387-9762
Aniishiinaabe-Style Bead Embroidery & Moccasin Sewing with Marcie McIntire 3/19/15-3/22/15
Discover the designs, color, styles and technique of traditional bead embroidery as you work with Ojibwe cultural specialist and Grand Portage band member Marcie McIntire, sewing and decorating a pair of moccasins in this course. You will design a pair of moccasins to make, choosing from either a baby or child’s moccasin pattern or an adult-sized pair. Using quality tanned deerhide, Marcie will teach the steps required for assembly and help you design a pattern to finish your pair of moccasins with bead embroidery. Your materials fee includes the fabric, interfacing, beads, needles and thread. As time allows, additional beadwork projects will be included.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $260 materials $80 age with adult 9+
Anorak: Sew Your Own Traditional Outer Garment with Cindy Muus
1/23/15-1/25/15
The anorak is the traditional outer garment worn throughout the far North and Arctic climates. It is designed to be worn over heavier insulating layers to block the wind and shed snow. This anorak design may be made from a variety of fabrics and features large sleeves with adjustable wrist gussets, a deep hood, and a large hand-warmer patch pocket on the front. Trim may be added if desired. The instructor will contact registered students regarding fabric options and other necessary supplies. Prior sewing experience is necessary to complete the anorak in the time allowed.
length (days) 2.25 hours Day 1: 5pm-7pm; Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $165 materials varies (approx. $90)
Beginning Millinery & Haberdashery: The Blocked Felt Hat
Beginning Millinery & Haberdashery: The Blocked Felt Hat
with Emily Moe
1/17/15-1/18/15
clothing
apparel
Anorak: Sew Your Own Traditional Outer Garment Beginning Millinery & Haberdashery: The Blocked Felt Hat Deerskin Mittens with Aniishiinaabe-Style Beadwork Hand Stitching and Basic Patterning: Introduction to Blanket Coat Making Nålbinding Mittens Nature’s Insulator: Sew Your Own Wool Blanket Shirt Sew Your Own: Scandinavian Work Shirt Sewing the Saami-Inspired Tuomisalo Hat
footwear Aniishiinaabe-Style Bead Embroidery & Moccasin Sewing Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks Up the Gunflint Trail Moccasin-Making & Bead Embroidery in the Aniishiinaabe-Style Shoemaking with the Cordwainer Shop Shoemaking: 10th-Century Scandinavian Turn Shoe Shoemaking: Internal Stitchdown Workboots
Minnesota’s history is interwoven with the history of hat-making. Europe’s hunger for beaver felt top hats drove the voyageurs into the heart of fur country. Most of the fur traded at Grand Portage eventually became felt hats. There is no softer, warmer or more pliant fiber as fur-felt. We will use millinery fur-felt hat blanks to create hats using the same methods used by milliners since the 1300s (minus the infamous mercury), but our creations will reflect the character and personality of each student-- perhaps a 19th-century top hat, a ‘20s cloche, Belle Époque feather salad, a ‘40s fedora (good hats aren’t just for women) or something made with a distinctly 2015 vision. The student will use mysterious and magical sounding materials -- melousine, ferrule, puzzle blocks and petersham -- to make a couture quality felt hat entirely by hand. Some sewing experience is helpful but not necessary.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $65 age with adult 13+
Coracle Boat: Build Your Own | Photo by Bill Lyders
888-387-9762
13
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Deerskin Mittens with Aniishiinaabe-Style Beadwork
Moccasin-Making & Bead Embroidery in the Aniishiinaabe Style
11/6/14-11/9/14
9/5/14-9/7/14
with Marcie McIntire
with Marcie McIntire
Up north, there’s a saying that there’s no bad weather, just the wrong clothes. Outfit yourself with the right sort of clothing to protect your body from the elements in this course, in which you will design a comfortable and warm pair of deerskin mittens to wear during the winter months. The mittens are ideal for daily wear, working outside or long winter adventures. You will decorate the mittens with bead embroidery using your own design. The basics of deerskin sewing will be taught as well as the sewing of a warm wool lining. Your materials fee includes deerskin, wool fabric, beads, needles and thread.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $260 materials $80 age with adult 10+
Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks with Jo Wood
11/14/14-11/16/14 2/13/15-2/15/15
Remember the last time your feet were too cold to enjoy wonderful wintry weather? Do away with rigid unbreathable footwear and discover the traditional footwear of the north: mukluks. The flexibility of the natural materials used in construction allows the foot to generate heat, and a breathable layering system allows moisture to escape. In this course you’ll be guided through the process of pattern making, and handcraft your own pair of hide mukluks with knee high or shorter uppers. Booties or liners must be purchased or made before the workshop. Some sewing experience is helpful but not necessary.
length (days) 2.5 hours Feb session: Day 1/2:9am-5pm; Day 3: 9am-1pm; Nov session Day 1: 3pm-7pm; Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $190 materials $80
Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks
Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks Up the Gunflint Trail with Jo Wood
10/31/14-11/2/14
North House is pleased to announce an opportunity to experience the rich ecological beauty and cultural history of the Gunflint Trail AND immerse in the traditional northern craft of mukluk making. This session of Expedition Footwear: Making Mukluks will be taught by long-time North House instructor Jo Wood at Gunflint Lodge. Remember the last time your feet were too cold to enjoy wonderful wintry weather? Do away with rigid unbreathable footwear and discover the traditional footwear of the north: mukluks. The flexibility of the natural materials used in construction allows the foot to generate heat, and a breathable layering system allows moisture to escape. In this course you’ll be guided through the process of pattern making, and handcraft your own pair of hide mukluks with knee high or shorter uppers. Booties or liners must be purchased or made before the workshop. Some sewing experience is helpful but not necessary. A variety of lodging options are available to students at special rates, allowing students to enjoy the beauty and northwoods hospitality of one of Minnesota’s premier wilderness resorts, and leave with a sturdy pair of handcrafted mukluks to keep their feet warm & snug when the snows begin to fall.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 3pm-7pm; Days 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $190 materials $80
new
Hand Stitching and Basic Patterning: Introduction to Blanket Coat Making
Discover the designs, color, styles and technique of traditional bead embroidery as you work with Ojibwe cultural specialist and Grand Portage band member Marcie McIntire, sewing and decorating a pair of moccasins in this course co-sponsored by the Grand Portage National Monument. The course begins with an overview of the Grand Portage National Monument’s historic collection of footwear and bead embroidery. You then design a pair of moccasins to make, choosing from either a baby or child’s moccasin pattern or an adult-sized pair. Using quality tanned hide, Marcie will teach the steps required for assembly and help you design a pattern to finish your pair of moccasins with bead embroidery. Your materials fee includes the fabric, interfacing, beads, needles and thread. The class will take place in the cultural heritage classroom at the Grand Portage National Monument Visitor Center in Grand Portage, Minn. (35 miles northeast of Grand Marais). Please note, most students who choose to make adult-size moccasins will finish one moccasin in 3 days, but leave the with materials and knowledge to complete the project at home. For those interested in staying for an optional fourth day to fully immerse in the project, this is available for an additional $50. Please notify North House at the time of registration. length (days) 3 hours 9am-4:30pm tuition $225 optional 4th day $50 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials varies - $75 adult size, $65 child size age with adult 9+
Nålbinding Mittens with Larry Schmitt
10/21/14-10/23/14 6/9/15-6/11/15
Nålbinding, similar to but far older than knitting or crochet, is a way to make a looped-structure fabric with a single needle. Nålbound mittens are valued for warmth and practicality and in this workshop you’ll learn nålbinding, as well as the basics of shaping a Scandinavian-style “work” mitten. A variety of finishing techniques will be demonstrated, and time will be devoted to the folklore surrounding nålbinding. Lesson materials, needle, and an appropriate amount of yarn for the first samples are provided. You will also have the opportunity to make your own needles.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials $20
with Carol Colburn
2/13/15-2/15/15
The blanket coat made from a Hudson Bay style blanket is an inspiring & distinctive example of style and craft. In this skill-building workshop, students will gain the hand sewing and basic patterning skills they need to make a blanket coat. Made from felted wool blankets, the coats are very adaptable and can be used for many outdoor activities and conditions. In this workshop, students will be introduced to hand sewing and basic patterning as applied to blanket coat making. They will come away with a sample book of sturdy and decorative hand stitch variations for blanket coats, and a blanket coat pattern based on the North House example and adapted to their size and needs. This is a collaborative workshop open to students of all levels. Leave ready to spend the winter months stitching your own blanket coat next to a cozy fire. Shoemaking with the Cordwainer Shop | Photo by Jennifer Gardner more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
length (days) 2.25 hours Day 1: 5pm-7pm, Days 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $165 materials $20 14
Anorak: Sew Your Own Traditional Outer Garment
888-387-9762
Nature’s Insulator: Sew A Traditional Wool Blanket Shirt
Shoemaking with the Cordwainer Shop
11/21/14-11/23/14
1/29/15-2/1/15 2/5/15-2/8/15
with Carol Colburn
Tired of synthetic ‘fluff ’? Clad your torso with the miracle fiber: wool. Learn the history of wool, why it works, and how to maximize its performance as clothing with outdoorwear designed by Kevin Kinney, owner of Empire Canvas Wear of Duluth. In this class you will learn the basics of patternmaking and construction as we lay the foundation for a lifelong skill. To craft a Wool Blanket Shirt, we’ll enjoy a history lesson on the uses of this type of wool insulating shirt. We’ll start with a thick, fulled woolen blanket and walk through the sequence for measuring and cutting flat textile to fit the human form. Next we will cut panels for a warm tunic that’s the cornerstone of a great winter wardrobe. Savor the joy of stitching by hand or by machine. We’ll build our shirts panel by panel. You’ll learn how to transfer your new skills to the construction of any sewn article. Embellish your creation with antler or stone buttons and leather trim. You’ll leave this course with a sound knowledge of garment crafting and a cozy shirt for the winter.
length (days) 2.25 hours Day 1: 7pm-9pm, Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $165 materials $45
Sew Your Own: Scandinavian Work Shirt with Carol Colburn 9/4/14-9/6/14
It works! Sew your own Scandinavian work shirt, designed for comfort and for your favorite outdoor activities. Learn a life-long skill while creating a shirt you will love to wear. Traditional shirts in the Scandinavian countries are great for layering and designed for outdoor life. Natural fiber striped fabrics of cotton, linen, and wool in many colors and textures can be used to make distinctive shirts. When made of traditional blue or red striped cotton, Scandinavians enjoy wearing these comfortable shirts to reflect their heritage. Sewing patterns and instructions are based on historical examples. Patterns are based on squares and rectangles. As you create your shirt, you will be guided step by step, adjusting your pattern, cutting, machine and hand sewing, and adding the finishing touches. Scandinavian work shirts are ideal for men, women and children who enjoy all kinds of outdoor life.
length (days) 2.25 hours Day 1: 5-7pm, Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $165 materials varies ($25-$90)
Sewing the Saami-Inspired Tuomisalo Hat with Elma Strom Tuomisalo 1/30/15-2/1/15
What would you wear to wrestle reindeer on the arctic tundra? The Saami people dress in warm, functional clothing that is outrageously colorful and unique. In this course we’ll explore a bit of that cultural playfulness while constructing a Saami-inspired elegant winter hat. The project includes fine hand sewing techniques and wonderful fabrics – wool outside and cotton inside – with flexibility for your own creativity and preferences. In addition to sewing demonstrations, coaching, and time to sew, we’ll also enjoy stories, music, and traditional Finnish treats. Treat yourself to three days of peaceful sewing, good company, and come away with a hat that really is both practical and elegant.
with Molly Grant/Candace LaCosse
Learn the age-old art of being a cordwainer. Using the original patterns designed in the mid-1930s by Paul and Edward Mathews of The Cordwainer Shop, Molly and her apprentice Candace will teach you to hand-stitch and hand-lace your own pair of Cordwainer Classics of the same design worn by Hollywood legends such as Caesar Romero, Shirley Temple, Mary Pickford and the original Henry Ford. Class will begin with a brief presentation on the history of the business and the original designs. Then we will move on to leather and color selection, cutting of patterns, and hand lacing using antique hand tools. The uppers will then be laced to the soles, placed on shoe lasts and baked before finishing. Made of non-synthetic materials, your handmade, one-of-a-kind shoes will only get better with time and last a lifetime if well-cared for. Upon enrolling, students will be sent a foot outline form, with explicit directions, to be sent back to the instructor prior to class. Students can choose to add a crepe sole or dress lightweight tread for an additional cost of $50. length (days) 3.5 hours Days 1-3: 9am-5pm, Day 4: 9am-1pm tuition $350 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $330 materials $220
Shoemaking: 10th-Century Scandinavian Turn Shoe with Jason Hovatter
10/2/14-10/5/14
Crafting functional, durable and attractive footwear with your own hands is a deeply satisfying (and sole-ful!) task. We will begin by making a casting of your foot (shoes will truly be custom built) then move on to patterning and leather selection, cutting and skiving, butt stitching and assembly. Once the upper and sole are attached we move on to turning and hammering, closure and finishing and finally gooping the soles. A wide assortment of leather working techniques and tools will be covered, and after learning a few simple methods and skills, you’ll be ready to let your imagination run wild on your next pair of shoes. This pair of shoes could easily last you for the rest of your life if well taken care of!
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $395 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $380 materials $100
Shoemaking: Internal Stitchdown Workboots with Jason Hovatter
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ? “Bishop Grundtvig reminded us long ago,
‘We are who we were,’
and that education is about remembering. This level of
understanding of
ourselves, our ancestors, their stories, ways of life can be revealed through the use of our hands. Since traditional craft covers a wide scope of
human endeavors, the study and work
can provide a way out of the specialization and commercial pitfalls of
our crowded world
with its diminished resources.
What then
are the problems we are
9/25/14-9/28/14 10/9/14-10/12/14
It’s hard to imagine a more functional and necessary piece of footwear than a solid workboot—and one that is custom-fit to your foot? What more could you ask for really? We will begin by making a casting of your foot and then move on to patterning and leather selection, cutting and skiving, seaming and assembly. We’ll use industrial sewing machines--some sewing experience would be helpful but is not necessary. Once the upper and sole are attached we move on to closure and finishing and finally attaching and trimming the vibram outsole. Suitable for adventures of all sorts, these boots are full of possibility (rumor has it, you can even wear them skiing). length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $415 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $395 materials $150
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials $40 age with adult 14+
888-387-9762
why are
attempting to solve
as we study and work our crafts? By asking ourselves
this question
we can begin to set priorities with
a richer understanding of what we can do for ourselves & with others in a
rapidly changing world. - Mark Hansen, northern craft
15
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
new
Aran Knitting Made Easy with Stefania Isaacson 2/15/15
The Irish knitter has traditionally used her knitting needles as a paintbrush to portray a picture of her feelings in her work. Each one of those beautiful patterns has a significance, and when put together in a sweater for her loved one to wear, the knitter conveys her feelings by the meanings of the patterns, creating not only a work of art, but a personal expression of her caring for the one she loves. This class will cover all the basic traditional patterns that Irish knitters used to make those wonderful sweaters. It will let you know the meanings and feelings behind the patterns so that you will be able to design and create that personalized and special sweater. You will learn to “read” the sweater as you are working, so that you won’t have to rely on a chart or pattern. This way, you can just enjoy the knitting and the satisfaction in the act of creating. In the class, we will work on samples of all the patterns, and then put them together in a sampler. You will go home with instructions for each of the patterns and samples of each. Also, you will begin a sampler which can easily be turned into a pillow top or wall hanging. Students must know how to knit and purl. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $25
Spinning Fibers on a Wheel
fiber arts
Bead Embroidery: The Pin Series Beadwork on a Bag Bobbin Lace Making Fibers for Kids Handcraft A Wool Braided Rug History to Handcraft: Highlight on Fiber Arts Mohair Cinch Weaving Old-Fashioned Rug Hooking Penny Rugs: Intergenerational “Hot Spots” Penny Rugs: Woolen Mosaics Taking the Hard out of Hardanger: Norwegian Needlecraft
dyeing
Growing Dye Plants: Gardening for Color! Natural Dyes in the Steambox Natural Plant Dyes Reds, Reds, Reds: Natural Dyes
felting
Felted Bags Felted Rugs Felting a Seamless Wool Vest Felting for Families Foot Felting: Slippers or Winter Boot Liners No-Knit Felted Hats
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
felting, continued Nuno Felting for Clothing Design Nuno Felting: Scarves & Wraps Sculptural Forms in Felt Wooly Critters: Intro to Felting
knitting
Aran Knitting Made Easy Help Yourself To Knitting: Beginning Knitting Class Intermediate Knitting Skills Kids Knit! Knitting Socks: The Essential Craft Thrum Mittens: North American Knitting Traditions
spinning
Drop Spindle: Spinning in the Old Way Making the Yarn You Want: Spinning Beyond the Basics Spinning Fibers On A Wheel Spinning For Fair Isle, North Carolina Style
weaving
Bead Embroidery: The Pin Series with Jo Wood 2/12/15
Discover the magic of “painting with beads” through your choice of seven different signature beaded lapel pin projects. In a reflection of the art and craft of bead embroidery, artist Jo Wood will lead you through your choice of one or two bead-embroidered projects, time permitting. The birch tree pin captures the essence of this tree species of the North. The lady slipper pin reflects the natural beauty of Minnesota’s state flower. The Christmas tree pin is just a perfect touch for a holiday gift. The dragonfly pin is playful in color and dimension. For the beginning beader this course offers an opportunity to learn basic stitches. For the experienced and returning beader it’s a unique, rewarding project to expand your creative palette of painting with beads. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies ($18-$70) age with adult 12+
new
Beadwork on a Bag with Marcie McIntire 4/25/15-4/26/15
Simple handmade pouches and bags have carried many things over the centuries: From coins to cell phones, an attractive and handy bag is just the thing! Learn a variety of Aniishiinaabe-style beadwork techniques and stitches and apply them to this easy project: a fabric bag, measuring approximately 10”x10” in size. This simple project will incorporate both hand sewing and machine sewing as you embellish a colorful geometric applique design. Complete with lining and a strap, you’ll enjoy carrying a personalized and unique bag, perfect for all your treasures (or just your cell phone!). Sewing experience is helpful.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $20
Rug Weaving for Families Weaving a Warm Winter Scarf Woven, Decorative Bands: Weaving on the Modified Rigid Heddle 16
888-387-9762
Bobbin Lace Making
Felted Rugs
2/13/15-2/14/15
9/30/14-10/2/14
with Kelly Marshall
Bobbin lace making is one of the traditional forms of making lace. In most lace techniques such as crochet, knitting, tatting and needle lace, a single thread is used to make the lace. Bobbin lace is the only technique that uses multiple threads at one time to create the lace. The technique has some similarities to weaving but is made on a portable board with wooden bobbins holding the thread. Kelly learned bobbin lace, or knyppling, while studying in Sweden where the lace was often made for folk costumes. It can also be used as a decorative edging on clothing or household items such as curtains, pillow cases, and hand towels. Come discover the Scandinavian Torchon technique in this introductory class, as we explore basic stitches while making an ornament to hang in the window or as a holiday decoration.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $6
new 6/17/15
Drop Spindle: Spinning in the Old Way with Allen Holzhueter
Spinning wheels are the stuff of fairy tales and seem old-fashioned now, but they were once the hallmark of high technology. Before we were spinning fibers into yarn and thread on the wheel, hand spinning was done on a drop spindle (and still is some parts of the world): a simple device that takes advantage of gravity. In this class, we’ll construct two simple bottom and drop whorl spindles and experiment with spinning wool using this portable method. The materials fee covers two spindles and fiber. An appropriate complement to the two-day course “Spinning Fiber on the Wheel,” drop spindles are a fun and engaging introduction to spinning. length (days) 0.5 hours 1pm-5pm tuition $50 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $45 materials $10 age with adult 12+
new
Felted Bags with Mary Reichert
2/13/15-2/15/15
Magic. It’s one of the most frequently used words in the classroom while making felt and in this course we will dive into the magic of felt-making as you craft your own hand-bag. We will begin with making pre-felt, then design and lay out the bag, wet-felt the project, and finish the class as we hand sew the felt into a one-of-kind (coveted by friends!) handbag. If you have never sewn felt you are in for a treat- it’s an incredibly durable, light, and flexible fabric which makes it a joy to sew. From carded wool to finished felt the wool shrinks about 40 percent, and this is all done by hand; please come prepared to be on your feet and fully engaged in your project. length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-8pm; Days 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $185 materials $75 age with adult 13+
Foot Felting: Slippers or Winter Boot Liners
with Mary Reichert
Felt is hard to resist- it’s soft, light, durable, beautiful, and brings such a feeling of warmth to the home. For centuries wool has been crafted into clothing, like boots, hats, and coats, but felt can also be a home furnishing. In the homes of many Central Asian nomads, felt rugs covered the walls and floors for warmth and beauty. In modern homes, felt rugs can add a beautiful and useful touch to any floor. Design and craft your own felted rug in the nomadic tradition, but reflecting your own taste and design sensibilities. We will begin by making prefelt, cover elements of design, and then dive into laying out and felting a rug which will begin about 3’ by 5’ and shrink to a 2’ by 3’ rug. The shrinking process is all done by hand, so please come prepared to be on your feet and fully physically engaged in your project. Partners may choose to work together on one project but pay only one tuition & materials fee. length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5-8pm, Day 2: 9am-5pm, Day 3: 9am-3pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $110 age with adult 10+
Felting a Seamless Wool Vest with Elise Kyllo
9/20/14-9/21/14
Using the wet felting process of wool, soap, water and agitation, woolen fibers can be transformed into a durable, beautiful and warm vest. Using wool batting, roving and yarns we will use the resist technique to create a very large pocket which you will wet felt to form a vest to fit you or someone you love. Some felting experience is helpful. Come with a sense of adventure and willingness to agitate the wool until it shrinks to fit you!
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials varies ($45-$55)
new
Felting for Families with Mary Cowen 10/18/14
Wet felting is the ancient and magical process of turning fluffy, soft wool into strong and beautiful material. In this half-day class, child/adult pairs will work together to make strong and colorful wool bags. Students should come to class ready to have fun and work hard as they lay out colorful dyed wool around a plastic resist to be wet down and rolled back and forth until it becomes felt! Your finished bag will be about the size of a pencil case, perfect for treasures of all sorts. length (days) 0.5 hours 9am-1pm tuition $35 per adult/child pair; add’l children $10 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $20 per adult/child pair materials $20/adult child pair age with adult 8+
Fibers For Kids
with Northwoods Fiber Guild 2/14/15
Get ready to experience fun with fibers! Join skilled artists from the Northwoods Fiber Guild to create handson fiber projects designed specifically for kids – and a helpful adult. Students will learn card weaving, knitting, felting wool, paper beadwork, decorative kumihimo braiding, and more. Everyone will leave with at least three completed projects. Participants age 7 years and up welcomed, and need to be accompanied by an adult.
with Elise Kyllo
11/20/14-11/21/14
Warm up winter by making your own woolen slippers or boot liners. Using the ancient no-knitting wet felting technique, you will make a cozy, warm pair of slippers or boot liners. The craft hasn’t changed in centuries except we now can choose plastic instead of animal skins and soap instead of ash or urine. It’s a simple, almost magical technique that transforms fluffy wool into a durable thick material that is sculpted to the owner’s foot through patient, energetic agitation. We will discuss options for adding soles. Supposedly, the all-wool liners are warmer than the poly fiber mix that is so prevalent, but you’ll have to be the judge of that yourself.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials varies ($35-$50)
new
Growing Dye Plants: Gardening for Color! with Karen Rognsvoog 4/25/15
Dyeing with plants is an ancient craft, but since the invention of synthetic dyes in the late 1800s, the art of using plants for color has almost died out. Fortunately, there are still people who relish the colors produced by nature’s palette and are interested in preserving this ancient craft right in their own gardens! Growing dye plants is a rewarding and inexpensive hobby, as many dye plants are annuals or fast-growing & prolific perennials. We will discuss the full process of starting a dye garden: from sourcing the seeds or plants, soil preparation, space and garden plans, harvesting, seed saving and how to store the harvested dye material for later use. We will learn what plants will give a good color but will take over your garden, which discarded veggies have potential (onion skins, carrot tops and tomato plants), and more. Students will take home seeds and cuttings to help them get growing, and experiment with a few dye pots from easily grown plants. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies ($10+)
Handcraft A Wool Braided Rug with Traudi Bestler
10/10/14-10/12/14
The three-strand braided wool rug is reminiscent of an era when rag rugs were considered an affordable way to reuse worn clothing and blankets to create a rug for the home. Early American immigrants and rural pioneers handcrafted the rag rug and created a fiber tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. In this class, you will learn the craft of braiding rugs by making your own oval rug (about 2’x3’). You are welcome to bring old blanket-weight wool to incorporate into your own rug, though the instructor will bring enough colors of wool, braiding tools, and other supplies for creating your own heirloom rug.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials varies ($50-$60) age with adult 14+
length (days) 0.25 hours 9:30am-11:30am tuition $15 per adult/child pair; add’l children $5 materials included age with adult 7+
888-387-9762
17
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Intermediate Knitting Skills with Kate Hartman 6/19/15
OK knitters, so you have learned the basics. You are comfortable with knitting and purling. You can shape your knitting by increasing and decreasing. Take some time to go beyond the basics and learn techniques that will make your knitting better and more creative. Students in this course practice and learn alternative, special purpose cast-ons and bind-offs including “invisible caston” and “3-needle bind-off ” seams, reading patterns, keeping your place, grafting (the “seamless seam”) and getting the stitch gauge to make a garment that fits. Knitters with previous experience of all kinds are welcome to join in on the fun for this one-day workshop. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies ($15-$25) age with adult 12+
with Allen Holzhueter/Kate Hartman
Help Yourself To Knitting: Beginning Knitting Class with Kate Hartman
10/16/14-10/17/14 2/12/15-2/13/15 6/17/15-6/18/15
This class is an enjoyable, two-day beginning knitting class which focuses not only on basic stitches and skills, but also on recognizing and correcting common mistakes which often frustrate the beginner. Topics include basic knitting skills, yarn basics and pattern reading. You will be provided with a beginning book, one pair of size 8 (Am) knitting needles, practice yarn and several easy project patterns to help you get started in this enjoyable craft and past time. Children and adults may choose to participate together on this learning experience, taking advantage of a special intergenerational rate.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $20 age with adult 10+
new
History to Handcraft: Highlight on Fiber Arts with Carol Colburn 9/12/14
Join historical textile expert Carol Colburn for a behind the scenes look at local history. This course will highlight various pieces of the Cook County Historical Society collection. After a brief introduction at North House, the class will visit the local museum, located just a few blocks away. Students will have an opportunity to observe close-up the fiber craft currently on display, as well as pieces from the archives. Featured will be selections of household textiles as well as garments, textile tools, and historic photographs depicting these items in context. Some of the techniques represented include spinning, weaving, knitting, garment making, embroidery, and a variety of rug making techniques. Some of the artifacts have personal history available about the makers. Connections between handcraft we learn at North House and life in earlier days of Grand Marais will make the artifacts come to life. Besides this unique look at an aspect of the history of Grand Marais, the morning’s tour provides an introduction to utilizing an historical collection for inspiration for handcraft today.
10/18/14
Get started on a lifelong hobby by learning the basics of knitting. Expert knitters and very patient teachers Allen Holzheuter and Kate Hartman will help kids learn how to maneuver those needles and have them knitting by noon. Kids can be accompanied by an adult (even old dogs can learn a new trick right?) or are welcome to attend on their own. Needles and yarn will be provided so students will be able to take their knitting home and continue to learn. length (days) 0.5 hours 9-11am tuition $25 $40 adult/child pair early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $20 $35 adult/child pair materials $5 per knitter age with adult 9+ w/o adult; 7-8 w/adult
Knitting Socks: The Essential Craft with Kate Hartman 2/14/15
Build your own boat and timber frame your own home - so why not knit your own socks? After all, “you can’t go barefoot,” as your mom used to say. In this day-long introduction to knitting socks, you’ll be on your way to making your own socks for the rest of your life. Learn the skills to make socks including reading knitting patterns, circular knitting on double point needles, shaping the heel and shaping and closing the toe. You start on a model sock and are encouraged to bring a sock pattern you would like to make in the future. The instructor will guide you through these sometimes daunting instructions.
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $25 age with adult 10+
www.northhouse.org
2/14/15-2/15/15
Continuing spinners, gain inspiration and skill at making the yarn you have in mind. What gives your yarn personality? How can you consistently make lots of it? Examine fiber prep, spinning methods, twist and plying options and then play, play, play with fiber and color combinations. Designed to start beyond the basics of spinning, this class will delve deep into a wide variety of topics, including production techniques, judging a fleece, sheep and wool characteristics and gifts, color inspirations, carding and combing options, spinning methods, color and fiber blending, wheel mechanics and adjustments, plying ideas, using prepared roving or top, and twist and how it affects the outcome. Learn to create your ideal yarn and lots of it! Students should have experience spinning and be comfortable with their wheels.
new
Mohair Cinch Weaving with Pop Wagner
2/19/15-2/22/15
Crafting tack for your horse using traditional techniques and materials is a gratifying experience. In this class, firsttime students will start with a basic 17-strand tied cinch. We will then make a combination roper with two layers of cord that are tied at the ends with woven bars. A woven cutter style will follow. Each student will then design a final project with assistance as needed. Students who are already making cinches will move directly to custom projects. Mohair cinches are traditionally used on Western saddles but we will discuss using these techniques for English, Dressage and Australian style girths as well. We will cover how to source material through suppliers of ready-made cinch cord. We will also discuss all steps of creating mohair cord for cinches, from the goats to the mill to the final step of hand-plying the yarn into cord. As a follow-up tool, participants will receive written instructions for making five different cinch styles.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $340 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $325 materials varies; please call to inquire
Natural Dyes in the Steambox with Cheryl Larsen/Karen Smaby 9/11/14
Dyeing cloth using natural materials is a magical process: Add a bit of steam, hot water and assorted leaves, flowers, and old rusty nails, and wait an hour…the results are extraordinary. Who knew all the colors of nature were hidden in plain sight? In this course, you’ll learn a bit about the history, chemistry and new innovations in natural dyeing processes and using a variety of materials that will vary seasonally. You never quite know what you’ll pull out of the steambox, and working with other students allows for a wide variety of experiments and collaborations to occur. The materials fee will include three silk scarves students will complete during the course. length (days) 1 hours 9am-4pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $34
length (days) 0.5 hours 9am-noon tuition $45 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $40 materials included
more details, more photos:
with Martha Owen
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials varies ($25-$30) age with adult 12+
Kids Knit! Weaving a Warm Winter Scarf
new
Making the Yarn You Want: Spinning Beyond the Basics
Mohair Cinch Weaving 18
888-387-9762
Natural Plant Dyes
Nuno Felting: Scarves & Wraps
9/26/14-9/28/14 7/24/15-7/26/15
3/27/15-3/28/15
with Karen Rognsvoog
Enjoy the “thrill of discovery” in the many colors which can be achieved, and the variation of color that can be found in nature’s palette, by learning the complete subtleties of dyeing with natural materials. Dyeing with natural plants is more than a craft, it’s a fascinating and inexpensive hobby. Students will learn how to gather their own plant materials (the class ventures into the field to gather dye materials) and learn how to prepare dye baths to extract the color. We will cover the process of using different mordants - the mordant sets the color to prevent fading and determines the color of the final product. We will dye wool, silk, and cotton fibers too. Along the way, you will learn how to grow dye plants, and get tips on pruning, harvesting and storing plant materials to get the color you want. Students will leave the class with recipes, handbooks, 8 oz. of wool yarn and two silk scarves dyed “shibori” style with colors from nature.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $55
No-Knit Felted Hats with Elise Kyllo 1/17/15
What kind of hat do you want? You can probably make it with wool, without knitting, just felting. Felting is an ancient technique of making material, predating spinning and weaving, from slippers found in East Asia 2,700 years ago to yurts in Mongolia to hats and mittens in Scandinavia. Simply combining wool fibers with water and soap and adding patient agitation, (this is not a washing machine project!) you will shrink and sculpt your wool into a desired form to fit your head. You decide whether it is a camo hunters cap, a beret, a toque, a rolled brimmed hat, a hat for winter or a hat for fashion. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $30 age with adult 12+
new
with Elise Kyllo
Scarves: Many of us don’t leave home without them. They are imperative in the winter but they can also simply be fashionable. In this class you will learn the modern wet felting technique called Nuno which creates a durable, elegant and warm material by combining wool with silk or other lightweight fabric. They will be of your own design, and definitely unique, beautiful and warm. Nuno felting is especially exciting because it is a bit like painting with wool on a silk canvas with an unpredictable outcome. Students are invited to bring silk, organza, nylon or chiffon scarves to be transformed by adding wool fibers. Silk scarves will be available for purchase if needed. Come with a sense of adventure and patience!
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1:5-8pm Day 2: 9am-5pm tuition $135 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $125 materials $25 age with adult 12+
Old-Fashioned Rug Hooking with Carol Dunn
6/16/15-6/18/15
If you have longed for a therapeutic yet utilitarian craft, then rug hooking is for you! Rug hooking traces its roots to the northern colonies and Canada, when immigrants utilized textiles on hand to create rugs for their homes. Hooked rugs are made by drawing narrow strips of wool fabric through a background fabric of cotton, linen or burlap with a curved hook much like a crochet hook. In this class, each student will hook a small design that can be used as a rug, wall hanging, table mat or pillow top. Proper techniques of hooking and finishing will be taught. There will also be an opportunity to choose and color plan a second project to take home and work on.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials varies (approx $48+) age with adult 12+
new
with Anna Gunnarsdóttir
10/17/14
length (days) 1 hours 9am-2pm tuition $55 adult-child pair; additional children $25 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $45 adult-child pair; additional children $25 materials $10 per project age with adult 8+; 12+ w/o adult
Penny Rugs: Woolen Mosaics with Karen Smaby
2/12/15-2/13/15
Penny rugs use felted wool scraps to create a textile feast for the eye. Multicolored scraps are arranged in contrasting and complementary colors to create table runners, placemats and more, making a room come alive with color. Shapes of descending sizes are layered onto a wool background piece and stitched into place. Called “penny” rugs because the original template was a copper penny, these pieces have offered a frugal way to indulge in creative expression since the early 1800s. In this class, you’ll design and finish one project, with the possibility of pursuing a larger piece or starting a second project. While they are called “rugs,” the finished product is too beautiful to walk on, and makes a great table runner, trivet, pillow cover or colorful touch.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 4pm-7pm; Day 2: 9am-4pm tuition $115 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $95 materials $20 age with adult 10+
2/13/15
2/14/15-2/15/15
with Karen Smaby
Enjoy a simple and bright traditional sewing project by making a small penny rug. In days gone by, penny rugs were made to use up scraps of wool and teach basic sewing skills. Craft a bright spot for the coming winter by making a little penny rug with seven “pennies” and experiment with choosing complementary colors that catch your eye. Students will learn to thread needles, knot, sew an overcast stitch with embroidery thread, and cut and trim wool felt. Parents and kids can choose to work on individual or cooperative projects.
new
Nuno Felting for Clothing Design
Penny Rugs: Intergenerational “Hot Spots”
Reds, Reds, Reds: Natural Dyes with Stefania Isaacson
Reds have always been the color of passion! In this class we will explore nature’s passion with a variety of natural red dyes such as cochineal, lac, madder, quebracho, and amaranthus. We will extend our palette by overdying with indigo and fustic for a variety of purples and oranges. The class will also cover some of the long history of natural dyes, the color possibilities they offer, mordanting techniques, the dyeing process, and some color theory. Students will take home dyeing instructions, many samples, and information on each of the dyes used and source lists on where to get them. This class is for everyone interested in natural dyes, even those with no experience in them. Join us for a fun day- after all, it’s the day before Valentine’s!
Nuno felting adds enormous creative potential to traditional wool wet felting by merging wool with open weave fabrics, commonly silk. Merging silk and wool is not only beautiful but combines the warmth and softness of wool with the wind resistance and lightness of silk. Featured guest instructor Anna Gunnarsdóttir will teach a new and easy method for making nuno felted fabric in large quantity with a repeated pattern, allowing for the possibility of clothing design. In this two-day workshop, students will create several meters of nuno felted fabric with silk yardage and merino roving and create two shawls from their work. Anna will cover the use of color and repeated design to create different effects and will discuss the use of nuno fabric in clothing design.
length (days) 1 hours 9am-3pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $35
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $190 materials varies ($65 and up)
Natural Dyes in the Steambox
888-387-9762
19
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Rug Weaving for Families with Kurt Mead
10/17/14-10/18/14
The potholder loom, using cotton loops and a square loom, is a ubiquitous childhood craft item, but after making a couple of potholders for Grandma many kids lose interest in weaving. With a little patience, and perhaps some help from the whole family, multiple potholders can be crocheted together to make placemats, purses and even rugs. Colors, design, and patterns will explored during this family-friendly class. This is a great project for students of a very young age (6 and up) to experience both personal satisfaction by completing individual squares and the joy of being part of a family undertaking. Looms, loops, and other tools will be available through the instructor, or bring your own supplies. length (days) 2 hours 9am-4pm tuition $150 per adult/child pair; $30/additional child early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials varies (approx $30) age with adult 6+
new
Sculptural Forms in Felt with Anna Gunnarsdóttir 2/10/15-2/12/15
Wool craft reaches back more than a thousand years into Icelandic culture, but the fiber arts are far from staid and sleepy in Iceland these days. Using the unparallelled wool of the unique Icelandic breed of sheep, featured instructor Anna Gunnarsdottir of Akureyri, Iceland creates sculptural forms in felt. These artistic forms can be lit, creating a soft and lovely light for any dark season. In this three-day workshop, students will create a variety of sculptural forms using wet felting methods and a unique form of 3D resists to create free standing form. A fixture, developed by the instructor, will be provided and installed so that the forms can easily be lit, creating an artistic and useful piece inspired by natural elements of the northern landscape.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $285 materials varies ($65 and up)
Spinning Fibers On A Wheel with Allen Holzhueter
10/16/14-10/17/14 2/12/15-2/13/15 6/18/15-6/19/15
The classic Saxony-style spinning wheel was invented over 500 years ago, and is still a symbol of the “olden days.” Although the spinning wheel is no longer a household necessity for the production of the family’s clothing, many crafters, knitters and fiber artists find great satisfaction in spinning their own yarns for knitting or weaving. In this two-day introductory spinning class, you will be introduced to fibers suitable for spinning, fiber preparation and spinning prepared fiber on a spinning wheel. Participants are encouraged to bring their own working spinning wheel (both “Saxony” and “upright castle wheel” are acceptable.) The instructor will have three wheels available for students to share and develop their skills.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $150 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials $10 age with adult 12+
new
Spinning For Fair Isle, North Carolina Style with Martha Owen
2/11/15-2/13/15
The eye-catching colors of “Fair Isle” knitting start out as wool the color of sheep in the fields. However, stir up a dye pot or two, get out the carders & spend some time at the spinning wheel and voila, an absolutely endless array of beautiful heather mixes can be had for the knitting! On Day 1, students will dye white and natural fleece using common and historic natural dye sources. On Day 2, students will card and combine colors to produce a variety of heather mixes, and move on to spin/ply carded wools. On Day 3, students will design and knit a small project as a stepping stone into the stranded knitting style called Fair Isle. Topics covered will include: cultural details, picking and carding, color blending, wheel adjustments, plying, simple natural dyepots, lessons on consistency, yarn management, color layout and traditional patterns. This course is designed for advanced beginners and up who are able to happily spin a continuous yarn and have some experience in circular knitting. Students are invited to bring any fiber (from any animal!) they would like to include in their blending experiments (fiber length 3-4 inches). length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials varies ($30-$40)
Taking the Hard out of Hardanger: Norwegian Needlecraft with Lori Zimmerman 2/14/15-2/15/15
In this class, you will experience the practice of hardanger as a traditional Scandinavian needlecraft and cutwork tradition. Hardanger embroidery is a traditional Scandinavian handwork, enjoyed and practiced for hundreds of years (at least since 1650). In this introductory class, students will learn all the basic stitches used in hardanger as well as some of the “hazards” to avoid in order to actually cut your “finished” piece. Yes, that’s right: part of this tradition involves cutting away small pieces of the embroidered design to create beautiful patterns. The simplicity of the needlework allows for conversation and community as you learn together. Students will experience the hardanger process from start to finish on a small project and may even have time to begin a more advanced, individually selected project before two days are up. If you have interest and can count to five, you can do hardanger! length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $15 age with adult 10+
new
Thrum Mittens: North American Knitting Traditions with Allen Holzhueter 2/14/15
Picture a traditional Norwegian mitten…an intricate design with snowflakes & figures probably comes to mind. Picture a thrum mitten…a what? Many people are familiar with the look of northern European knitting traditions, but few have heard of the thrum mitten. One of the few knitted items that was developed in North America, the thrum mitten comes from a very cold place: eastern Canada. Thrum mittens are of a basic construction, but by adding unspun wool (roving), the knitter creates a very warm, lined mitten with an interesting design. This workshop will spend the day learning the basics of the thrum and creating the distinctive look. Needles, yarn and roving are provided.
Weaving a Warm Winter Scarf with Traudi Bestler
2/13/15-2/15/15
Weave a scarf for winter or to keep you cozy and stylish any time of the year. This class uses looms provided by the instructor and is suitable for new and beginning weavers, as well as those more advanced in their skills. We will visit the local yarn shop to select materials, and then return to North House to set up the looms and get to work. You will be able to wear your creation home! As time permits, students will also learn a variety of other weaving techniques after they have completed their first scarf. Highly movtivated students may complete an additional scarf.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials varies($25.00 and up) age with adult 14+
Wooly Critters: Intro to Felting with Elise Kyllo 9/12/14
Wool has the amazing capability of taking on great shapes, strength and forms when wet felted. In this class we will use the ancient practice of felting wool to sculpt a purely aesthetic and charming menagerie of creatures, both real and imagined. Using recycled wool, students will make a rough animal form, and then apply dyed wool roving over the form. Through the mysterious process of agitation, hot water and soap, a felted creature will emerge. Everyone will go home with a creature of their own design and an understanding of felting which could be transferred to other projects such as slippers, hot pads, tea cozies etc. This is an especially great opportunity for young imaginations to put their creative inclinations to work. length (days) 0.5 hours noon-5pm tuition $60 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $55 materials $15 age with adult 10+
Woven, Decorative Bands: Weaving on the Modified Rigid Heddle with Larry Schmitt 5/4/15-5/7/15
The intricate and colorful band weaving that is sometimes found on lusekofta (Norwegian ski sweaters) can be woven on a “spaltegrind.” This workshop will show how to transform a standard rigid heddle into a spaltegrind, a modification developed in the 1930s and 1940s by American weavers, to weave colorful, decorative bands that may include names, dates, and mottoes. In peasant crafts from Scandinavia, pattern is often laid upon pattern for dazzling effect. The use of these colorful bands in combination with two-color knitting is but one example of this approach to design. Students learn how to modify a standard rigid heddle and the basics of pick up weaving for bands. If desired, students can make appropriate shuttles – a small woodworking project.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $280 materials $25 age with adult 12+
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $20
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
20
888-387-9762
All Ground Up: Sausage Making with Craig/Dianne Peterson/Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux 10/16/14-10/17/14 1/23/15-1/24/15 2/27/15-2/28/15
Make your own sausage flavored the way you like it using your favorite meats. As a class, we will make and take home 4-5 kinds of sausage of your choosing from a list of about 10 varieties. These will be fresh, non-smoked, non-cured sausages like bratwurst, breakfast sausage, Moroccan, Polish, Italian, Chorizo and more. Sausage meats include pork, chicken, beef and your own wild game (e.g. venison). Learn how to grind, season (using no MSG, no preservatives), stuff, cook, eat, and serve the best sausages in the world - taking home about 25 lbs of fresh sausage! Homemade, handmade, fresh from your kitchen, it doesn’t get any better than this.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials varies (approx $60-$90) age with adult 10+
Artisan Breads I with Amy James
1/30/15-1/31/15
Hand-crafted, long-fermented, hot-hearth baked - these are the hallmarks of artisan bread. In this course we’ll explore pre-ferments and a long cool rise to extract maximum flavor from the grains. Practice skills that will help you achieve consistency in your baking, shape beautiful artisan loaves, and use techniques to fit baking into your busy life. In Artisan Breads I we will make Pan au Levain, Sourdough Boule with variations, and Herbed Flatbreads. We will bake in North House Folk School’s wood-fired oven, and you will learn how to create the hot-hearth experience in your home oven. Open to beginning and intermediate bakers, this course requires the ability to stand for periods of time, to knead dough by hand, and to walk to and from the teaching kitchen and the outdoor wood-fired oven. Artisan Breads I is not a pre-requisite to Artisan Breads II.
Artisan Breads I
Artisan Breads II
foods
All Ground Up: Sausage Making Butchering Sheep and Goats at Home Charcuterie: An Introduction Chocolate Truffles: Make Your Own Cooking from the New Scenic Café Cookbook for the Holidays Eating Nose to Tail: Rabbit Eating Nose to Tail: Suckling Pig Handmade Pasta Home Cheesemaking: Intro to Fresh Cheeses Pork Butchery for Home Use: Nose to Tail Prepare and Preserve Healthful Meats Salumi: Traditional Dry Curing Methods Sausages for the Summer Grill 888-387-9762
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5-9pm Day 2: 8am-4pm tuition $135 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $125 materials $30
with Amy James
5/8/15-5/9/15
baking Artisan Breads I Artisan Breads II Flatbreads Bakery: From the Wood-Fired Hearth Flavorful Rye Breads Holiday Baking Ovencrafting: Building and Baking In the Wood-Fired Brick Oven Scandinavian Holiday Baking: Making Lefse Small Breads: Pretzel Rolls, English Muffins & Bagels 21
Hand-crafted, long-fermented, hot-hearth baked: There are so many kinds of breads to explore! This course covers the same underlying concepts of artisan baking found in Artisan Breads I, with a focus on using whole grains. You’ll learn how to use soakers and pre-ferments to extract flavor and nutrition from the grains, and techniques to fit baking into your busy schedule. Recipes include Ciabatta, Whole Grain Boule with variations, and Whole Grain Pita. We will bake in North House Folk School’s wood-fired oven, and you will learn how to create the hot-hearth experience in your home oven. Open to beginning and intermediate bakers, this course requires the ability to stand for periods of time, to knead dough by hand, and to walk to and from the teaching kitchen and the outdoor wood-fired oven. Artisan Breads I and II do not need to be taken sequentially. length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-9pm; Day 2: 8am-4pm tuition $135 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $125 materials $30
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Chocolate Truffles: Make Your Own with Rob Wells 12/7/14
A box of chocolates may be the perfect gift, but it’s even better when those chocolates are made by hand in your own kitchen. In this half-day hands-on cooking class, learn to make Belgian-style truffles with butter cream fillings. Unravel the mysteries of tempering by touch and feel and how to avoid seizing up (you and the chocolate!) Learn the history, cultivation and development of this global favorite and gain insight into how best to purchase and select chocolate for your home projects. You’ll leave with plenty of truffles to share with friends and family or keep entirely for yourself. We won’t tell. length (days) 0.5 hours 9am-1pm tuition $65 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $55 materials $30
new
Cooking from the New Scenic Café Cookbook for the Holidays
with Scott Graden
new
Handmade Pasta
Butchering Sheep and Goats at Home with Eric Edgin
10/3/14-10/4/14
With an eye on self-sufficiency, more people are raising sheep and goats at home for pleasure and for meat. However, good eating requires more than just animal husbandry skills; it requires skilled butchery to make use of the whole animal. We will discuss the equipment needed to properly butcher these animals, anatomy in relation to cooking methods, and storage possibilities for the end product. The instructor’s goal is to get students acquainted and comfortable with the butchering process for home. The instructor will also show different ways of butchering for different cooking styles and needs. As a class, several cuts of both lamb and goat will be prepared and shared in a community meal at the end of class. Students will take home additional meat.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $180 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $85 includes lunch each day & dinner for 2 on Day 2
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $190 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $85 includes daily lunch & dinner for 2 on Day 2 age with adult 16+
with Scott Graden
1/17/15-1/18/15
In recent years, people’s interest in eating every part of the animal has grown, giving once-humble ingredients like pork belly & chicharones a resurgence in popularity. Chef Scott Graden teaches students how to prepare a variety of suckling pig dishes in their home kitchens. Menu items include chicharones, pork confit, braised pork belly and head cheese. Sound intimidating? No need to worry, as Chef Graden’s accessible approach reaches beginning cooks and aspiring chefs. Students will discuss ingredient sourcing and acquisition while experiencing a hands-on immersion in two days of enhanced technique, discussions of food values, tips, presentation ideas and creative concepts to apply in their own kitchens. Each student may bring a guest to the course culmination: a shared meal served harbor-side in a celebration of learning, community and delicious food.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $190 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $85 includes daily lunch & dinner for 2 on Day 2 age with adult 16+
2/1/15 5/10/15
One of the oldest forms of bread, flatbread can be found in almost every culture around the world. Explore a variety of styles, both leavened and unleavened, as we bake our creations in North House Folk School’s woodfired brick oven. Each student will mix up and bake ‘Carta di Musica,’ a crisp Italian flatbread, pitas, focaccia, and fougasse, a French flatbread. This course provides a wide introduction to the variety of bread styles for the home baker, as class discussions include how to create a hearth-like baking experience in your home oven. Open to beginning to intermediate bakers, this course requires the ability to stand for periods of time, to knead dough by hand, and to walk to and from the teaching kitchen and the outdoor wood-fired oven. Students will take home loaves of bread.
with Rob Wells 3/22/15
Charcuterie: a French term for the preserving and curing of a variety of meats. In the days before refrigeration, charcuterie was necessary for preservation; today, it’s all about the delicious world of prepared meats. In this course you’ll learn traditional recipes and techniques for butchering and preserving a variety of fish and meats. We will make classic salmon gravlax, smoke whole fish, grind and case sausages, and craft a classic French paté! A great intro course for hunters and anglers who want to learn more about preserving fish and game, or for any home entertainers who want to really impress their guests.
www.northhouse.org
new
Eating Nose to Tail: Suckling Pig
with Amy James
Charcuterie: An Introduction
more details, more photos:
3/14/15-3/15/15
Flatbreads Bakery: From the Wood-Fired Hearth
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $80 age with adult 15+
length (days) 1 hours 9am-4pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $35
with Scott Graden
Oft-overlooked, rabbit has long been part of northern cuisines. In this course, Chef Scott Graden shows students how to prepare a variety of rabbit dishes in their home kitchens. Beginning with a butchering demonstration, students will learn to prepare rabbit confit, rabbit roulade, and rabbit prosciutto. Can’t imagine featuring rabbit on your weekly dinner menu? Not a problem! Many techniques and recipes will be applicable to chicken as well. Chef Graden offer students an opportunity to immerse in two days of enhanced technique, discussions of food values, tips, presentation ideas and creative concepts to apply in the confines of their own kitchen. The course culminates in a shared meal for students and one guest in a harbor-side celebration of learning, community and delicious food.
11/15/14-11/16/14
The holiday season brings with it celebrations,family gatherings and of course, plenty of delicious meals. Let Chef Scott Graden inspire your holiday menus with favorites from his recent cookbook, “New Scenic Café- the Cookbook.” In this hands-on course, held in the North House teaching kitchen, you will prepare a wide variety of dishes suitable for elegant entertaining and quiet dinners at home. The menu includes canapes: spanakopita / filo / spinach / feta / lemon zest / nutritional yeast flakes, lamb meatball / thumbelina carrot / apple cider gastrique; entrees: pork tenderloin / rutabaga-yukon puree’ / port-fortified cherries / scallion, rabbit confit, roulade & rack / fingerling sweet potatoes / English peas / cream sherry & foie gras sauce / pea tendrils; desserts: sweet potato chiffon / ginger tuile / browned butter caramel / whipped cream / toasted pecans, maple pot de crème / parsnip cake / candied cranberries / crème anglaise. The course will culminate with a shared community meal to enjoy your culinary efforts.
Eating Nose to Tail: Rabbit
Sausages for the Summer Grill 22
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $90 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $85 materials $28 age with adult 10+
888-387-9762
Flavorful Rye Breads
Prepare and Preserve Healthful Meats
9/26/14-9/28/14
4/24/15-4/26/15
with Craig & Dianne Peterson/Melinda Spinler/Paul Anderson
with Amy James
In days gone by, eating meat meant butchering whole animals. A whole animal meant, pardon the pun, going “whole hog” into the preparation and preservation of all the parts of that animal. Today, many of those skills have fallen out of daily use, but here´s your chance to reclaim the simple and natural ways to keep meat in your diet all year-round. Through both hands-on participation and demonstration, we’ll cover a wide variety of skills and products. We’ll render lard, can meat and broth, dry meats, make jerky, prepare fresh sausages, smoke bone-in meats, fish and sausage, and cover freezing, brining, and curing a variety of meats as well. Students will take home a basketful of samples and the knowledge to tackle meat preservation in their home kitchens.
Explore the many flavors of rye breads using seeds, spices and fruit to make traditional breads such as Limpa, Pumpernickel, and Raisin Rye. Practice techniques that will allow you to work with a potentially difficult dough. We’ll explore the history and characteristics of this nutritious grain, using pre-ferments and soakers to extract maximum flavor and nutrition. Using the commercial ovens in North House’s teaching kitchen will enable students to transfer these techniques directly to the home oven. Class time will allow for tasting and discussion, and students will take breads home. Although this class is open to beginning bakers, it would be beneficial to have had some experience with yeast dough prior to class. This course requires the ability to stand for periods of time, to knead dough by hand, and to walk to and from the teaching kitchen and the outdoor wood-fired oven.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials varies ($65-$75)
length (days) 2.25 hours Day 1: 5-9pm; Day 2: 8am-4pm; Day 3: 8am-noon tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials $40
Handmade Pasta with Rob Wells 10/5/14
While a craving for fresh handmade pasta might make you more likely to think “I’ll make reservations!” than “I’ll make dough!,” this does not need to be the case. Learn to demystify making fresh pasta. Once you learn, you’ll never want to go back to boil-from-a-box pastas again! In this class we’ll learn to make some of the most common noodle shapes from scratch. We’ll also be making raviolis of different shapes, potato gnocchi, and rolled cavatelli noodles. Come hungry because we’ll be making a wood-oven baked pasta for lunch!
length (days) 1 hours 9am-2pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $25 includes lunch
Holiday Baking with Beatrice Ojakangas 11/1/14
The holiday season is around the corner and that means it’s time to dust off the recipes for those special holiday baked goods. Join cookbook author and expert baker Beatrice Ojakangas for an introduction to a variety of breads and treats that are markers of this special season. Drawing inspiration from Beatrice’s classic volume the “Great Holiday Baking Book” as well as her book “Breads & Soups,” you’ll focus on a handful of recipes that will become new holiday traditions in your home.
length (days) 1 hours 9am-2pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $25
Home Cheesemaking: Intro to Fresh Cheeses with Rob Wells 2/22/15
No cheesy puns here, just an opportunity to spend a day learning how simple home cheesemaking can be. The main emphasis will be three fresh (non-aged) cheeses – mozzarella, ricotta, and soured milk cheese, but we will also learn the technique for a short-aged (one month) ricotta salata cheese. We’ll touch upon the history and culture of cheeses, as well as the differences between the varieties of cheeses – aged vs. fresh, rennet vs. nonrennet, waxed, mold-ripened, and more! At the end of the class, we will be using our new-found skills to make a great lunch, featuring our handmade mozzarella. length (days) 1 hours 9am-2pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $25 includes lunch
888-387-9762
Salumi: Traditional Dry Curing Methods Scandinavian Holiday Baking: Making Lefse
Ovencrafting: Building and Baking In The Wood-Fired Brick Oven with Derek Lucchese/Russ Viton 6/5/15-6/9/15
Hearth loaves, wood-fired cooking, traditional baking - all potential uses for the wood-fired masonry oven pioneered and made popular by Alan Scott. This workshop will explore the history of masonry ovens, oven construction, mixing dough and brick oven baking. Over the four days of the course we will, as a class, build a 25” x 32” oven starting with hearth construction, followed by the oven walls, arches, door and facade in succession. Construction will end with the facade arch and chimney, as time permits. The building of the foundation, block walls and the finishing of the oven facade, its insulation and housing will be explained in detail. Interspersed with oven building we’ll be mixing dough and baking bread! The focus of this portion of the class will be naturally leavened (sourdough) whole grain breads such as whole wheat, rye, spelt and kamut. By class end you’ll have natural leavened and baked bread to take home, plus all the knowledge needed to build your own oven and bake in it. To provide hands-on experience for all students in each of the aspects of building, this class is limited to 10 students.
length (days) 4.5 hours Day 1:4-7pm; Days 2-5:9am-5pm tuition $445 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $425 materials $20
Pork Butchery for Home Use: Nose to Tail with Eric Edgin
11/22/14-11/23/14
Ever wanted to go whole hog? In this class, we will spend a day learning and discussing the anatomy, cuts, and corresponding cooking methods of pigs. On Day 2, we will use this knowledge to break down a pig together as a class using the traditional American style of butchering, which notably includes boston butt, picnic butt, ham, side, jowl, blade steak, etc. We will then prepare our cuts and enjoy a sumptuous meal we create as a class that you can re-create at home, honoring the pig by eating every last bit, nose to tail. Students will also go home with pork cuts and sample preparations.
with Eric Edgin
11/19/14-11/21/14
A historically homebased craft and staple of diets and life the world over pre-20th century, cured meats and fish have sustained humans and cultures for generations. In this class we will reacquaint ourselves with the traditional knowledge of meat preservation with recent scientific understanding threaded throughout. You will learn how to dry c ure whole cuts of pork, using the Italian method of salumi, which differs from other methods of meat curing because it uses no smoke. Instead, whole cuts of meat are saltcured, providing a simple and relatively easy introduction to meat curing that can be applied to a variety of animals. On day one, we’ll discuss the tradition and science of the process to develop our understanding. On day two, we will start with a side of pork to break down to whole cuts for curing. Dry curing, done with whole cuts, makes for a simple introduction to meat curing which can be applied to a variety of animals. On day three, we will start the cures using three main ingredients: salt, meat, and time. Your materials fee includes dry cured meats to take home as well as a shared celebratory community meal. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $90
Sausages for the Summer Grill with Jay Arrowsmith Decoux 5/22/15
It’s the summer season and time for a course to enable the grill master in all of us to make our own sausages for the BBQ. Designed to teach you how to make several kinds of sausage for those easy summer meals--from andouille to Polish. You will learn to grind, season, mix, stuff, package, prepare and serve your favorites. Once you learn the basics you will be limited only by your own imagination in what you can create for your own grilling pleasure. Fire up the grill and don your apron, it’s a perfect course for summertime! length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies (approx. $35-$50) age with adult 10+
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $80 age with adult 15+ 23
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Scandinavian Holiday Baking: Making Lefse with Craig/Dianne Peterson 12/5/14
Learn to make lefse the way your grandmother used to do it – an easy, time-tested recipe made from whole potatoes. You’ll learn the entire process of lefse making – from potato preparation, mixing, rolling, folding and storing – as well as the equipment used to be successful. Other recipes and uses for lefse (some not so serious) will also be covered. No preservatives, MSG, or other undesirable additives. Made from pure, natural ingredients. Take your newfound skills home with you to recreate this wonderful addition to a well-placed Scandinavian meal. Each student will take home several rounds of lefse to freeze or enjoy immediately. The instructors have over 100 combined years of making and eating lefse, so come and join a couple of Scandinavians who know their potatoes! length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $15
new
Small Breads: Pretzel Rolls, English Muffins & Bagels with Kim Ode 11/8/14
Discover the satisfaction of making your own pretzel buns for brats or sliders, serving burger buns with a special crust, griddling fresh English muffins for breakfast and getting the perfect “chew” in a bagel. Baking your own bread is fun, and economical, but it also enables you to vouch for every ingredient. No preservatives needed because it’s eaten so quickly! We’ll use the commercial ovens in the North House teaching kitchen in this focused, one-day class so you’ll be able to make everything at home. We’ll eat our labors during a morning coffee break and over lunch, and there will be extra bread to take home at the end of the day. Beginners are welcome, along with more experienced bakers. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $30 includes lunch
Silversmithing: The Jeweler’s Palette
new
jewelry Cooking from the New Scenic Café Cookbook for the Holidays more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Button it Up: Casting Bronze Buttons Crafting Sterling Hoop Earrings Lost Wax Casting: Sterling Silver Rings North Shore Pebble Jewelry Saami Friendship Bracelet Saami Friendship Bracelet Continuation Silversmithing: The Jeweler’s Palette Viking “Knit” Chain Bracelet 24
Button it Up: Casting Bronze Buttons with Todd Hawkinson 3/13/15-3/15/15
Plastic buttons that fall off too easily really pushing your buttons? Solve that problem by making your own heavy-duty brass buttons! In this course, you’ll learn the ancient arts of metal casting and brass embellishment, as you create six unique buttons. This process also includes making the small loop on the back of each button and applying your own unique design. Your buttons will be ½” to ¾” in diameter. For a full immersion in casting, students may be interested in attending the course Lost Wax Casting: Sterling Silver Rings.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 4-8pm; Day 2: 9am-5pm, Day 3: 9am-2pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials $45
888-387-9762
new
Crafting Sterling Hoop Earrings with Todd Hawkinson
11/14/14-11/16/14
No matter what the medium, every craftsperson needs to learn the foundational elements before expanding into the creative hemispheres. In the world of jewelry, hoop earrings are exactly that: a perfect beginning that can inspire endless possibilities. Learn to design and fabricate hoop earrings of high quality, including the key steps of drawing patterns, transferring design to metal, sawing, soldering and polishing. Whether jewelry-making is a fun weekend or a burgeoning cottage industry for you, this course provides an excellent jumping off point.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1:4-8pm; Day 2: 9am-5pm, Day 3: 9am-2pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials varies $45
Lost Wax Casting: Sterling Silver Rings
Saami Friendship Bracelet
Viking “Knit” Chain Bracelet
10/3/14 2/27/15 4/3/15
2/28/15
with Liz Bucheit
The serene and dramatic landscape of northern Scandinavia is the land of the midnight sun, the northern lights and the Saami, a nomadic tribal group that follows the migration of the reindeer. Traditional Saami jewelry incorporated elements of their northern landscape – softened reindeer leather and sculpted antler. In this course you’ll explore the traditional jewelry techniques of triple braiding coiled pewter wire and sewing the finished braid to a softened reindeer hide strip. A reindeer antler button finishes the bracelet. Materials fee will be collected by instructor. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies (approx $95)
Saami Friendship Bracelet Continuation
with Todd Hawkinson
with Liz Bucheit
From ancient India to the dentist’s office to the modern jeweler’s workshop, the technique of lost wax casting allows for the precise shaping of molten metals into jewelry, sculpture, and yes, tooth repairs. Though the end results differ, the basics are the same: a mold is made, a wax form is carved, molten metal added, finished product extracted. In this class, students will carve a ring to be cast in sterling silver. Wax carving, casting set up, torch melting, spin casting and polishing will be demonstrated and practiced. No previous experience is necessary to make a beautiful ring. Tools and materials will be provided.
Expand on your Saami bracelet skills! In this class we will create a wide multi-braided bracelet with a variety of intricate braids and coils using traditional spooled pewter coil. If you loved the single braid style of the Saami bracelet class and want to experiment with different braiding combinations, this is your opportunity to individualize your style. New students interested in this course are encouraged to enroll in the Saami Bracelet class offered the prior day. All tools and materials provided. Materials fee will be collected by instructor during the course.
11/12/14-11/14/14 3/11/15-3/13/15
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1:4-8pm; Day 2: 9am-5pm; Day 3: 9am-2pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $175 materials $45
North Shore Pebble Jewelry with Molly Sharp 9/5/14-9/7/14
Have you ever collected perfectly smooth, round pebbles from the shores of Lake Superior or other places in the world and then wondered what to do with them? This course offers the perfect solution. Students will spend an hour or so the first day gathering pebbles and then will use diamond-encrusted drill bits to drill holes in them. The pebbles can then be made into pendants, necklaces, bracelets and rings. Sterling silver wire, chain, tubing and sheet will be used to fabricate unique pieces of jewelry based on each student’s own design theme. Discover the song of the jeweler’s saw, the hum of the drill, the intrigue of cold connections and the thrill of a finished piece using these age-old techniques and go home with three or four handmade works of art to wear…truly treasures from the North Shore.
10/4/14 4/4/15
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies (approx $125)
Silversmithing: The Jeweler’s Palette with Michael Seiler
10/3/14-10/4/14 2/27/15-2/28/15 4/3/15-4/4/15
Shiny objects catch your eye? Ready to create your own designs in silver? In this class you will learn the basic foundations of silversmithing. Bring your creativity and an aptitude to try new things. We will cover soldering, fabricating and hand forming metal into your own design. This class offers students creative rein with their projects, including rings, necklaces, earrings or simple metal objects. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn the basics or grow as a fledgling jeweler. All the tools will be provided to create your masterpiece. Sterling silver will be available for purchase at the time of the class (see materials fee).
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $190 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials varies ($65 and up)
with Liz Bucheit
Come explore the ancient tradition of chain making! You’ll use “Viking Knitting,” a centuries-old looping technique, to create a beautiful silver bracelet with a variety of unusual clasps. Historically, this unique method of weaving resembles “nalbinding” knitting and was used to fabricate everything from sweaters to netting for catching fish! You’ll have the opportunity to complete a bracelet in a single day – no previous experience required – and all tools and materials will be provided. Add a charm for an additional charge or bring one of your own! length (days) 1 hours 9am-4pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $80 materials varies (approx $95)
why are
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ? “Crafts give people
a structure
around which to
talk with each other and meet like-minded people... If you’re going to
sit down and weave birch bark together
you end up talking about other things as well. In reality,
people need human contact
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $295 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $285 materials varies ($50-$80) age with adult 13+
and you get
a tangible result
for your time.”
Lost Wax Casting: Sterling Silver Rings
888-387-9762
25
- Mike McCall, northern ecology & outdoor skills more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
new
Exploring the Sonics of the Electric Guitar with Michael Lipton 9/13/14
Join Michael Lipton of the Mountain Stage Band and the Carpenter Ants (featured at RadioWaves Music Festival) for an in-depth discussion and hands-on exploration of the electric guitar. Michael will cover how to use- and not abuse- effects pedals and share his kind and gentle (though admittedly old school) approach to integrating effects into your sound. Players are encouraged to bring in their guitar, amp and effects, but this is not required. length (days) 0.25 hours 1pm-3pm tuition $45 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $40 materials included age with adult 16+
new
Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop with Pat Donohue with Pat Donohue 9/12/14
You’ve heard Pat’s savvy licks on A Prairie Home Companion and you’ll hear him on stage at North House Unplugged weekend, but here’s your chance for a behind the scenes view of the inner workings of his music. In this 2-hour workshop, Pat will teach a variety of strategies and licks for guitarists all levels. Bring your instrument and come ready to be inspired. length (days) 0.5 hours 1pm-3pm tuition $50 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $45 materials included
new
Fretboard Clarity: A Logical Approach to Harmony and Melody for Guitar
with Ryan Kennedy 9/13/14
Traditional American Dance: Clogging
music music
&
more details, more photos:
length (days) 0.25 hours 10am-noon tuition $45 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $40 materials included
stories
Exploring the Sonics of the Electric Guitar Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop with Pat Donohue Fretboard Clarity: A Logical Approach to Harmony and Melody for Guitar The Cedar Hand Drum: Carving, Stretching & Drumming Traditional American Dance: Freestyle Clogging Traditional American Dance: Keep On Clogging Ukulele: Build Your Own www.northhouse.org
Join Ryan Kennedy, guitarist for the Mountain Stage Band, for this hands-on workshop during Unplugged. In this course, we will focus on the intrinsic relationship between chords and scales and attempt to expand students’ chord vocabulary to include the maximum range of the guitar. This conceptual approach will present ways of looking at the guitar neck that are often overlooked in some teaching methods, or are made less accessible by overly complex language and the seemingly endless array of chord diagrams and scale shapes that are printed in many guitar books. Students will need nothing but their guitars, preferably acoustic.
From Snapshot to Story: Tell Your Family’s Story with Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux
music, continued
2/6/15-2/7/15
Unplugged Songwriting Workshop with Jon Vezner & Don Henry Working Mornings with Chris Smither: Guitar & Songwriting Workshop
stories From Snapshot to Story: Tell Your Family’s Story Once Upon a Folktale…Intro to Storytelling 26
First day of school, holidays, classic vacations, family reunions…photos are priceless reminders of the people we love and the places we’ve been. But even better than the photos are the stories they help us to remember. Dig into your family photo albums and learn how to really tell those family stories. Using your own photos as a springboard, you’ll learn storytelling techniques to flesh out your memories and bring those family anecdotes to life. You’ll engage your own unique voice (without any memorization!) and leave with vibrant tales to pass on through the generations.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5-8pm, Day 2: 9am-5pm tuition $110 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $95 materials included
888-387-9762
Once Upon a Folktale… Intro to Storytelling
new
with Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux 3/27/15-3/28/15
with Jon Vezner
Storytelling is a timeless, versatile and highly personalized art form. Learn how to tell a compelling, vibrant tale ...without memorization! Students will work with both classic and lesser-known folktales and learn about narrator and character voices, gesture and movement, and call and response. Students will also learn the skills of supportive listening and feedback, and how to interpret an old story and tell it in their own style.
9/11/14-9/12/14
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5-8pm; Day 2: 9am-5pm tuition $110 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $95 materials included
The Cedar Hand Drum: Carving, Stretching & Drumming with Eric Mase
9/20/14-9/21/14
The timeless beat of the drum stems back to a time when we made our own music literally from the ground up. Before drum shops and before Putumayo, materials were hand-harvested from the forest to create wonderful sounds and were used to find rhythm in the world. In this course you will learn to carve a cedar hand drum from a hand-harvested log and then explore hand drumming patterns for lifelong skills with music. You will also work with softened rawhide as it is stretched to a desired tension and tone in the drum head. Although every drum will vary depending on the hand-harvested log, the finished drum will be approximately 9” in diameter and 8” in depth.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 9am-5pm Day 2: 9am-Noon tuition $160 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $45
Traditional American Dance: Freestyle Clogging with Andy Lambert 1/24/15
Turn your feet into percussive instruments by learning the fundamentals of traditional Appalachian freestyle clogging! This course covers everything from the historical roots of clogging, to the basic steps and poly-rhythmic layering. Clogging (a.k.a flatfooting and buckdancing) was the original percussive accompaniment to old time string band music, which dates back to the early 1800s. As with freestyle cloggers back then, you’ll learn to think like a drummer and become an accompanying instrument. The best thing about freestyle clogging is that as long as you’re in time, you can do it to any style of music. Previous dance experience will enhance your experience in this class, but beginners are welcome.
Unplugged Songwriting Workshop with Jon Vezner & Don Henry
Once Upon a Folktale...Intro to Storytelling
Traditional American Dance: Keep On Clogging with Andy Lambert 1/25/15
Can’t get enough clogging? Once you start this traditional American form of folk dance, it can be hard to stop. In this session, we’ll expand on what you already know, learning new more complicated steps and stringing together longer patterns. Previous clogging experience (including the introductory course offered the day before) is highly recommended, as we will move more quickly in this intermediate session.
length (days) 1 hours 9am-4pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials included
Ukulele: Build Your Own with David Seaton
11/6/14-11/9/14 1/29/15-2/1/15
Have uke, will travel. While we may associate the sounds of the ukulele with more tropical locales, this easy to pack and play instrument has a lot to offer any musician-aspiring or professional, Northern or otherwise. Join luthier David Seaton to build your very own ukulele in just four days. Starting with pre-cut wood pieces you’ll use hand tools to assemble and string your instrument, learning the basic principles of stringed instrument construction along the way. After all, the tenor ukulele is fun to build, easy to play, and a downright cute addition to your musical quiver you’ll take pride in for years to come.
Songwriting has been part of the fabric of humanity since the dawn of time. Whether conveying legends and myths, capturing spiritual visions, or simply sharing stories of endless flavors, music and voice are powerful mediums that naturally meld together. North House’s annual Unplugged event and its performers are the backdrop for this unique songwriting workshop. Grammy award winning songwriters Jon Vezner and Don Henry, together the Don Juans, will lead students in a series of exercises and discussions, emphasizing an active exchange of ideas and collaboration, allowing students the opportunity to enhance and expand their songwriting techniques. length (days) 2 hours 9:00am-noon each day tuition $100 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $95 materials included
new
Working Mornings with Chris Smither: Guitar & Songwriting Workshop
with Chris Smither 9/11/14
Spend a couple of hours with this American original. Chris Smither, featured performer on NPR’s Mountain Stage Radio Show with Larry Groce, will talk about his guitar technique, which he describes as “one part Lightnin’ Hopkins, one part Mississippi John Hurt, and one part me.” The second part of the workshop will be spent discussing his songwriting method and if time permits, Chris and students will work on a song together. Students are welcome to bring guitars, paper and pencil. Chris will perform on Thursday night at Unplugged. length (days) 0.25 hours 10am-noon tuition $50 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $45 materials included
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $280 materials $295 age with adult 12+
length (days) 1 hours 9am-4pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials included
nuts & bolts e-news
The Cedar Hand Drum: Carving, Stretching & Drumming
888-387-9762
Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter and stay up to date with all of the ins and outs at North House. 27
Ukulele: Build Your Own more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
20-21 Pine Needle Basketry p. 7
21-23 Nålbinding Mittens p. 14
20-21 The Cedar Hand Drum: Carving, Stretching & Drumming p. 27
23-26 Yurt Building: Design and Construction
25-10/5 Cedar-Strip Boatbuilding: Build Your Own Canoe or Kayak p. 11
24-26 Herbalism Apprentice: Beginner’s Botanical Medicine, Self Care to Community p. 38
25 Owling: The Darker Side of Migration
p. 31
26-28 Natural Plant Dyes p. 19
27 Owling: The Darker Side of Migration
p. 31
30-10/2 Felted Rugs p. 17
3-7 Build Thoreau’s Cabin p. 36 4-6 Automata: Making Wood Move p. 43 4-6 Sew Your Own: Scandinavian Work Shirt p. 15 5-7 Moccasin-Making & Bead Embroidery in the Aniishiinaabe-Style p. 14 5-7 North Shore Pebble Jewelry p. 25 6-7 Birch Bark Boxes: Scandinavian Bark Basketry p. 6 6 Mushrooming p. 31 10-11 Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl p. 46
2-5 Shoemaking: 10th Century Scandinavian Turn Shoe p. 15 3-5 Boundary Waters Travel Basket Up the Trail p. 7
3-5 Mosaic: Reviving Old Furniture p. 41
p. 31
p. 25
6-21 Building The Classic Wooden Rowboat: Build Your Own Susan Skiff p. 11
9-12 Shoemaking: Internal Stitchdown Workboots p. 15
11 Natural Dyes in the Steambox p. 18
9-10 Spoon Carving Tutorial I p. 44
11-13 UNPLUGGED XIII
10-15 Fundamentals of Traditional Wooden Boat Building p. 11
11-12 Unplugged Songwriting Workshop with Jon Vezner & Don Henry p. 27
10-12 Handcraft A Wool Braided Rug p. 17
10 Owling: The Darker Side of Migration
12 Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop with Pat Donohue p. 26
11 Northwoods Deer Hunting for Beginners p. 32
12 Hanging Birch Bark Baskets p. 7
11-12 Spoon Carving Tutorial II p. 44
11 Working Mornings with Chris Smither: Guitar & Songwriting Workshop p. 27
12 History to Handcraft: Highlight on Fiber Arts p. 18 12 Wooly Critters: Intro to Felting p. 20
13 Fretboard Clarity: A Logical Approach to Harmony and Melody for Guitar p. 26
16-17 Help Yourself To Knitting: Beginning Knitting Class p. 18
19-20 Autumn Phenology in the Field: Fall Colors and Beyond p. 30
16-17 Spinning Fibers On A Wheel p. 20
19-21 Geology Up the Trail: Exploring the Ancient History of the Gunflint Trail
p. 30
20-21 Birch Bark Tutorial p. 6 20-21 Felting a Seamless Wool Vest p. 17 20 From the Deck: Lake Superior Shoreline Naturalist Tour: Afternoon Session p. 30 20 Owling: The Darker Side of Migration
p. 31
more details, more photos:
17-18 Kids Only: Slöjd in the Wood Shop
17 Penny Rugs: Intergenerational “Hot Spots” p. 19
8-11 Craft of Birch Ski Making: Making Your Own Set p. 32
6-7 Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl
9-11 Kick Sled Building: Push and Glide
6-9 Ukelele: Build Your Own p. 27
p. 46
7-19 Traditional Seat Caning For the Vintage Chair p. 47 8-9 Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl
p. 46
8 Small Breads: Pretzel Rolls, English Muffins & Bagels p. 24
14-16 Crafting Sterling Hoop Earrings p. 25
14-16 Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks p. 14
14-16 Timber Carving: Classic Posts for the Northern Home p. 44
14-16 Wooden Bowl Turning: Norwegian Ale Bowls p. 48
15-16 Nordic Herbals p. 38
19-21 Krympburkar: Scandanavian-Style Shrink Boxes p. 43
19-21 Salumi: Traditional Dry Curing Methods
p. 23
20-23 WINTERER’S GATHERING & ARCTIC FILM FESTIVAL 20-21 Crooked Knife: Craft Your Own p. 9 20-21 Foot Felting: Slippers or Winter Boot Liners p. 17 21 Cold Injury: It’s Not Cool to be Cold
p. 32
21-23 Nature’s Insulator: Sew Your Own Wool Blanket Shirt p. 15
p. 46
13-16 Wood Canvas Canoe Repair II: The Middle p. 12
16-17 Timbered Workbench: Early American Style p. 47
17 No-Knit Felted Hats p. 19
17-18 Beginning Millinery & Haberdashery: The Blocked Felt Hat p. 13 17-18 Eating Nose to Tail: Suckling Pig p. 22 17-18 Sweet Grass Basketry p. 7 22-25 Masonry Heater Building Workshop
p. 37
23-24 All Ground Up: Sausage Making p. 21
23-24 Anorak: Sew Your Own Traditional Outer Garment p. 13 23-25 Timbered Sawhorse Trestles p. 40
24 Traditional American Dance: Freestyle Clogging p. 27
25 Traditional American Dance: Keep On Clogging p. 27
28-29 Carving Spoons, Butter Knives and Bread Boards-Swedish Style Green Woodworking p. 46 29-2/1 Shoemaking with the Cordwainer Shop
p. 15
29-2/1 Ukulele: Build Your Own p. 27 30-31 Artisan Breads I p. 21 30-2/1 Bowl Carving with Axe, Adze and Gouge p. 43 30-2/1 Sewing the Saami-Inspired Tuomisalo Hat p. 15
p. 36
18 Cattail Craft for Kids! p. 7
18 Felting for Families p. 17
22-23 Pork Butchery for Home Use: Nose to Tail p. 23
18 Kids Knit! p. 18
22 Cold Weather Photography p. 34
22-23 Wanigan: The Traveling Box p. 48
18-19 Twig Furniture: Twig Mosaic End Table
p. 48
p. 41
12-13 Traditional Finnish Ski Poles: Craft Your Own Set p. 32
22-23 Birch Bark Knife Sheaths p. 6
p. 32
10 Soap Making: The Old Fashioned Way
21-22 Sew a Bag: Sailor’s Ditty or Sailcloth
17-18 Rug Weaving for Families p. 20
www.northhouse.org
6-9 Deerskin Mittens with AniishiinaabeStyle Beadwork p. 14
18-20 Kitchen Stools: Service Learning in Furniture Craft p. 46
16-19 FAMILY & INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING WEEKEND
16-17 All Ground Up: Sausage Making p. 21
18-21 Forging the Scandinavian Small Forest Axe p. 9
p. 8
13 Exploring the Sonics of the Electric Guitar p. 26
januar y
11-12 The Harvest Basket: Red-Osier Basketry
p. 35
4-6 Antler Basketry: Open Season p. 6
15-16 Cooking from the New Scenic Café Cookbook for the Holidays p. 22
p. 31
p. 22
p. 25
p. 25
5 Handmade Pasta p. 23
31-11/2 Rosemaling: Valdres-Style p. 34
13 Lake Superior Coastal Navigation: Traditional and Electronic Methods
12-14 Lost Wax Casting: Sterling Silver Rings
3-4 Silversmithing: The Jeweler’s Palette
7 Chocolate Truffles: Make Your Own
3 Saami Friendship Bracelet p. 25
4 Saami Friendship Bracelet Continuation
3 Owling: The Darker Side of Migration
31-11/2 Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks Up the Gunflint Trail
6 Wreath Weaving: The Traditional Balsam Bough Wreath p. 42
p. 22
3-4 Butchering Sheep and Goats at Home
31-11/2 Bury Yourself in Your Work: Build Your Own Casket p. 46
6-7 Weaving Holiday Ornaments From Birch Bark p. 8
1 Holiday Baking p. 23
1-5 Grand Marais & Beyond Nature Photography Workshop: Fall Equinox Session p. 34 Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl
6-7 Rosemaling Christmas Ornaments p. 34
november
1-15 Fjord Horse Experience: Two-Hour “Pleasure Driving” p. 32
5-7 First Impressions: Building Exterior Doors Service Learning Coursep. 46
p. 14
october
2 Wood Canvas Canoe Repair Session I: The Beginning p. 12
5 Scandinavian Holiday Baking: Making Lefse p. 24
25-26 Traditional Paper Rush Chair Seat Weaving p. 47
26-28 Flavorful Rye Breads p. 23
december
24-26 You Can Handle It: Nordic Inspired Stacked Handled Flatware p. 48
26-28 Black Ash Pack Baskets p. 7
1-30 Fjord Horse Experience: Two-Hour “Pleasure Driving” p. 32
24-25 October Skies: Night Photography Workshop p. 34
25-28 Shoemaking: Internal Stitchdown Workboots p. 15
september
p. 37
28
888-387-9762
februar y
1 Flatbreads Bakery: From the WoodFired Hearth p. 22
3-4 Sew the Molly Bag p. 41
3-6 Wood Canvas Canoe Repair III: The End p. 12
march
20-22 Blacksmithing: The Basics & Beyond
21-26 Dovetail Log Sauna or Cabin: Build Your Own p. 37
17-18 Help Yourself To Knitting: Beginning Knitting Class p. 18
5-6 Carving Ladles & Spoons p. 43
24-26 Prepare and Preserve Healthful Meats p.23
17-19 Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Figure Carving p. 44
25-26 Beadwork on a Bag p. 16
18-19 Spinning Fibers On A Wheel p. 20
5-9 WOOD WEEK 5-6 Cutting it Close: Improve Your Knife & Axe Skills p. 43
p. 43
5-8 Masonry Heater Building Workshop
5-8 Shoemaking with the Cordwainer Shop
5-6 Pony Up: Build Your Own Shaving Horse, Smaller Style p. 47
5-8 Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving: Wood Week 2015 p. 44
p. 15
6-8 Forge & Craft a Crooked Knife p. 9
6-7 From Snapshot to Story: Tell Your Family’s Story p. 26 7-8 Birch Bark Tutorial p. 6 10-12 Sculptural Forms in Felt p. 20
11-15 NORTHERN FIBERS RETREAT
11-13 Spinning For Fair Isle, North Carolina Style p. 20
12 Bead Embroidery: The Pin Series
p. 16
12-13 Help Yourself To Knitting: Beginning Knitting Class p. 18 12-13 Penny Rugs: Woolen Mosaics p. 19 12-13 Spinning Fibers On A Wheel p. 21
13-14 Bobbin Lace Making p. 17
13-15 Expedition Footwear: Making Hide & Canvas Mukluks p. 14 13-15 Felted Bags p. 17 13-15 Hand Stitching and Basic Patterning: Introduction to Blanket Coat Making
p. 14
13 Reds, Reds, Reds: Natural Dyes p. 19
13-15 Weaving a Warm Winter Scarf p. 20
5-8 Tool-Making for Wood Workers and Others p. 10
5-8 Wooden Bowl Turning: Norwegian Ale Bowls p. 48
8 Plane Talk: Restoring & Tuning Hand Planes p. 46
15 Aran Knitting Made Easy p. 16
19-20 Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl
p. 46
19-22 Mohair Cinch Weaving p. 18 20-22 Cabinetry Basics: Building the Wall Cabinet p. 46 21-22 Pattern, Texture, Milk Paint: Personal Expression through Craft p. 44
22 Home Cheesemaking: Intro to Fresh Cheeses p. 23
23-3/3 Timber Frame: Build Your Own, Smaller Frames p. 40 27-28 All Ground Up: Sausage Making p. 21 27-3/1 Fly Tying & Selection p. 32
27 Saami Friendship Bracelet p. 25
27-28 Silversmithing: The Jeweler’s Palette
p. 25
28 Viking “Knit” Chain Bracelet p. 25
28 Winter River Exploration p. 33
8-9 Artisan Breads II p. 21 8-10 Twig Furniture: Crafting the Twig Chair
p. 48 p. 7
13-15 Button it Up: Casting Bronze Buttons
15-17 Rosemaling: Shaded Telemark Style & Traditions p. 34
p. 24
13-15 Capturing the Frozen Shore: Photographing Lake Superior in Winter
p. 34
20-24 Forge-Welding a Damascus Blade and Other Items p. 9 21-24 Dovetail Log Cabin: Builder’s Workshop
14 Soap Making: The Old Fashioned Way
p. 37
p. 41
14-15 Eating Nose to Tail: Rabbit p. 22
22 Sausages for the Summer Grill p. 23
23 Fly Casting Workshop p. 32
26-29 Damascus Folding Jack Knife: Make Your Own p. 9
p. 17
19 Intermediate Knitting Skills p. 18
19-21 WOODEN BOAT SHOW & SUMMER SOLSTICE FESTIVAL 22-23 Artistic Bark-Edged Wooden Bowls
p. 45
22-24 Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving: Continuation p. 44
25-28 Build Your Own Yurt p. 37
july 1-7 Cedar-Strip Boat Construction: Techniques & Fundamentals p. 11 7-11 Sail Training Trip: Grand Marais to Knife River (via the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore) p. 35
20-22 Tuesi: Birch Bark Canisters with Vladimir Yarish p. 8 22-26 Grand Marais & Beyond Nature Photography Workshop: Summer Session p. 34 23-24 Russian Birch Bark Weaving Tutorial with Vladimir Yarish p. 7 24-26 Natural Plant Dyes p. 19 24-25 Shaker Box Tradition: Make a Stacking Set p. 47 26 Shaker-Style Carriers: Further Exploration p. 47 31-8/2 Bows and Arrows: Crafting the Traditional Long Bow & Arrow Making
p. 31
p. 11
21-22 Sharpening Tutorial p. 9
26-29 Knife, Bowl & Spoon: Four Days of Woodcraft p. 46
22 Charcuterie: An Introduction p. 22
24-4/3 Building the Northwest Trade Gun
29-31 NORTHERN LANDSCAPES FESTIVAL
24-4/3 Wood-Canvas Canoe: Build Your Own
29-31 Adirondack Chair Building p. 45
p. 9
p. 12
26-28 Automata: Making Wood Move p. 43
29 Birding By Ear p. 30
29-31 What’s This Rock? Unraveling the Geologic Story of Minnesota’s North Shore p. 31
27-29 Herbalism Apprentice: Beginner’s Botanical Medicine, Self Care to Community p. 38
june
27-28 Nuno Felting: Scarves & Wraps p. 19 27-28 Once Upon a Folktale…Intro to Storytelling p. 27
2-7 Grindbygg-Norwegian ‘Trestle Frame’ Timber Framing p. 39
april
5-7 Mosaic Garden Art p. 41
3 Saami Friendship Bracelet p. 25 3-4 Silversmithing: The Jeweler’s Palette
p. 25
17 Drop Spindle: Spinning in the Old Way
26-29 Building the Fisherman: Joe Seliga’s Square-Stern Wood Canvas Canoe Form
20-22 First Impressions: Building Exterior Doors Service Learning Course p. 46
10 Flatbreads Bakery: From the WoodFired Hearth p. 22
14-17 Outdoor Timbered Benches p. 39
13-15 Woodblock Printmaking p. 42
5-9 Ovencrafting: Building and Baking In The Wood-Fired Brick Oven p. 23 9-11 Nålbinding Mittens p. 14
12-13 Wildflower Photography p. 34
4 Saami Friendship Bracelet Continuation
13-22 Sail Training Trip: Isle Royale Circumnavigation p. 35
p. 25
14-16 Spring-Pole Lathe: Build Your Own
15-18 Birch Bark Canoes: Traditional Construction p. 11
p. 47
17-19 SERVICE LEARNING & VOLUNTEER WEEKEND 17-19 Sawhorses for the Shop: Service Learning in the Woodshop p. 40
888-387-9762
6-10 Basic Timber Framing p. 39
8-10 Swedish Decorated Birch Bark Canisters
p. 11
14-15 Making the Yarn You Want: Spinning Beyond the Basics p. 18
14 Thrum Mittens: North American Knitting Traditions p. 20
4-7 Woven, Decorative Bands: Weaving on the Modified Rigid Heddle p. 21
11-15 Techniques of Pram Boat Building: Old World Boatbuilding Traditions p. 12
p. 7
p. 25
20-22 Black Ash Pack Baskets p. 7
14-15 Taking the Hard out of Hardanger: Norwegian Needlecraft p. 20
2-3 Black Ash Basketry: An Introduction
11-22 Pram Boat Building: Build Your Own Traditional Norse or Swedish Pram
14 Knitting Socks: The Essential Craft
1-3 NORTHERN SUSTAINABILITY SYMPOSIUM
14 Fibers For Kids p. 17
p. 19
may
14-15 Nuno Felting for Clothing Design
p. 8
11-13 Lost Wax Casting: Sterling Silver Rings
25 Growing Dye Plants: Gardening for Color! p. 17
25-26 The Harvest Basket: Red-Osier Basketry
8 Skimming the Surface: The Basics of Milk Paint p. 44
19-22 Aniishiinaabe-Style Bead Embroidery & Moccasin Sewing p. 13
p. 18
5-8 Nordic Drinking Vessels In Wood
p. 37
p. 9
16-18 Old-Fashioned Rug Hooking p. 19
17-19 Building the Fisherman: Joe Seliga’s Square-Stern Wood Canvas Canoe Form
p. 11
17-19 Tools for the Shop: Service Learning in the Blacksmith Shop p. 10 29
Mosaics: Reviving Old Furniture
North House
s
f
Folk School
pring
WINTER
s
all
ummer
more details, more photos:
2014/15
www.northhouse.org
Birding By Ear with Ann Russ 5/29/15
Most birds are not known for sitting still. By learning to recognize their songs, calls and the habitats they live in, you can have a satisfying birding experience every time you step outdoors, with or without your binoculars! In this one day workshop we’ll travel to various habitats and birding hotspots in Cook County, listening and watching for spring migrants. Ann will share tips and tricks for remembering bird songs. Bring your binoculars, but be prepared to listen to the birds. length (days) 1 hours 7am-3pm tuition $75 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $65 materials included age with adult 14+
From the Deck: Lake Superior Shoreline Naturalist Tour: Afternoon Session with Ann Russ/Dave Williams 9/20/14
Looking back at the coast from an ecological, historical and geological view is the goal of this outing as we head out on Lake Superior armed with binoculars and cameras, traveling to a remote rookery, eagle’s nest or waterfall. This water-based workshop takes place aboard the charter boat “Fishin’ Chicks,” a 27’ boat with twin engines, comfortable seating and a private bathroom below deck, to ensure a safe and comfortable learning platform. The determination of safe travel on Lake Superior will be made by the captain. With the Sawtooth Mountains and rugged shoreline as a backdrop, be sure to remember your camera!
length (days) 0.25 hours 3pm-5pm tuition $60 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $50 materials $50 (charter boat fee)
Geology Up the Trail: Exploring the Ancient History of the Gunflint Trail What’s This Rock? Unraveling the Geologic Story of Minnesota’s North Shore
new
northern
ecology
Autumn Phenology in the Field: Fall Colors and Beyond Birding By Ear From the Deck: Lake Superior Shoreline Naturalist Tour: Afternoon Session Geology Up the Trail: Exploring the Ancient History of the Gunflint Trail Mushrooming Owling: The Darker Side of Migration What’s This Rock? Unraveling the Geologic Story of Minnesota’s North Shore more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Autumn Phenology in the Field: Fall Colors and Beyond with Jim Gilbert
9/19/14-9/20/14
Nature has its own rhythms and these days, it can be hard to predict! Phenology is the recording of the natural calendar—the migrating times of various birds, lake ice-outs and freeze-ups, blooming dates of wildflowers, harvest times for crops, and tree leaves changing color in the fall are all events that help us understand the pulse of the landscape. Join co-author of the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar Jim Gilbert for a hands-on exploration of fall phenological events on the North Shore. We’ll go into the field to observe what’s happening in a variety of habitats, including wildflower and other plant identification, as well as observation of birds, insects and the water. Since long-term phenology monitoring helps us keep track of the changing world, the events that we observe and record during this class will be compared with several years in the past. Jim will get you started with your own phenology journal or list of nature’s happenings, which will draw you deeper into a relationship with the environment. This new course comes by popular demand from the students enrolled in Jim’s popular spring phenology course.
with Jim Miller
9/19/14-9/21/14
Head up the trail and experience the unique and ancient geology of the Gunflint area. We are pleased to partner with Gunflint Lodge to offer students an opportunity to immerse in the rich history of this special area using one of Minnesota’s premier wilderness resorts as a home base for exploration. The Gunflint Trail traverses an ancient sequence of rocks that tell an incredible and awesome story of how North America was assembled. We will start our Saturday exploration at the “end of the trail” where 2.5 billion-year-old granites that formed deep in the earth are now exposed. We will then progress into 1.8 billion-year-old iron formation that was deposited in an ancient seabed and later ripped asunder by meteor impact-generated tsunamis and earthquakes. Finally, we will explore intrusions of magma generated 1.1 billion years ago when North America was attempting to split apart. Along the route, we will also observe the effects that mile-thick glaciers had on reshaping the landscape as they repeatedly crept out of Canada over the past two million years. On Sunday morning, we will take a pontoon boat to explore various geological and historical features on Gunflint Lake.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 7-9pm, Day 2: 8am-9pm, Day 3: 8am-1pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $190 materials $5
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5-7pm; Day 2: 9am-4pm tuition $125 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $115 materials $5 30
888-387-9762
Mushrooming with Mike McCall 9/6/14
Our parents always told us to stay away from them, but now you can spend an afternoon with “the” fungus expert and discover which mushrooms are safe, delicious, and easy to identify. This course is appropriate for all levels of mushroom hunters because the local climate and conditions change often enough to provide numerous opportunities for discovering and rediscovering the fungi of northern Minnesota. Bring a knife, a collecting basket and a mushroom guide, as a portion of the course is spent in the field collecting and identifying. You are encouraged to bring mushrooms from your local area for identification. length (days) 0.5 hours 10am-3pm tuition $70 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $65 materials included
Owling: The Darker Side of Migration with Bill Lane 9/20/14 9/25/14 9/27/14 10/3/14 10/10/14
As darkness supplants daylight in the seasonal journey toward winter, the landscape along Lake Superior hosts a migration of owls that defies logic in its size. Thousands of Northern saw-whet owls course the shoreline in their quest for seasonal resources with one goal in mind: survival. During the fall migration, USFWS master bander Bill Lane bands and releases hundreds of owls, hoping that their movements and journeys will be documented to shed a little light on the mysteries of owl migration. Join him and the owls in his field laboratory for an evening you’ll never forget. In the event of a weather cancellation, this course will automatically reschedule to the following night. length (days) 0.5 hours 7:30pm start time tuition $55 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $50 materials included
What’s This Rock? Unraveling the Geologic Story of Minnesota’s North Shore with Jim Miller
5/29/15-5/31/15
How many times have you walked along a cobbled beach or a rocky ledge along the North Shore and wondered: What’s this rock? Where did it come from? Why is it here? And Lake Superior agates – what do they look like? Where do I find them? How do they form? This is your opportunity to not only have those questions answered by an expert on North Shore geology, but to also learn some basic observational tools that will help you identify many rocks along the shore and understand the story they tell. After an introductory lecture, the remainder of the course will be in the field along the North Shore. We will examine volcanic rocks that tell the dramatic story of spectacular lava eruptions that spilled across a vast barren landscape over one billion years ago. We will also investigate sediments and landforms created by enormous continental glaciers that have intermittently filled the Lake Superior basin over the past two million years.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1:5-8pm, Day 2: 9am-5pm, Day 3: 9am-2pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials included age with adult 10+
888-387-9762
Fly Casting Workshop
outdoor skills
Bows and Arrows: Crafting the Traditional Long Bow & Arrow Making Cold Injury: It’s Not Cool to be Cold Craft of Birch Ski Making: Making Your Own Set Fjord Horse Experience: Two-Hour “Pleasure Driving” Fly Casting Workshop Fly Tying & Selection Kick Sled Building: Push and Glide Northwoods Deer Hunting for Beginners Traditional Finnish Ski Poles: Craft Your Own Set Winter River Exploration 31
Bows and Arrows: Crafting the Traditional Long Bow & Arrow Making with Rick Yonker
7/31/15-8/2/15
This course takes students through the step-by-step process of crafting a wooden longbow, wooden-shafted arrow and bow string. To facilitate learning about constructing a traditional bow, students start with a roughcut stave of hickory. Bows are backed with flax-fiber linen. Arrows include field point and feathers. String is made using the traditional Flemish twist technique. Throughout the course participants learn the basics of working wood with a drawknife, carpenter’s scraper and other traditional hand tools. Class discussion includes design theory, different bow shapes, and the art of tillering a bow (getting it to bend correctly). As time and weather permit, students will practice shooting techniques on campus. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials $260 age with adult 12+
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
new
Cold Injury: It’s Not Cool to be Cold with Katherine Breen 11/21/14
It doesn’t matter if your destination is the next warming hut on the cross-country ski trail or a remote location on Baffin Island: staying warm is not only a matter of survival but is a major factor in enjoying winter conditions. Katherine Breen, featured speaker and family physician, will lead this workshop in learning to stay healthy and comfortable in the outdoors. Beginning with a review of cold related injuries and illness we will use real case examples to explore the pathophysiology, prevention, and management of frostbite to hypothermia and everything in between. The course will include practical tips and tricks on how to prepare for a cold weather expedition as well as what to include in your first aid kit when traveling in the cold. Perfect your cold weather dressing skills with a review of ‘the art of layering,’ and learn how to make any cold weather activity comfortable and safe. length (days) 0.5 hours 9am-noon tuition $55 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $50 materials included
Craft of Birch Ski Making: Making Your Own Set with Mark Hansen/Ian Andrus 1/8/15-1/11/15
Discover the secrets of the old Saami school of ski construction by crafting a custom pair of birch skis to meet your needs. In this course you’ll learn about the origin of ski design, function and construction. We’ll also cover topics such as wood grain, bending wood, types of bindings, and information related to use and handling of these ancient tools of transportation. Craft your own pair of skis custom-sized to your height, weight and intended use and prepare to enjoy the wintry wonderland of backcountry and ski trails outside your back door. Evening sessions may include films and a variety of discussion topics on the history and craft of ski making. length (days) 3.5 hours Day 1: 5-9pm; Day 2-4: 9am-5pm tuition $350 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $335 materials varies (approx. $150-$250)
Fjord Horse Experience: Two-Hour “Pleasure Driving” with Philis Anderson 9/1/14-10/15/14
Enjoy a two-hour experience with Norwegian Fjord Horses, a unique breed of gentle horses, while learning the basics of pleasure driving a horse and cart. Selectively bred for more than 20 centuries, Norwegian Fjord Horses might best be described as short and stocky, friendly and versatile. Whether pulling boats along Scandinavia’s fjords, working in farm fields, or pulling a cart to market, fjord horses were important partners for generations of farmers. Lessons begin in an outdoor arena and progress to beautiful trails through the quiet woods above Grand Marais. This experience is open to all, including those who would prefer simply to relax and take a pleasure drive with a team of fjord horses driven by the instructor. Up to four additional family members or friends are welcome to share in the cart/wagon ride pulled by these gentle giants, for an additional $25 per person. Available most days May 15 to October 15, weather permitting.
Fly Casting Workshop
Kick Sled Building: Push and Glide
5/23/15
1/9/15-1/11/15
with Rueben Swenson
Landing a fly gracefully on a quiet inland lake or gently on a rushing river is an experience everyone should have. In this workshop taught by Rueben Swenson you’ll be introduced to the basic techniques of dropping a fly 5060 feet out, as well as the fundamentals of roll-casting. The class ends on the water and you should be comfortable with the basics of fly casting by the end of the day. Casting from a float tube, a unique on-water experience, will also be covered and, weather depending, may be field-based. You are encouraged to bring your own gear. Equipment is available for rent from local outfitters. This is an ideal course for beginners new to fly casting, as well as to advanced fly fishing enthusiasts looking to perfect their cast. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials $5 age with adult 14+
Fly Tying & Selection with Mike Hero
2/27/15-3/1/15
This course is both an introduction to fly tying for students with little or no experience, as well as an advanced course for more experienced fly tyers. Students will learn to tie a variety of flies that will catch fish in northern Minnesota waters as well as Minnesota’s “Driftless Area.” A portion of each class will be devoted to basic food sources for fish, with a corresponding discussion about how to imitate such food sources with flies, and how to decide which fly to select in a particular situation. The students will be exposed to a variety of fly tying materials. Each student will tie and take home more than a dozen flies. Those who are able to master the flies scheduled for the course will receive instruction on tying more advanced patterns, or even coming up with new creations. Each student will receive a kit containing fly tying materials to tie a great variety of flies. A limited supply of fly tying tools is available upon request for use by those students who do not own tools. Students may bring their own tools or purchase a complete set through North House for an additional cost of $45 which must be ordered and paid for at time of registration. Please note, the $95 materials fee must be paid in full at the time of registration. In the event of a cancellation, this materials fee is non-refundable, but the materials can be mailed upon request to the participant who is unable to attend.
length (days) 2.5 hours Days 1/2: 9am-5pm, Day 3: 9am-noon tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $240 materials $95 age with adult 13+
with Randy Schnobrich
For hundreds of years the kick sled has been a popular mode of winter transportation throughout Scandinavia and other snow-covered countries. From country hill to city sidewalk, the kick sled goes anywhere there is snow. You start from the ground up handcrafting a functional sled that can be enjoyed by all ages. Laminated wood runners, slats for the seat and hand-finished handlebars will be individually crafted, reflecting your aesthetic vision. Once completed, the sled is collapsible and can be pushed by the driver or pulled by a dog or two. Approx. dimensions: 72”L x 16”W x 36”H. A great family project that will last a lifetime. Up to two people may participate for the base tuition - bring a partner, friend or family member to help with the work.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-8pm; Day 2/3 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $160 materials $290 age with adult 8+
Northwoods Deer Hunting for Beginners with Shawn Perich 10/11/14
Discover the rich traditions of northwoods deer hunting and learn how you can fill your freezer with lean and tasty venison. Spend time in the classroom and in the field with local deer hunter Shawn Perich, author of the book “Whitetail Hunting,” and popular columnist for Minnesota Outdoor News. In the classroom you’ll discuss where deer are found in North Shore forests, preparing for the hunt, must-have hunting accessories, dressing for success and hunting strategies and techniques. In the field, he will teach you how to scout for hunting locations, recognize deer sign, pick stand sites and set up a portable tree stand. Upon class completion, students should have the confidence to head afield and try their luck. length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $75 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $65 materials included
Traditional Finnish Ski Poles: Craft Your Own Set with Mark Hansen/Ian Andrus 1/12/15-1/13/15
Enhance your winter adventures with these lightweight, durable ski poles which are based on the types used by northern Minnesota Finnish immigrants for winter travel. The poles are constructed with balsam shafts, copper rivets, whitetail-tanned buckskin grips, and moose rawhide and red willow baskets. You will make your custom-sized ski poles using age-old techniques passed from Finnish ski maker Marvin Salo (whose father was a master ski maker trained in the old Saami school of ski construction) to your instructor Mark Hansen. This course is a great complement to the Traditional Birch Ski making course.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $195 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $185 materials varies (approx. $125)
length (days) 0.5 hours 10am to Noon or 2-4pm tuition $75 ($25/for additional friend/family member) early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials included age with adult 12+
Kick Sled Building: Push and Glide more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
32
888-387-9762
Winter River Exploration with Mark & Katya Gordon 2/28/15
Come explore the wild rivers and gorges of the North Shore at its seasonal zenith—the end of winter. The unique combination of ice, snow, and sun conditions that generally occur at the end of winter provide excellent travel opportunities for those who want to explore. We will travel up one of the river gorges of the North Shore on snowshoes. We will learn risk management regarding ice conditions and navigating frozen waterfalls, rapids, and currents (ice permitting). We will duck into caves etched out over thousands of years and poke around in rock formations generally inaccessible to humans except for during these few precious weeks. We will build a fire on the river and cook and eat a hot meal together. We will use teachable moments to identify flora, fauna and geology. Students meet on campus and carpool to river. Open to families - for kids under 12 please call to discuss. Your materials fee includes lunch. length (days) 1 hours 9am-3pm tuition $75 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $65 materials $10 age with adult 12+
why are
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ? “There is a
real satisfaction
in learning and passing on skills.
Rosemaling: Valdres-Style
Working side by side, we each make something unique
and then celebrate the results together. This regenerates the craft and keeps
vital for today.”
it
- Carol Colburn, clothing 888-387-9762
photography
painting & photography painting Rosemaling Christmas Ornaments Rosemaling: Valdres-Style 33
Capturing the Frozen Shore: Photographing Lake Superior in Winter Cold Weather Photography Grand Marais & Beyond Nature Photography Workshop: Fall Equinox Session Grand Marais & Beyond Nature Photography Workshop: Summer Session October Skies: Night Photography Workshop Wildflower Photography more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Capturing the Frozen Shore: Photographing Lake Superior in Winter with Bryan Hansel
3/13/15-3/15/15
On the north shore, Lake Superior first begins to freeze in March. Waves and wind push the ice against the shore where it piles up into infinite shapes and shades of blue. Combining the unique ice features with winter sea smoke, (which rises off Superior only during the winter months), open water, and the sun, make for one-of-akind images. Join instructor Bryan Hansel for a photography workshop along Superior’s frozen shoreline. Participants should bring a digital camera, preferably a DSLR, extra batteries, memory cards, a laptop, a sturdy tripod and snowshoes.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5-8 pm; Day 2: sunrise-5 pm tuition $145 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $135 materials included age with adult 14+
new
Cold Weather Photography with Eric McNair-Landry 11/22/14
You don’t have to put away your camera just because it’s cold out…really, really cold out. Featured speaker Eric McNair-Landry knows this is true from years of experience taking photos and video during his Arctic travels. Bring your camera and questions to this informal workshop on taking pictures in the extreme cold. Subjects will range from taking excellent pictures in snowy, high contrast environments, battery efficiency and time lapse photography in the arctic. Eric will share many hard-learned tips, tricks, and equipment modifications that make taking pictures in the Arctic (or just your own wintery backyard!) an enjoyable activity. length (days) 0.5 hours 9am-noon tuition $55 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $50
Grand Marais & Beyond Nature Photography Workshop: Fall Equinox Session with Layne Kennedy 10/1/14-10/5/14
Grand Marais & Beyond is a unique opportunity to photograph and explore the pristine shores of Lake Superior with editorial photographer Layne Kennedy (www.laynekennedy.com). The course is designed for the enthusiastic photographer, amateur or professional, with an emphasis on storytelling with your photography. At the conclusion of the workshop, each photographer will learn to edit and prepare up to 10 images for inclusion into a self-published book of all individual workshop stories. You will explore and photograph the scenic shores of Lake Superior, create portraits of local folks, photograph history of the region at the Fort at Grand Portage, point your lens at the iconic images that identify Grand Marais, and explore the pine-laden Superior National Forest near the picturesque community of Grand Marais. Participants will learn to “light-paint” in numerous situations, developing new techniques to enhance your personal photographic vision.
length (days) 5 hours Day 1: 6-9pm; Day 2-4: Sunrise to Sunset; Day 5: Sunrise to 11am tuition $450 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $425 materials included
Grand Marais & Beyond Nature Photography Workshop: Summer Session with Layne Kennedy 7/22/15-7/26/15
Grand Marais & Beyond is a unique opportunity to photograph and explore the pristine shores of Lake Superior with editorial photographer Layne Kennedy (www.laynekennedy.com). The course is designed for the enthusiastic photographer, amateur or professional, with an emphasis on storytelling with your photography. At the conclusion of the workshop, each photographer will learn to edit and prepare up to 10 images for inclusion into a selfpublished book of all individual workshop stories. You will explore and photograph the scenic shores of Lake Superior, create portraits of local folks, photograph history of the region at the Fort at Grand Portage, point your lens at the iconic images that identify Grand Marais, and explore the pine-laden Superior National Forest near the picturesque community of Grand Marais. Participants will learn to “light-paint” in numerous situations, developing new techniques to enhance your personal photographic vision.
length (days) 5 hours Day 1: 6-9pm; Day 2-4: Sunrise to 5pm; Day 5: Sunrise to 11am tuition $450 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $425 materials included
October Skies: Night Photography Workshop with Bryan Hansel
10/24/14-10/25/14
When you combine the autumn nights, the north shore of Lake Superior and a passion for photography, something interesting and beautiful is bound to happen. In this course, you’ll join photography instructor Bryan Hansel in the darkness to capture images of star trails and the moon over Lake Superior. During the night we’ll also experiment with spinning flaming steel wool, light painting and making light orbs with LED lights. The course starts with a presentation and then heads out into the field after twilight and stays out until after midnight. We’ll meet up mid-morning the next day for an image review session. It’s certain to be an unforgettable experience.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-1am; Day 2: 10am-1pm tuition $145 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $135 materials included
Rosemaling Christmas Ornaments with Kim Garrett
12/6/14-12/7/14
Handmade ornaments are perfect for your own holiday tree or to pass on as gifts for the season. Dip your toes into the Norwegian folk art of rosemaling and learn the basics of strokework, backgrounding and applying designs while painting three wooden ornaments. Your materials fee includes all paints, brushes and selection of ornaments to choose from. Add a little lefse and some lutefisk and your Norwegian holiday will be complete.
Rosemaling: Telemark Style & Traditions with Mary Schliep/Kim Garrett 5/15/15-5/17/15
Rosemaling means “rose painting” in Norwegian, and the Telemark region in southeastern Norway is known for the classic look of its painting with asymmetrical scrolls and varied placement of leaves and flowers. In this course you’ll study and practice basic techniques of this traditional decorative painting style. You will decorate a plate and then apply the same techniques to the creation of Christmas ornaments. Plenty of one-on-one instruction is provided. Students interested in building a solid base of skills are encouraged to register for the optional fourth day of instruction for $50. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 Optional 4th day: $50 additional early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials varies ($5-$10) age with adult 15+
Rosemaling: Valdres-Style with Mary Schliep/Kim Garrett 10/31/14-11/2/14
Rosemaling is a decorative painting style which originated in Norway where it traditionally decorated churches, homes and farmhouse interiors. The Valdres style of rosemaling originated in the Valdres valley and is known for its strong floral motif. This course emphasizes the basic techniques of painting these traditional floral bouquets. You will apply your skills to decorating a plate and a Christmas tree ornament. Students interested in building an even more solid base of skills are encouraged to register for the optional fourth day of instruction for $50. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 Optional 4th day: $50 additional early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials varies ($5-$10) age with adult 15+
Wildflower Photography with Bryan Hansel
6/12/15-6/13/15
Wild strawberry, wood anemone, bunchberry, hawkweed, blue flag iris and lupine are a few of the many flowers blooming in the northwoods during June. The boreal forest feels vibrant with green, and although you can’t capture smells in photos, the woods smell of pine sap. It’s the perfect time to spend a day in the woods capturing photos of flowers. During the workshop, professional photographer Bryan Hansel teaches techniques for taking your macro images from a simple picture of a flower to dreamy fine art while emphasizing the emotion of discovery. Participants should bring a digital camera, a macro lens, memory cards and extra batteries.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5-8 pm; Day 2: sunrise-5 pm tuition $145 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $135 materials included age with adult 10+
length (days) 2 hours Day 1: 9am-5pm; Day 2: 9am-4pm tuition $150 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials $15 age with adult 12+
October Skies: Night Photography Workshop | Photo by Bryan Hansel more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
34
888-387-9762
Sail Training Trip: Grand Marais to Knife River (via the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore) with Mark & Katya Gordon 7/7/15-7/11/15
Join us for an adventurous sail training expedition that combines the rigors of offshore sailing with the more tranquil waters of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The trip will begin at the North House Folk School dock as we prepare for the 46-mile open water crossing to the Apostle Islands. During the crossing you will have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of sailing Amicus II - from sail handling to steering to offshore navigation. Once in the Apostle Islands, we will enjoy the beaches and explore the islands and then prepare for the 37-mile crossing to Knife River. During this leg you will learn about anchoring, coastal navigation and chart reading. If all goes according to plan, we will spend the first night at the North House Folk School Dock, three nights in the Apostle Islands and cross to Knife River on the last day. Limited to four students – discounts for a group of four. Tuition includes food and lodging throughout the course. Separate tuition payment & cancellation policies apply to this course. length (days) 5 hours Day 1: start at 5 pm, Day 5: arrive in Knife River at 5 pm tuition $650 includes all meals and lodging early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $600 materials included age with adult 13+ at full price
Sail Training Trip: Isle Royale Circumnavigation with Mark & Katya Gordon 6/13/15-6/22/15
Sail Training Trip: Grand Marais to Knife River (via the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore)
sailing
Lake Superior Coastal Navigation: Traditional and Electronic Methods Sail Training Trip: Grand Marais to Knife River (via the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore) Sail Training Trip: Isle Royale Circumnavigation Sew a Bag: Sailor’s Ditty or Sailcloth 888-387-9762
Lake Superior Coastal Navigation: Traditional and Electronic Methods with Ted Gephart 12/13/14
Get yourself oriented to the ‘rules of the road’ and learn the basic navigational skills needed for safe boating on coastal waters from certified U.S. Coast Guard instructor Ted Gephart. This classroom-based course covers safe boating topics that apply to any boater including both power and sail. You’ll learn to use charting methods including traditional methods such as dead reckoning and modern methods using GPS and radar. This course is great for new boat owners of all types as well as experienced boaters wishing to refresh their navigational skills. length (days) 1 hours 9am-4:30pm tuition $75 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $65 materials included age with adult 12+ 35
In the northwestern portion of Lake Superior is a unique and remote island archipelago. Isle Royale National Park preserves 132,018 acres of land that were federally designated as wilderness in 1976. The park consists of one large island surrounded by over 450 smaller islands, located in the largest fresh water lake in the world. Isle Royale’s unique ecosystem led to it being designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980. Set sail for an adventure that only miles of wilderness, a seaworthy sailboat, and a seasoned captain can provide. NHFS is partnering with Amicus Adventure Sailing to provide a 10-day circumnavigation of Isle Royale. The island provides an ideal setting to bring you into a world without cell phones and other modern “conveniences.” The hundreds of secluded bays and inlets around Isle Royale are ideal for exploring from a sailboat, and we will also bring two kayaks and a rowing dinghy for exploring the bays and streams around our anchorages and accessing the hundreds of miles of hiking trails that lace the island. Bring your sense of adventure and get ready to discover one of Lake Superior’s most precious gems as we sail, kayak and hike our way around Isle Royale National Park. As a participant you will have the total sailing experience: from sail handling to navigation and anchoring. There will be plenty of time for hiking the trails and exploring the bays and streams by kayak and dinghy. Discussion topics throughout the trip include the unique ecosystem of Isle Royale, the biology and geology of Lake Superior, fish and exotic species, and the rich history of the island. By the end of this adventure you will have developed a new appreciation for the lake, formed a unique bond with your shipmates, and gained some incredible sailing experience. This course is open to children (ages 13+) but the tuition rate is the same as adults. Maximum group size is four, discounted rate for groups of 4.
length (days) 10 hours Day 1: 5pm start; Final Day: 5pm finish tuition $1,550 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $1,550 materials included age with adult 13+ at full price more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Sew a Bag: Sailor’s Ditty or Sailcloth with Ted Gephart
11/21/14-11/22/14
Sew up the perfect utility bag for whatever handy purpose you imagine. The same skill set and materials required to maintain traditional sailing vessels are reflected in the traditional sailor’s ditty bag. A sewn canvas ‘bucket’ held the tools of the traditional mariner. The classic maritime look comes from using leather, sail canvas and seams hand sewn with the tools of the sailmaker. In this class, you will design, cut and sew (using both hand sewing and machine sewing) your own bag custom fit for your tools. Whether used for home, work, school, gardening, knitting or carving, you’ll learn the techniques to sew a gracious and classic-looking utility bag. Students may choose to hand sew their own grommets or incorporate brass hammered ones and tailor additional pockets and accessories to match their desired outcome. Students will chose from two projects; a canvas sailor’s ditty bag or a sail cloth bag in a similar style.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1 - 9am-5pm; Day 2 - 9am-noon tuition $110 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $95 materials varies ($15-$50)
Build Thoreau’s Cabin
Build Thoreau’s Cabin with Randy Schnobrich 9/3/14-9/7/14
Sew a Bag: Sailor’s Ditty or Sailcloth
nuts & bolts volunteering
We love our volunteers! Opportunities are endless, from events to painting projects. Just let us know how you’d like to pitch in! more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
shelter
Build Thoreau’s Cabin Build Your Own Yurt Dovetail Log Cabin: Builder’s Workshop Dovetail Log Sauna or Cabin: Build Your Own Masonry Heater Building Workshop Yurt Building: Design and Construction 36
Pick up your hammer! This course is designed for students with little or no building experience who want to build a small cabin or workshop. The techniques for building a small frame building are not only for the skilled carpenter; nearly anyone can come away from this course with the skills needed for building virtually any small structure. Jack studs to joists, fly rafters to d-edge, birds’ mouths to top plates -- students will learn the use of basic hand and power tools, and develop knowledge of the materials and techniques used in frame or “stick” construction. Together, students will construct a 10’ x 14’ cabin based on Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” cabin, with an added sleeping loft.
In addition to hands-on experience focused on framing and roofing, discussion on foundation options, siding, and window and door installation will be integrated into each day. The class begins by assessing strategies for leveling the building site, and the project goes up from there. Wall layout with door/window openings, sheathing techniques, roof pitch and ridge placement, roof systems that will keep water out – abundant hands-on experience defines every day. By the end of this class, your tool belt will do much more than simply improve your good looks. length (days) 5 hours 9am-5pm tuition $400 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $375 materials included
888-387-9762
Build Your Own Yurt
with Ian Andrus/Matthew Brown/Jim Ouray 6/25/15-6/28/15
Create yourself a comfortable living space: a spare bedroom, office, studio, sauna or whatever else you can dream up. The 18-foot yurt is an excellent shelter option that provides comfortable living arrangements for all four seasons. Working with skilled yurt builders, you’ll build a simple yurt, complete with a door and two windows, ready to be loaded into your car and set up for any purpose you can imagine. This includes constructing the wooden framework and sewing the fabric cover, building the rafter ring, windows, and door. The skylight and windows are made of Lexan plexiglass and the cover is sewn from durable acrylic coated polyester (choice in color may be possible). Whether you want to have a unique guest room in the backyard or you are interested in a lifestyle that includes living in a circular space with the wilderness outside your door, you can build your own livable shelter in a week and move in the next day! To make this large project possible, students need to also recruit a group of assistants who journey to North House together to participate in the project (minimum group size 4, max 6). Evening sessions will include a yurt homestead visit, films, a yurt slideshow, or more work on the yurt. Given the unique nature and small size of this course, please note that North House uses separate tuition payment & cancellation policies for managing this course. length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition & materials $4,695 includes finished yurt
Dovetail Log Cabin: Builder’s Workshop with Lonnie Dupre
5/21/15-5/24/15
Want to learn the classic dovetail log home construction technique, also known as American heritage or Appalachian log homes? This course provides the opportunity for students to learn by constructing an 8’x8’ shelter with a 4’ porch out of 4”x8” pine timbers from foundation to roof, including window and door placement and framing, that can be outfitted as a small guest cabin or sauna. This course will begin with discussions on building strategies and foundations, a site visit to a finished dovetail cabin in Cook County, hands-on application of dovetailing and milling timbers, a how-to-chink session, and techniques for cutting in and framing doors and windows. Whether you’re a potential do-it-yourself home or cabin builder, or an experienced contractor looking to expand your skill set, this workshop covers all the techniques to get you on your way to a successful building project.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $360 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $340 materials included age with adult 16+
Dovetail Log Sauna or Cabin: Build Your Own
Yurt Building: Design and Construction
4/21/15-4/26/15
10/23/14-10/26/14
with Lonnie Dupre
Traditional dovetail log homes, also known as American heritage and Appalachian log homes in the United States, began to emerge in the 1700s as a sturdy abode of our ancestors. The walls were traditionally made of logs hand hewn into square timbers (sizes varied based upon logs available) and joined at the corners with a weather-resistant half-dovetail notch. This authentic design allows the weight of the building to pull the timbers tightly together for stout, tight joinery. The spaces between the timbers back then were filled with an array of clay, mortar, moss or oakum. Today’s construction includes varied thicknesses of timbers, foam backing rod for filler, and flexible latex chinking. The rustic dovetail joinery and white pine timbers are reflective of the quality construction of those bygone days. This Build Your Own option allows you and your friends/family the option to build your own 8’ x 8’ white pine dovetail sauna or writer’s cabin, including a 4’ porch OR the northwoods retreat cabin, a 10’x16’ dovetail cabin. Tuition covers instruction, 4”x8” white pine timbers, and use of specialized dovetail framing tools. The shelter may be built by individual students, however, working with multiple partners (up to 6) on the project is welcome and encouraged. From a design perspective note that the spacing between the timbers is approximately 1 inch and that the dimensions noted are for the building’s exterior. A larger cabin (16x16) may be possible; please call to inquire. North House uses only certified sustainably harvested timbers.
with Ian Andrus/Jim Ouray
Whether you’re looking for a spare bedroom, office, studio, tent, sauna, summer cabin, or just looking to reduce your footprint, the yurt may be your answer. Yurts are ancient, portable shelters and one of the classic inventions of human history: simple, efficient, easy to heat, sturdy, and beautiful inside and out. In this course, students will work together to build a 14’ diameter yurt, and will cover the basic principles of yurt design and construction. This includes constructing the wooden framework and stitching the fabric cover, building the rafter ring, windows, and door options. When completed, students will have the experience and skills necessary to construct a yurt of their own. The team of instructors and small class size ensures that each student will get hands-on experience with all parts of the process. Once built, the yurt will be for sale to interested students at a set price (a raffle will take place on the final day if multiple students are interested).
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $380 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $360 materials included
length (days) see below hours 9am-5pm ∙ Sauna or Writer’s Cabin: 8’ x 8’ (with a 4’ porch) - $4,400: 4 days ∙ Northwoods Retreat Cabin: 10’ x 16’ - $7,250: 6 days
Masonry Heater Building Workshop with Eric Moshier
1/22/15-1/25/15 2/5/15-2/8/15
Masonry heaters originated in Northern Europe where winters were cold and fuel wasn’t always plentiful. The natural response? Create a wood-fired presence that was at once incredibly efficient and highly attractive, capable of generating abundant heat and ideal for cooking/ baking. Masonry heaters are built with fire bricks and utilize their high mass to radiate heat for 12 - 24 hours, a feature which means they only need to be fired once or twice per day. Students in this course will build a classic Finnish masonry heater (approx 36” wide x 31” deep and 72” high). Bricks will be laid with clay, rather than mortar, as the heater will be disassembled at the end of class. Students will experience and discuss heater design, sizing options, brick selection, oven integration, door and hardware installation, code considerations, and tool use. An exterior finish of clay brick will be utilized. Stucco and clay plaster options will be discussed, as will larger heaters capable of heating spaces up to 2,500 sq. ft., and masonry cook stoves. In addition to designing and building, students will learn to fire the heaters to maximize efficiency and will experiment with the student-built masonry oven located on the North House Folk School campus. The materials fee includes a complete resource packet (allowing students to return home prepared to start their own project) and the resources utilized during class for the building process.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $360 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $340 materials $60 age with adult 14+
Masonry Heater Building Workshop
nuts & bolts
membership matters!
Memberships start at $25 annually and are a vital part of our story. Consider a gift and let the world know your support for our educational mission. Benefits include special event passes, our newsletter and warm fuzzy feelings!
Build Your Own Yurt
888-387-9762
37
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
new
Nordic Herbals with Gigi Stafne
11/15/14-11/16/14
Healing traditions, like all craft, reflect the landscape and stories of the people who create them. Explore Norse and Saami-inspired herbal medicine in this workshop based around the handcrafting of seven herbal medicines, each tethered to a particular story and made from northern plants. Rooted in her own Nordic ancestry, Gigi will explore the sacred elder tree, Birkana, rune stones and reindeer medicine. Students will handcraft seven herbal items to sustain them through the long northern winter: elderberry syrup, fireweed flower essence, cedar sauna blend, birch botanical liniment and others. In the spirit of Eir, the traditional Norse goddess of healing, students will create a medicine bundle to accompany them through the darkest season.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $40 age with adult 14+
why are
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ? “There’s a
deep, soulful satisfaction
Herbalism Apprentice: Beginner’s Botanical Medicine, Self Care to Community
Herbalism Apprentice: Beginner’s Botanical Medicine, Self Care to Community with Gigi Stafne
10/24/14-10/26/14 3/27/15-3/29/15
sustainable living Herbalism Apprentice: Beginner’s Botanical Medicine, Self Care to Community Nordic Herbals
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Desire to be more self-sustainable with your health care and home? Dipped your toes into the deep waters of herbalism, and ready to learn more? Combine the intuitive art and solid science of botanical medicine, apprenticing with a Master Herbalist for an intensive weekend. Core components include: foundations in natural & botanical medicine, cross-cultural herbalism, herbs for the life cycle, top 20 herbs in North America, botanicals not only for physical health, but for contemporary life stressors such as stress, anxiety, depression, and environmental factors. Learn to create your own herbal apothecary and take home handcrafted preparations including teas, tinctures, lotions, oils and flower essences. This course is a special offering certificate level; a strong pathway and prerequisite for those who desire to pursue a future Master of Herbalism degree.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $45 age with adult 14+ 38
when one handcrafts herbs to stock a home natural apothecary or weaves a basket to gather wild berries in. Students say there’s an
emotional or psychological sense of security knowing,
I can do this.
I can create something
with my own hands that matters to me
in this world.”
- Gigi Stafne, sustainable living 888-387-9762
Basic Timber Framing with Peter Henrikson 5/6/15-5/10/15
Learn the planning, layout and joinery necessary to construct a traditional timber frame (post and beam) structure, such as North House’s blacksmith shop, bread oven shelter, fish house classroom and other structures around campus. The course begins with the basic mortise and tenon joint, and then expands on these techniques to cover through-tenons, shouldered mortises and scarf-joinery. In both thorough classroom sessions and hands-on experience, you will explore the use of traditional tools and techniques of timber framing as well as adaptations using common and specialized modern tools. We will also discuss foundations, enclosing the frame, wiring and plumbing issues, and basic frame and joinery design. The course culminates with the raising of a fullsized timber frame completed by the group on the final day of class.
length (days) 5 hours 9am-5pm tuition $450 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $425 materials $30
Grindbygg: Norwegian ‘Trestle Frame’ Timber Framing
with Peter Henrikson 6/2/15-6/7/15
Did the Vikings build timber-frames? Yes, as a matter of fact, they did. Join a 3,000-year-old tradition and take up your tools to try Grindbygg-style timber-framing. The oldest construction method known in Norway, and archeological evidence suggests the style was in common use in the Viking era (790-1066 AD). Up until the early 20th century, Grindbygg frames were common in western Norway as unheated outbuildings: barns, boathouses and storehouses. Recently there has been renewed interest in preserving this building technique and there are numerous builders in western Norway constructing Grindbygg frames, mostly for outbuildings and carports. The basic form of a Grindbygg frame is similar to many European and American timber frames: posts held together by tie beams and topped by wall plates supporting common rafters. Yet there are no mortises or tenons. The tie beam sits in a slot cut into the top of the post – a bridle joint. The “plate” sits on the tie beam and against the top of the post. All the bracing is let into the sides of the wall timbers and pegged. Braces are commonly made from naturally curved birch or root knees.
Grindbygg - Norwegian ‘Trestle Frame’ Timber Framing
length (days) 6 hours 9am-5pm tuition $540 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $510 materials $25
timber framing build your own
Timber Frame: Build Your Own, Larger Frames Timber Frame: Build Your Own, Smaller Frames 888-387-9762
Outdoor Timbered Benches with Randy Schnobrich 5/14/15-5/17/15
learn the techniques Basic Timber Framing Grindbygg - Norwegian ‘Trestle Frame’ Timber Framing Outdoor Timbered Benches Sawhorses for the Shop: Service Learning in the Woodshop Timbered Sawhorse Trestles 39
A sturdy, timbered outdoor bench will invite years of use and is perfect for long conversations, a short break from walking or simply watching the world go by. This unique bench design borrows joinery common to timber-frame construction and utilizes rough cut, sustainably harvested white pine timbers. It’s beautiful, comfortable and highly durable. We should know: North House has built several benches in this style for our campus as well as downtown Grand Marais. Over three and a half days, you’ll use professional timber-framing equipment to construct a 4.5 ft bench, ready to be finished and located in a spot with a view. Due to the size of this project, students are highly encouraged to bring a partner. North House uses only certified sustainably harvested timbers.
length (days) 3.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-8pm, Days 2-4: 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials $160 age with adult 16+ more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Sawhorses for the Shop: Service Learning in the Woodshop
Timber Frame: Build Your Own, Smaller Frames
4/17/15-4/19/15
2/23/15-3/3/15
with Randy Schnobrich
A stable of sturdy timbered sawhorses is a must around a place like North House: From boats to timber frames to front doors, the sawhorses in our woodshop support lots of student work (and even serve as an occasional picnic table!) Sharpen your chisel and come lend a hand as we construct eight new timbered sawhorses for campus, designed to be both utilitarian and reflective of our commitment to high-quality work. Students will learn the basics of mortise and tenon joinery, use professional timber framing tools and leave a legacy on campus. Prior experience woodworking is a plus, but is not required. Your participation includes lunch each day. length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5-8pm, Days 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $75 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 includes dinner Day 1, lunch Day 2&3 materials included
Timber Frame: Build Your Own, Larger Frames with Peter Henrikson 8/15/15-8/24/15
This course offers students the opportunity to immerse fully in the craft of timber framing by building a larger and/or a custom-designed timber frame structure. Whether creating a getaway cabin, woodshop or retirement home, the beauty and durability of a timber frame structure offers a unique opportunity to literally build your own home. To participate in this course, students select from a list of stock full-sized frames or custom design a building to meet their individual needs. To make the larger projects possible, students also recruit a group of assistants who journey to North House together to participate in the project. Interested students will consult with the instructor to determine scheduling and project timeline. During the first days of class, participants engage in lessons on timber frame terminology, joinery and layout. Working together, the group of family or friends actively cut timbers for the structure every day. Ultimately, students complete all or most of the joinery on the structure and develop timber framing skills that will last a lifetime. Near the completion of the course, a raising rehearsal demonstrates pre-assembly and raising techniques. Students may choose from a variety of base/stock frames of different sizes or may develop their own custom frame. Every project includes a complete set of timber frame plans. The plan set includes 3-D and 2-D views of the frame, detailed drawings with a 3-D view of each timber as well as a timber list. Tuition and course length varies depending on frame and group size (minimum six participants). Some prior exposure to timber framing is recommended but not required. Custom course dates are created for each project and each group of students. Given this, advance planning and scheduling is essential. Separate tuition payment & cancellation policies apply to this course. North House uses only certified sustainably harvested timbers.
with Peter Henrikson
Tired of unimaginative, small outbuilding kits available from your local lumberyard? Explore all the basic elements of timber frame construction and take home a hand-crafted building. More than 100 timber frame buildings have been built and raised throughout the country by North House students since 1997. During the first days of class, participants engage in interspersed lessons on timber frame terminology, joinery and layout. As the course progresses, each day prioritizes students actively cutting timbers for their structure. Ultimately, students complete all or most of the joinery on the structure and develop timber framing skills that will last a lifetime. Near the completion of the course, a raising rehearsal demonstrates pre-assembly and raising techniques. All that’s left is to load the timbers into a truck or trailer and then raise the building at home. The Build Your Own course emphasizes smaller timber frame structures that can be completed in a single session (for larger frames see Timber Frame: Build Your Own Larger Frames). Students may choose from a variety of different stock frames that vary in size. Tuition and course length varies depending on the frame selected. Students may work alone or with a partner on their frame. Tuition covers instruction and all materials, including timbers and pegs, as well as use of specialized timber framing tools. Traditional and modern tools will be used and/or demonstrated during the course. The frames listed above are often completed by individual students; however, working with a partner on the project is recommended for the larger projects. Plans are provided for all of the standard North House frames. Separate tuition payment & cancellation policies apply to this course. North House uses only certified sustainably harvested timbers. length (days) varies, see below hours 9am-5pm ∙10’x12’ - 7 days - $2,055 ∙10’x16’ - 9 days - $2,565 ∙13’x13’ Sauna - 14 days -$3,695 (assistant required)
Timbered Sawhorse Trestles with Clark Bremer
1/23/15-1/25/15
Whether they are built for the workshop or used to support a tabletop or workbench, timbered sawhorse trestles are reliable, sturdy and reflective of the craftsmanship that goes into timber framing. During this course, you’ll focus on the layout and cutting of the mortise and tenon joints needed to create a timbered sawhorse. You will create a pair of trestles made of 6”x 6” timbers that are 3 or 4 feet wide. This class is a great introduction to the basic techniques used in traditional timber framing. Students will have the opportunity to try out professional-grade timber framing tools, as well as learn to use a variety of traditional hand tools. Materials fee includes a light dinner during the first night of class. North House uses only certified sustainably harvested timbers.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-9pm Day2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $185 materials $145
length (days) 10 or more hours 9am-5pm ∙16’x24’ with loft – approx. $9,750 ∙28’x24’ with loft – approx. $12,500 ∙custom frames – tuition and design fees vary based on project
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
why are
traditional crafts meaningful in today’s world ? “Craft is
the intersection of culture & soul, preserving tangible and intangible
cultural knowledge
while providing an outlet of personal expression in
useful form.
In the hyper-technological society of today
craft gives us meaning by connecting
people and traditions
to remind us
what it means to be human, work with our hands, & express ourselves by taking what we have learned from ancestors, mentors, or family
and finding new expressions of old ways.”
- Jim Sannerud, woodworking 40
888-387-9762
Mosaic: Reviving Old Furniture with Jeanne Wright
10/3/14-10/5/14
You like the table but the top is scratched, dull or just beat up after years of use. Maybe you have an old chair in the garage that just needs “a little something.” Take that piece of furniture that has been begging for a little TLC and give it new life. Use tile, colored glass, old dishes or objects such as toys or jewelry to create a one-of-akind piece of functional furniture. A small project will be completed during the class so all techniques from cutting tile to using fixatives to grouting will be practiced. The remaining time will be spent designing and mosaicing your piece of furniture. Grouting of furniture may need to be finished at home depending on size and complexity of the individual project. A few furniture options will be available to purchase from the instructor.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials $40 age with adult 16+
new
Sew the Molly Bag with Molly Grant 2/3/15-2/4/15
The “molly bag,” designed by Molly Grant of the Cordwainer Shop, is a perfect introductory project to hand-crafting leather goods. Using both hand sewing and leather sewing machines, students will make a small shoulder bag of buffalo leather, prized for its softness and durability. The molly bag measures 8.5”x9” and includes a zipper closure. Matching tassels will be made that can be attached to the shoulder strap. When wellcared for, the molly bag will last for years. Some sewing experience is helpful.
length (days) 1.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-8pm Day 2: 9am-5pm tuition $145 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $135 materials $55 age with adult 12+
Soap Making: The Old Fashioned Way with Jeanne Wright Woodblock Printmaking
traditional crafts
Mosaic Garden Art Mosaic: Reviving Old Furniture Sew the Molly Bag Soap Making: The Old Fashioned Way Woodblock Printmaking Wreath Weaving: The Traditional Balsam Bough Wreath
Mosaic Garden Art with Jeanne Wright 6/5/15-6/7/15
Mosaic, the ancient art of using tile and found objects to make a design, meets the 21st century in your backyard! During the class you will learn how to mosaic or expand your skills using materials and techniques specific to outdoor projects. Colorful and whimsical mosaic designs can range from gazing balls to flower pots to cement sculptures. Bring your own form or choose from a variety of options that the instructor will have available to purchase. Ceramic and glass cutting, using adhesives and grouting will all be covered so you can continue on and fill your garden with whimsy.
1/10/15 3/14/15
Soap - so simple, yet so misunderstood. Have you ever pondered the ingredients contained in a typical bar of soap? Petroleum distillates, sulfates, and many other unpronounceable additives. Whatever happened to that good ol’ fashioned soap that Grandma made? Using the same ingredients Grandma used, animal fat and lye, learn how to make gentle, natural soaps, and explore the history and science of this cleanser. You’ll leave with at least two varieties of handmade soap, information and resources, and plenty of experience to make soap at home.
length (days) 0.5 hours 9am-1pm tuition $55 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $45 materials $15 age with adult 12+
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $40 age with adult 14+
Wreath Weaving: The Traditional Balsam Bough Wreath
888-387-9762
41
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Woodblock Printmaking with Nick Wroblewski 3/13/15-3/15/15
Woodblock printing is one of the oldest ways of creating multiple images. Through the tactile process of literally “carving” imagery, this workshop will investigate the methods of relief woodblock printmaking. This course is an introduction to the basics of creating a multicolor woodblock print. Techniques covered will include transfer, carving, reduction, and multi-block methods, simplifying the seemingly complicated world of layers, woodcarving, reversed imagery, registration and printing. Co-hosted with the Grand Marais Art Colony, this course will utilize a professional printing studio, allowing students to learn hand printing techniques as well as techniques that utilize a manual printing press. Students will also be encouraged to discuss imagery, abstraction and conceptual intent. Embark on the adventuresome process of creating a unique, colorful image through woodcarving!
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $270 materials $60
Wreath Weaving: The Traditional Balsam Bough Wreath with David/Lise Abazs 12/6/14
Spend a cozy, wintry day on the Round River Farm in Finland, Minn. (48 miles SW of Grand Marais), an inspirational homestead environment, as you learn to create a hand-woven, balsam-based holiday wreath from start to finish. Use forest materials harvested in a sustainable fashion and learn specialized weaving techniques to create fresh, natural greenery wreaths, unadulterated by waxes, paint or artificial scents. We will learn how and when to cut greens, what particular materials you will need and how to weave these greens into a circular form. Your efforts will provide you with a wreath to take home. length (days) 0.5 hours 9 am- 1 pm tuition $65 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $60 materials $10 age with adult 13+
Bowl Carving with Axe, Adze & Gouge
nuts & bolts
when can I sign up?
Anytime! We are always updating our schedule online. We open most courses for registration online on September 1 and March 1 each year. Mark your calendar or sign up for our e-news, and we’ll keep you up-to-date with our latest course offerings. more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
woodcarving Automata: Making Wood Move Bowl Carving with Axe, Adze and Gouge Carving Ladles & Spoons Cutting it Close: Improve Your Knife & Axe Skills Krympburkar: Scandanavian-Style Shrink Boxes Nordic Drinking Vessels In Wood Pattern, Texture, Paint: Personal Expression through Craft Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving: Wood Week 2015 42
Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Figure Carving Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving: Continuation Skimming the Surface: The Basics of Milk Paint Spoon Carving Tutorial I Spoon Carving Tutorial II Timber Carving: Classic Posts for the Northern Home
888-387-9762
Automata: Making Wood Move
new
with Cecilia Schiller
9/4/14-9/6/14 3/26/15-3/28/15
Cranks wind, gears turn, dragons chomp and birds fly. Welcome to the whimsical world of automata: simple wooden machines that delight and amaze. Join Cecilia Schiller for a three-day exploration of the principles of making wooden machines and the simple mechanisms that make things move. Beginning with the design process, students will learn techniques to draw, drill and cut gears, cams and levers, and how to assemble machines that will actually work. There will be ample time to discuss design considerations and allow for experimentation with different combinations of mechanisms and the resulting movements. Students will choose from two different simple projects--a figure that comes to life and dances when the crank is turned or a galloping animal-and leave with plenty of ideas and inspiration to create their own whirling, chomping, and flying machines.
Bowl Carving with Axe, Adze and Gouge with Jon Strom
1/30/15-2/1/15
Carving Ladles & Spoons with Jon Strom
3/5/15-3/6/15
The spoon is in the eye of the beholder. A crooked branch can become a perfect ladle; a slight bend makes a lovely eating spoon. Enjoy two days of handwork in this greenwood carving class focused on ladles and spoons. Working with birch, you’ll use simple hand tools and carving techniques to reveal the spoon within the branch. The quiet nature of the work will allow ample time for discussion of design points and variables depending on the intended use of the spoon. Suitable for beginning carvers and those looking to expand their skills. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate!
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $180 materials $15 age with adult 16+
11/19/14-11/21/14
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $45 age with adult
Make the wood chips fly! This course is for students ready to stand at the chopping block and learn to use classic wooden bowl-carving hand tools – the adze, axe, gouge and push knife. During this class, topics including selection of wood stock, elements of bowl design, strategies for hand-hewing, use of sharpening skills, and techniques for finishing will be explored. Students start with a birch log and end with a spectacular bowl (or two!) with graceful lines and smooth surfaces. The shape and style of the bowl connects directly to how the tools themselves function – the classic hand-crafted lines echo the Scandinavian bowl carving tradition that reaches back hundreds of years.
new
with Paul Linden/Jim Sannerud
The shrink box is a wooden container that relies on a simple trick: Freshly cut (green) wood and dry wood behave differently. The body of the vessel is made from green wood that changes in size as it dries (putting the “shrink” in shrink box). The bottom of the vessel is made of dry wood. As the green wood dries out, it shrinks, tightens and locks around the dry bottom. If done correctly, this will create a water-tight vessel. Though they are called boxes, these containers are typically cylindrical in shape because they are usually made from hollowed tree branches. Centuries ago, the Vikings made tight fitting lids for shrink boxes and used them for storing salt and spices. This course, team-taught by two accomplished woodworkers, will serve both newcomers to the craft of shrink boxes and woodworkers with previous experience who are looking to further explore the possibilities of shape and/or surface decoration. Students may choose to make one special box or perhaps several of them, depending on their skills and desires. Traditional paints and decorative carving will be demonstrated and available for students to practice. Both instructors bring a wealth of knowledge of green woodworking traditions, skills and techniques, providing a highly supportive environment and diverse perspectives for student learning.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials $65
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials $15 age with adult 16+
Krympburkar: ScandanavianStyle Shrink Boxes
Nordic Drinking Vessels In Wood with Phillip Odden/Else Bigton 3/5/15-3/8/15
Spoon Carving Tutorial II
new
Cutting it Close: Improve Your Knife & Axe Skills with Jarrod StoneDahl 3/5/15-3/6/15
Ready to cut to the core of the matter? No matter what the project is, traditional woodworking requires a solid command of two fundamental tools: the ax and the knife. This will be intense process/skill building workshop for folks that have some knife and axe carving experience but are ready to take it to another level. Through the carving of chopsticks, butter spreaders, cooking spades, small stirring spoons or herring forks, students will explore the more intense and skilled uses of the axe and knife. We’ll explore different variations of the standard carving grips/grasps and delve deep into cutting theory to help understand what’s happening at the blade’s edge, and to learn to make long, clean, smooth cuts with our knives. We will also focus on learning to use the axe in an efficient way to save time and energy. There will be ample time for one-on-one lessons and skill building exercises in this two-day workshop.
Nordic cultures have created ornate wooden drinking vessels for centuries. Phillip and Else have been studying these designs for over 20 years. Under their tutelage, you will explore the process of designing, forming, and decorating a variety of drinking vessels. Drinking cups and ale bowls, large and small, will be the focus of the class, as many have interesting heads in the form of chickens, dragons, ducks, or horses. You first sculpt the piece and then decorate it with acrylic paint, kolrosing and traditional carving patterns. We will use a variety of woodworking tools and the working time will be accented with mini lectures on aspects of technique, creativity, ornamentation styles, form and function, wood selection, tool sharpening, and finishes. Students are also welcome to bring other wood carving projects with which they would like to receive assistance. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate! The third day of this course will be offered Sunday, March 8.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $300 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $285 materials varies ($6-$25 per blank)
Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate!
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $180 materials $15
Skimming the Surface: The Basics of Milk Paint
888-387-9762
43
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
new
Pattern, Texture, Milk Paint: Personal Expression Through Craft with Jim Sannerud
2/21/15-2/22/15
Handcraft is a personal expression of its maker. Color choice, texture, symbolism, or simple embellishment of folk art aesthetics all reflect the landscape, values, tastes, and whims of the person behind the object. Through conversations and presentations during this course you will explore the history of symbolism used in European folk arts and develop your own palette of personal expression. You will experiment with milk paint and how it interacts with surface embellishments and texture carved in your piece to emphasize the tactile satisfaction of your work. Students can choose to bring a woodenware project of their own to complete during class or they may simply create a series of practice pieces to allow for a wide ranging exploration of techniques. Students may also choose to register for Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl held prior to this course to produce woodenware suitable for embellishment.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials included
Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Figure Carving with Harley Refsal
6/17/15-6/19/15
This course provides beginning carvers with the opportunity to carve several figures in the Scandinavian flatplane style. Beginning with tool sharpening, the course provides hands-on carving experience as you complete a figure in step-by-step fashion. You will then paint the figures and apply a final oil finish. After this initial figure, you will carve additional pieces independently while the instructor offers assistance on an individual basis. Sharpening equipment and finishing supplies are also covered. Band-sawn wooden cutouts may be purchased directly from the instructor and he will also have a supply of basic carving tools for purchase for students who do not have their own. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials varies (see description) age with adult 12+
Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving: Continuation with Harley Refsal
6/22/15-6/24/15
Another appropriate name for this course could simply be: “Let’s Keep Carving!” It is an inspiring immersion for students with prior carving experience, including seasoned figure carvers, as well as new-to-carving folks who have just completed the three-day Scandinavian Style Figure Carving course. Need some inspiration or a few new ideas? Carving blanks and patterns for over 40 different characters will be available for purchase directly from the instructor. Workshop discussions and demonstrations will be facilitated by master carver Harley Refsal. Pick up your knife and get carving!
new
Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving: Wood Week 2015 with Harley Refsal
3/5/15-3/8/15
This course provides beginning carvers with the opportunity to carve several figures in the Scandinavian flat-plane style. Beginning with tool sharpening, the course provides hands-on carving experience as you complete a figure in step-by-step fashion. You will then paint the figures and apply a final oil finish. Sharpening equipment and finishing supplies are also covered. Band-sawn wooden cutouts may be purchased directly from the instructor and he will also have a supply of basic carving tools for purchase for students who do not have their own. New for Wood Week 2015, Harley will offer a “Think Small” option: Carve “Tommeliten,” the Norwegian fairy tale character similar to Tom Thumb, and his tiny horse, Pip Pip. The Tommeliten character is from the collected fairy tales of Asbjørnsen and Moe, published in Norway in approx. 1841. Pip Pip, the very small horse, springs directly from Harley’s imagination. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate! The third day of this course will be offered Sunday, March 8.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $285 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials varies (see description)
new
Skimming the Surface: The Basics of Milk Paint with Jim Sannerud 3/8/15
Got milk (paint)? Add color and creativity to any project without using toxic and petroleum-derived products (no cow required). Learn how to prepare, mix your own colors and apply milk paint. Milk paint is one of the most ancient forms of paint known. Milk protein (also known as casein) and crushed limestone are mixed to form a very strong binder. Clay is added for body and earth pigments are added for color. The paints are made in powder form to avoid adding chemical preservatives. The instructor will provide a sample board and paints to work with, or bring a project you’d like to experiment on. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate!
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $95 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $85 materials $15
Spoon Carving Tutorial I with Fred Livesay/Jarrod Stonedahl 10/9/14-10/10/14
Spoon carving has a near-magnetic pull on both novice woodcarvers and old hands with a carving knife; once you experience the satisfaction of crafting something beautiful, useful and vastly superior to any commercial offering, you’re likely to carve spoons for years to come. In this introductory session with instructors Fred Livesay and Jarrod Stonedahl, students will familiarize themselves with traditional knife strokes, wood grain and carving techniques by roughing out, carving and finishing an eating spoon or two, depending on time and personal preferences. This two-day session will focus on the basic elements of spoon carving, and touch upon sharpening, finishing, and decorating. Suitable for beginners and experienced carvers. Instructors will have some tools for student use and additional spoon blanks for sale. Students are encouraged to register for Spoon Carving Tutorial II to continue to build their skills.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $180 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $10
Spoon Carving Tutorial II with Fred Livesay/Jarrod Stonedahl 10/11/14-10/12/14
Spoon carvers will relish the opportunity to dig deep into the finer points (curves?) of this addictive craft. Join prolific carvers Fred Livesay and Jarrod Stonedahl for an exploration and in-depth discussion of the design elements of spoons of all sorts. Time will be devoted to instruction in decoration and finishing techniques to help students move their work to the next level. This tutorial format with two instructors allows students to pursue their own project interests with support and tutelage, all while enjoying the company of other spoon enthusiasts.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $180 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $10
Timber Carving: Classic Posts for the Northern Home with Jock Holmen
11/14/14-11/16/14
A decoratively carved timber with a hand-hewn look is a classic signature of the northern home. In this course, you’ll choose from two design templates to carve a white pine timber suitable for a door entry beam. Using chisels, gouges and other hand tools, you’ll complete one face of an 8-foot-long 6”x6” or 8”x8” timber in two days. Creative embellishments are encouraged as time allows. Options for finishing timbers will be discussed. Your hard work will produce a family heirloom that will be treasured for years to come. Due to the physical nature of carving, we encourage you to bring a partner to share the load.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials $40 ($65 for 8”x8”) age with adult 15+
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $240 materials varies (see description) age with adult 12+
Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Figure Carving more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
44
888-387-9762
Artistic Bark-Edged Wooden Bowls with Lou Pignolet
6/22/15-6/23/15 8/18/15-8/19/15
This course is intended for students already familiar with bowl turning on an electric lathe and who want to learn more advanced woodturning methods. We will explore turning asymmetrical forms from bark-edged bowls to unusual end-grain pieces. The course will include selection of wood, cutting of bowl blanks, choice of form, and techniques of mounting and turning amazing barkedged bowls. We will also cover the details of drying and finishing (sanding and oiling) of a turned bowl. Each student will turn several bark-edged bowls suitable for artistic display and learn many tricks of the trade. This class is most suitable for students who have some prior turning experience. This class takes place at the instructor’s home studio, in Hovland, a 20-minute drive east of Grand Marais. Students will meet at North House on the first day of class and can arrange to carpool if they wish.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $190 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $170 materials $75
Adirondack Chair Building with Randy Schnobrich 5/29/15-5/31/15
Adirondack Chair Building
woodworking & furniture craft Carving Spoons, Butter Knives and Bread Boards - Swedish Style Green Woodworking Kids Only: Slöjd in the Wood Shop Knife, Bowl & Spoon: Four Days of Woodcraft Plane Talk: Restoring & Tuning Hand Planes Pony Up: Build Your Own Shaving Horse, Smaller Style Shaker Box Tradition: Make a Stacking Set Shaker-Style Carriers: Further Exploration Wanigan: The Traveling Box You Can Handle It: Nordic Inspired Stacked Handled Flatware
wood turning
Artistic Bark-Edged Wooden Bowls Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl Spring-Pole Lathe: Build Your Own Wooden Bowl Turning: Norwegian Ale Bowls
Without question, the Adirondack chair is a timeless classic - its high back, large armrests and contoured seat and back are unmistakable. For many, the Adirondack chair defines the ideal deck or lawn chair for a well-deserved break. This course is the perfect opportunity for you to learn and expand basic woodworking skills. During the weekend, you will learn to utilize various woodworking hand and power tools safely and proficiently. You will cut, shape, sand, and assemble your own rot-resistant cedar Adirondack chair. The dimensions of the chair will be approx. 28” wide, 38” tall and 34” deep. After returning home, you will have the knowledge and ability to build its match. So, let the sawdust fly and imagine how good it will feel to relax for many years to come in a chair you built yourself.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-8pm, Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $160 materials $95 per chair age with adult 14+
furniture craft Adirondack Chair Building Bury Yourself in Your Work: Build Your Own Casket Cabinetry Basics: Building the Wall Cabinet Exterior Doors: From Stile to Rail Kitchen Stools: Service Learning in Furniture Craft Timbered Workbench: Early American Style Traditional Paper Rush Chair Seat Weaving Traditional Seat Caning For the Vintage Chair Twig Furniture: Crafting the Twig Chair Twig Furniture: Twig Mosaic End Table Exterior Doors: From Stile to Rail
888-387-9762
45
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Bury Yourself in Your Work: Build Your Own Casket with Randy Schnobrich
new
10/31/14-11/2/14
None of us are getting out of this alive, so we may as well bury ourselves in our work! Put your hands to work making something truly useful while also building a strong base of basic woodworking skills. The above-ground applications of your resulting project are numerous – bookshelf, coffee table, storage container or entertainment center, not to mention a great conversation piece. Beginning woodworkers will enjoy acquiring new skills, while more advanced participants will have ample opportunity to apply their talents. Chop saws to block planes, screw guns to dovetail joinery - this course covers a range of important skills while offering the opportunity to manage the key details such as proper sizing, joinery, handle construction, hardware and design options. Students will develop woodworking skills that will last a lifetime (and beyond). The casket materials include cabinet-grade pine, birch for handles and bronze fastenings. You may bring a partner to work on one casket for the single tuition rate. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 per casket early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $295 per casket
Cabinetry Basics: Building the Wall Cabinet with Randy Schnobrich 2/20/15-2/22/15
Considering when and where to start on that big cabinet project you want to build and install? Start here. Before you jump into a big project, learn the basic techniques, tools and equipment used by both traditional and contemporary cabinet makers. As a class project, each student builds a pine wall cabinet (24” x 32” x 5”) with a door, using hand tools, while exploring some basic machinery techniques as well. Students learn the proper techniques to cut clean mortise and tenons with chisels and drills, work with a shoulder plane to rabbet the door panel and explore the safe use of a table saw, planer, jointer, band saws, and hand saws. If time permits, finishes ranging from traditional milk paints to more contemporary varnishes suitable to cabinetry will be covered.
length (days) 2.5 hours Day 1: 5pm-9pm; Day 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $185 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $160 materials $60 age with adult 16+
Carving Spoons, Butter Knives and Bread Boards: Swedish Style Green Woodworking with Jon Strom
1/28/15-1/29/15
Boiled down to the elements of axe and knife, green woodworking in the Swedish tradition has inspired a new generation of woodcarvers to revisit old-world patterns and styles. Participants in this course will be introduced to the Swedish traditions of ‘köksredskap,’ or carving traditional Swedish butter knives, small spoons or bread boards by starting with a green log, splitting it, and using classic hand tools to carve their desired project. No trips to Ikea here, just innovative designs following the folk art traditions of Sweden. No experience necessary as we provide the tools, wood and direction. Students will leave with two to three handcarved projects that are reminscent of yesteryear.
First Impressions: Building Exterior Doors Service Learning Course with Randy Schnobrich
12/5/14-12/7/14 3/20/15-3/22/15
You only have one chance to make a solid first impression (and goodness knows the importance of preventing cold drafts). So, building new front doors, both beautiful and functional, for North House’s campus is nothing short of serious business. Opening any front door is a momentous occasion: behind you, the outside world, in front of you, home. Learn to construct sturdy layered exterior doors in this hands-on workshop. Each session of this course will build four exterior doors (we need thirteen total!) with large windows that will welcome students and visitors alike. The techniques and skills covered are easily transferable to interior doors. Each day will include instruction in and use of the table saw for material preparation and mortise & tenon joinery. Door finishing, hardware and hanging will also be discussed. length (days) 2.5 Day 1: 5-9pm Days 2/3: 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials included
Kids Only: Slöjd in the Wood Shop with Paul Linden/Avery Carlson 10/17/14-10/18/14
This kid’s course is meant as an introduction to the various hand tools and simple skills involved in working with wood. The course is co-taught by a father and son team, Paul Linden and Avery Carlson (age 12). We will start with an introduction to common tools, stressing safety for both the child and the tools. Then we will make a coat hook/peg board, students will design their own and finish/paint/decorate them as they see fit. Following the Slöyd education model, the instructor will not touch the student’s work unless specifically requested, but allow them to complete the project wholly by themselves. We hope that this course will serve as either an empowering start or an invigorating catalyst to a lifelong relationship with hand tools and craftwork. length (days) 2 hours 9am-3pm tuition $75 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $65 materials $20 age with adult 10+
new
Kitchen Stools: Service Learning in Furniture Craft
www.northhouse.org
with Jim Sannerud
5/26/15-5/29/15
Four days of handcraft can be the beginning of a passionate relationship that will last a lifetime. Immerse yourself in craft step-by-step at North House during this unique four-day course with Jim Sannerud. On day one you’ll turn simple ale bowls concentrating on form and thickness. Day two will focus on knife skills by making a butter spreader and learning about how to add food safe colors to your project with Milk Paint. Days three and four will allow you to develop more turning skills by making more bowls. In the afternoons practice your knife skills by making a spoon or spatula and add carved decorations to your bowl. On one of the days you’ll also head into the woods to harvest materials for use in some projects, and draw a direct connection between tree and craft. Four full days of craft, stories, laughter and undoubtedly some new friendships… a truly wonderful immersion. Optional evening activities and film screenings will enhance the session.
length (days) 4 hours 9am-5pm tuition $360 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $340 materials $65
Lathe Turning: The Wooden Bowl with Jim Sannerud
9/10/14-9/11/14 11/6/14-11/7/14 11/8/14-11/9/14 2/19/15-2/20/15
The wooden bowl is a reflection of both utility and beauty - an inspiring craft form to experience. Explore the grains of northern hardwoods - birch and maple - as you learn detailed lathe handling and turning techniques to turn a wooden bowl on the electric lathe. From tree to bowl, learn how to identify the best parts of a tree for a bowl blank and how to orient stock for the best grain patterns to match the outcomes you desire. To ensure longevity and finishing of the bowl, drying techniques will also be covered. Take home a traditional utility bowl for the kitchen as well as an artistic form for the coffee table. Materials fee includes all wood for projects plus the use of individual lathes and set of tools.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $195 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $185 materials $45
with John Beltman
11/18/14-11/20/14
For centuries, tired feet (and seats!) have appreciated the comfort and beauty of a hand-crafted stool; in this service learning course, you can lend a hand to your fellow North House students by building six stools for the North House teaching kitchen. Using a variety of hand tools, students will sculpt a seat and assemble the legs. Simple joinery methods will be used for the final assembly. This course will expose students to a wide variety of tools, methods and techniques used in traditional furniture building. If you’re curious about furniture building, this is a perfect opportunity to advance your skills. Your effort will benefit North House and you’ll leave with the knowledge to tackle similar projects on your own.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $95 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $90
new
Plane Talk: Restoring & Tuning Hand Planes with Fred Livesay 3/8/15
In an age of power tools, the hand plane gets short shrift. The hand plane is a more efficient tool than a sander or power planer in many applications and takes less time to set up and use when properly tuned. After this course, you will be singing the praises of the hand plane and your plane will be singing back to you, plain as day. Don’t be mystified by your old plane. Bring it to class. Learn to sharpen, tune and plane properly. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate!
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $95 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $85 materials included
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $150 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials $15 age with adult 16+
more details, more photos:
Knife, Bowl & Spoon: Four Days of Woodcraft
46
888-387-9762
Shaker-Style Carriers: Further Exploration
Timbered Workbench: Early American Style
7/26/15
1/16/15-1/17/15
with Bob Ristow
The simple and practical design of Shaker woodworking is not limited to boxes: A wide variety of containers and carriers can be made using straight-grained thin wood strips bent and tacked into shape. In this one-day course, students will choose to craft either a set of nested carriers, a swing handle carrier or a divided carrier. Using both traditional hand tools and some modern tools, this is a simple woodworking project with a utilitarian and lovely product that can be finished in a plain style, or painted and embellished further at home. Students are encouraged to enroll in the two-day Shaker boxes course scheduled before this session, or take this class as an introduction to this style of woodworking. The materials fee for this course will vary depending on the number of projects a student chooses to complete. Twig Furniture: Crafting the Twig Chair
length (days) 1 hours 9am-5pm tuition $85 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $75 materials varies ($25-$35/project) age with adult 12+
Pony Up: Build Your Own Shaving Horse, Smaller Style
Spring-Pole Lathe: Build Your Own
3/5/15-3/6/15
4/14/15-4/16/15
with Jim Sannerud
The shaving horse is a must-have shop tool for the traditional woodworker committed to pursuing classic building projects that require handtools and handwork, but can be a lot to lug around. In this session of BYO, you’ll build a simple shave horse that fits on your lap, is lightweight, ready to go anywhere, and customized to your body proportions, inspired by Swedish craftsman Ramon Persson. Compared to a standard workbench with a conventional wood vise, the shaving horse allows for quick adjustments and leverage that ultimately suits drawknife and spokeshave work. The instructor will demonstrate varied uses of the shaving horse, including working chair legs, preparing wood to be turned on a lathe and carving spoons and other Swedish influenced woodworking projects. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate! The third day of this course will be offered Sunday, March 8.
with John Beltman
Spring-pole lathes are reminiscent of colonial woodworking traditions and have been used for hundreds of years to create elegant chair legs, spindles, and bowls from freshly cut, rough wood stock. In its simplest form the foot-powered spring-pole lathe is both easy to operate and efficient, allowing for complete control over the turning process. In this course you work with traditional woodworking tools to build your own wood turning machine from freshly milled white pine. The course also covers the basics of wood turning. You will have the chance to split green wood into rough stock and experience a real sense of satisfaction as a piece of wood evolves into a chair stretcher, candlestick or similarly shaped object.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $190
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $245
Traditional Paper Rush Chair Seat Weaving with Cathryn Peters
10/25/14-10/26/14
Most likely you’ve seen this type of weaving done on antique and flea market chairs and always wondered how it was done. In this two-day course you will learn how to weave the rush seat design pattern, which forms four distinct triangular envelope shapes that meet in the center. The instructor will provide vintage chairs for students to complete during class, but with prior approval from the instructor, students are welcome to bring their own chair instead. You will be using a continuous strand of rolled paper rope, a product that was invented in the early 1900s and made to resemble the hand-twisted natural bulrush or cattail leaves found in older chair seats. The instructor will show you the tricks of the trade to speed and improve your weaving process. Take home a completed chair and a new interest. Total material fee for the chair and material will be $65. If your bring a chair, the paper rush material only will be approximately $25-$35.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $150 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $130 materials varies ($25-$65)
with Cathryn Peters
11/7/14-11/19/14
Bring your worn-out chair to class and learn the nearly lost art of the traditional, seven-step method of chair seat weaving commonly known as “hole-to-hole caning.” During the course, you’ll have ample time, instruction, and all the tools required to restore your vintage chair by recaning the seat to its original condition. Whether a family heirloom chair or the one you picked up at the antique store that needs a little brushing up, vintage chairs that need seat work are welcome in this course that’s tailored to your specific project. Chairs need to have predrilled holes around the perimeter of seat and be in good condition (not in need of re-gluing or refinishing). Each student will consult with the instructor prior to the start of the course to assess the chair’s needs.
Shaker Box Tradition: Make a Stacking Set with Bob Ristow
7/24/15-7/25/15
There was a time when households had few belongings, and clutter from too much stuff was not an issue. Basics such as matches, glue powders and paint pigments, and sugar, coffee, tea, and spices needed containers. Before the age of canisters and Tupperware, Shaker craftsmen made and marketed their oval boxes to meet this purpose. Explore the traditions of the Shaker box as you learn to make a stacked set of boxes (five total), reflecting on both the traditional uses and production methods, as well as more decorative touches such as the use of cherry woods rather than plain maple and wood finishes suited for the coffee table rather than cupboard. The Shaker Box is a box for all occasions, utilitarian as well as decorative. Its charm and grace make a difference whatever role it plays.
888-387-9762
Have bench, will travel? Indeed - with this workbench you can do both! A fine workbench is an essential fixture in the home workshop. In this class students will build a sturdy timbered workbench based on early American designs using simple and classic joinery that echoes timber framing techniques. Mortise and tenon joints of different sizes are used so the finished bench is held together with wedges and can easily be disassembled. The portable, knock-down features of this workbench make it a versatile addition to your workspace and easy to load to bring home. Dimensions: 38”H x 72”L x 30”W (with some variations possible). The bench is made using white pine timbers for the legs and top, and ash for the wedges.
Traditional Seat Caning For the Vintage Chair
length (days) 2 hours Day 1: 9am-5pm; Day 2: 9am-5pm tuition $200 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $180 materials $45
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $60 age with adult 12+
with John Beltman
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials varies ($20-$40)
Wooden Bowl Turning: Norwegian Ale Bowls 47
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Twig Furniture: Crafting the Twig Chair
Wooden Bowl Turning: Norwegian Ale Bowls
5/8/15-5/10/15
11/14/14-11/16/14 3/5/15-3/8/15
with Paula Sundet Wolf
The twig chair is the hallmark project for someone who appreciates the traditional craft of twig furniture making. In this course you will work with native alder and willow following a basic twig chair design that can be individualized with curved, bent, or straight twig furniture techniques. A harvesting field trip will provide an opportunity to gather some of the materials that will personalize each chair, in addition to providing a chance to field identify twig furniture materials. During the first day of class, students will construct a basic chair frame using materials provided by the instructor. On the following morning, students will take a field trip to identify brushwood species and to gather materials for the chair seat and back. By afternoon, students will start constructing the seat and back using gathered materials. By day three students will finish their chair and talk about other applications such as footstools, tables, etc. length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $225 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $195 materials $35
Twig Furniture: Twig Mosaic End Table with Paula Sundet Wolf 10/18/14-10/19/14
The complexity of geometric patterns complemented by a rustic, handcrafted look best describes the craft of twig mosaic. Twig mosaic is an early American folk art form using full or half rounded branches nailed over a frame creating a geometric pattern that provides volume and intricacy, delicacy and geometry. You will work with native brush and tree species such as red-osier dogwood, willow and alder to make the visually striking 16” x 24” table top - a great complement to any handwoven rug on the floor or used as a reading table next to the sofa at the cabin. The base of the table and legs will also be constructed using a variety of rustic twig furniture joinery techniques including the woven and entwined method, and the nailed stick method. A field trip will provide an opportunity to identify useful brush and tree species and to cut and gather materials for your specific project. This is a perfect project for children and adults to work together to craft a family heirloom while learning basic woodworking skills.
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $25 age with adult 10+
new
with Roger Abrahamson
Wooden ale bowls are an excellent example of functional Scandinavian folk art. These ceremonial drinking vessels were used both for serving on special occasions and in the brewing process. In this class, students begin with a green birch log. Using axes, knives, hook tools and a foot-powered spring-pole lathe (plus lots of vigorous work), you’ll create an ale bowl to take home and use. Tool sharpening and proper cutting techniques will be taught. There will also be lively discussions on the design, function and culture surrounding these objects, as well as the history of woodturning. The instructor will have available several antique bowls from his collection for study and inspiration. Skills taught in this class will also be very useful to modern bowl turners. Registration in the March 2015 session of this class includes participation in mini classes & excursions on Saturday, March 7, as part of the Wood Week. More information will be provided upon registration. Please plan to participate! The third day of this course will be offered Sunday, March 8.
north house
instructors
David/Lise Abazs - Finland, MN
You Can Handle It: Nordic Inspired Stacked Handled Flatware
David and Lise of Round River Farm live on the North Shore of Lake Superior. There the rocky soil provides the materials to build their homestead, and the northern elements provide the solar and wind power to keep it all running. The Abazses grow and sell organic fruit and vegetables, make wreaths, and raise livestock. Teaching, consulting, and installing renewable energy systems fill out their lives as they strive to balance their needs with what the Earth can provide. Visit www.round-river.com.
10/24/14-10/26/14
Roger Abrahamson - Minneapolis, MN
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $255 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $225 materials $35
with Harley Refsal/Mike Schelmeske
Stacked handle flatware is an aesthetic unique to the Nordic kitchen. From cheese planes to spatulas, serving spoons to filet knives, the handles of these items are a reflection of three basic Scandinavian natural materials – character birch wood, stacked birch bark and reindeer antler. Starting with these essential materials, you will learn to shape and layer the handles and fasten to the Nordic metalware provided by the instructor, choosing from these aforementioned projects. Your materials fee covers the cost of the Nordic crafted metalware. The rest of the design you shape using traditional carving and fastening techniques.
length (days) 3 hours 9am-5pm tuition $270 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $255 materials varies ($45-$65) age with adult 16+
Wanigan: The Traveling Box
Roger is a traditional bowl turner. Using a spring pole lathe, hand-forged tools and freshly harvested native woods, he specializes in the creation of Norwegian ale vessels. Roger’s fascination with these objects has its roots in his immigrant grandmother’s ale bowl, which is still in the family. Roger has demonstrated his trade at the Nordic Fest, Norsk Hostfest, the Minnesota State Fair, the Smithsonian Institute’s Viking Exhibition and several other historic sites. He has been a turner for 18 years, working with a pole lathe exclusively for the past 12.
Paul Anderson - Grand Marais, MN
Paul Anderson enjoys preparing and preserving meats of all kinds; he’s nearly always got something delicious in the smoker or on the table. Having served on the North House Board of Directors for 6 years, he is very familiar with campus and the many characters that hang out there. Paul fills his time fly fishing, traveling and sampling meats around the world.
Philis Anderson - Grand Marais, MN
with Fred Livesay
Philis has owned and trained horses since the 1970s. The Norwegian Fjord horse has been her horse of choice in recent years because of its intelligence and gentle nature. Philis and her horses enter pleasure driving competitions and shows, and her horses have received high evaluations in the Norwegian system of confirmation and work discipline. Learn more about Philis at www.SawtoothMountainFjords. com.
11/22/14-11/23/14
Essentially a highly functional lightweight wooden box, the wanigan is a fine seat in the tent while stowing your adventure gear. Though the word wanigan is derived from the Ojibwe term “wanikkan,” meaning a man-made storage hole, your wanigan will be far more elegant than a simple hole: Crafted of cedar & pine and finished with bronze-ribbed boat nails, this will be a prized addition to the traveling kit of any winter camper, urban adventurer or on-the-move carpenter. Students will customize their wanigan to fit their toboggan and/or adjust the design for other purposes. The finished wanigan will measure roughly 28” long and 12” wide, though some variation is possible.
Ian Andrus - Grand Marais, MN
Ian lives in the woods outside Grand Marais without running water or electricity in a yurt he built himself, spending much of his time gathering wild foods, firewood and craft materials. He is inspired by traditional lifestyles and is always seeking to uncover the lost art of living off the land. Aside from yurts Ian makes black ash and birch bark baskets, birch bark canoes, and other utilitarian crafts. Ian is a former North House Folk School intern. Ian’s website: www. superioryurt.wordpress.com
length (days) 2 hours 9am-5pm tuition $170 early bird tuition (6+ wks in advance) $150 materials $45 Traditional Seat Caning For the Vintage Chair
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
48
888-387-9762
Jay Arrowsmith Decoux - Grand Marais, MN
Although Jay is a native of southern Minnesota, he has made Grand Marais his home over the past few years. As a former North House Intern and wilderness guide, Jay brings a mixed bag of skills and stories to the classroom. Apart from making mouthwatering meats, Jay is currently writing a North Shore Adventure Guide with Adventure Publications and runs the Art House Bed and Breakfast with his wife (and fellow instructor) Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux.
Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux - Grand Marais, MN
Rose is a storyteller, writer and creative midwife, with roots in poetry and theatre. She draws heavily on her European and Scandinavian heritage, telling traditional tales and crafting new stories with an old feel. Rose has performed professionally since 2001 at schools, museums and Swedish festivals. She has been an instructor for the Children’s Theatre Company, Young Authors’ Conference, Learner’s Edge Inc, Concordia Language Villages, and the American Swedish Institute. Rose leads workshops and retreats in Minneapolis and Grand Marais. She and her husband run Art House B+B.
John Beltman - Nashwauk, MN
John is a master woodworker who specializes in working with traditional hand tools and utilizing traditional building techniques. His students consistently comment that this approach permeates every class he teaches. John has recently concentrated his efforts on traditional early American methods of woodworking, including spring-pole lathe turning, the construction of snowshoes, and hand-crafting Windsor chairs & stools. John’s training includes work with the Rockport Apprentice Shop in Maine, Strong’s Canoe Yard in Vermont, and the Windsor Institute in New Hampshire.
Traudi Bestler - Long Lake, MN
Traudi has been weaving and creating textile projects for over 30 years. Her prime interest is passing along the history and joy of making fiber art. Traudi studied weaving, spinning, and dyeing at the Weaver’s Guild of Minnesota, The Weaving School and Sievers School of Fiber Arts. She currently teaches weaving and dyeing at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts and has been a workshop presenter for the last 25 years at the MN Federation of Weavers conferences.
Jeanne Bourquin - Ely, MN
Jeanne is a full-time wood-canvas canoe builder and runs her business, Bourquin Boats, from her workshop in Ely. She began her canoe building career by repairing her own wood-canvas canoe in the early 1980s. In 1985, she built her first wood-canvas canoe with Jerry Stelmok. Since then she has been hooked, and has been building and repairing canoes in her Ely shop. She is known among canoe builders for her care in construction and finishing details. See her work at www.bourquin.wcha.org.
Katherine Breen - Iqaluit, Nunavut
Katherine Breen is a family physician who has practiced medicine in some of the world’s most northerly communities. Specializing in a unique combination of emergency and wilderness medicine as well as obstetrics and tuberculosis Kate has provided consultations for numerous adventurers who have experienced medical problems while in the field. Her own adventures have taken Kate into the Virunga Mountains of East Africa, and across Baffin Island in a traditional Inuit style kayak. She is a SCUBA diver, a yoga teacher, and a lover of the outdoors.
888-387-9762
Clark Bremer - Minneapolis, MN
Pat Donohue – St Paul, MN
Matthew Brown - Grand Marais, MN
Carol Dunn - Hackensack, MN
Clark’s wife enrolled him in one of the first timber framing classes offered at North House, and he hasn’t been the same since. Clark now owns Northern Lights Timber Framing in Minneapolis, and he is a member of the Timber Framer’s Guild of North America. In a former life he was a researcher at Bell Labs designing computer chips and software. Visit www.northernlightstimberframing.com. Active in sailing since the 1980s, Matthew has sailed a wide variety of boats from sloops to tall ships on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. A U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain, Matthew has played a major role aboard North House’s schooner Hjørdis since she was acquired in September 1997.
Liz Bucheit - Lanesboro, MN
Liz is owner of Crown Trout Jewelers in Lanesboro, Minnesota and has been a goldsmith for over 30 years. She holds a Master’s degree in metalworking and jewelry from the University of Iowa, Iowa City and has trained in traditional jewelry and metalworking techniques both in Ireland and Norway. Liz has been awarded grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Sons of Norway, and the SE Minnesota Arts Council. Known for her Scandinavian-inspired bridal crown and wedding jewelry, Liz was recently awarded a MN State Arts Board Folk and Traditional Grant to complete her “Ibsen Adorned” filigree jewelry collection. Preview her designs at www.crowntrout.com.
Grammy winning fingerpicker Pat Donohue’s devotion to acoustic guitar has made him an American standard, as he echoes the tones of Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Merle Travis or Muddy Waters. A versatile guitarist’s guitarist, Pat enjoys entertaining fans with intricate fingerpicking, easy wit, and nimble interpretations of old blues, swing, R&B and original tunes. Carol is a middle level English teacher in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. As a way to relax and maintain her calm easygoing personality (read therapy!) she became a “hooker” when a friend taught her to rug hook in 1989. In the 25 years since then, Carol has attended many hooking retreats and workshops, and has taught hooking to friends, family members and has given both beginning and intermediate classes. Carol and her husband Bart have been coming to Grand Marais on their summer vacation for many years. Carol’s sister Mary is a rug hooking designer and teacher. See samples at www.designsinwool.com/ and www.etsy. com/shop/PrimitivesByCarolRae
Lonnie Dupre - Grand Marais, MN
Robert has been fascinated by metalwork and traditional crafts particularly in how they connect to history, since childhood. Robert began studying blacksmithing under James Hoffman learning the American colonial style of blacksmithing. He then went on to learn the craft of bladesmithing joining the American Bladesmith’s Society (ABS) where he hopes to achieve the rank of master smith. Robert works full time out of his shop in Chaska Minnesota creating knives, woodworking tools, and historic reproductions.
During an Arctic career spanning more than two decades, Lonnie Dupre has traveled over 14,000 miles throughout the high Arctic regions of northeastern Russia, Lapland, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. He has led five major Arctic expeditions and participated in six. Lonnie’s expeditions have been featured in “Reader’s Digest,” “Sports Illustrated,” “Outside,” and “National Geographic Online.” In 1991, he organized and led the Northwest Passage Expedition, making a 3,000-mile transit of the Canadian Arctic by dog sled while comparing changes in Inuit culture since Knud Rasmussen’s expedition in 1923. Recently, Lonnie worked on the One World Expedition project, a trip from Greenland to the North Pole, pulling and paddling specially modified canoes across shifting sea ice and open ocean to raise awareness of global warming and climate change. Visit www.lonniedupre.com.
Dennis Chilcote - Minneapolis, MN
Eric Edgin - Spencer, IN
Robert Burns - Chaska, MN
Dennis has a great appreciation for historical crafts and a long-standing fascination with the way our ancestors expressed art through craft. In that vein, he uses baskets, brooms and traditional woodwork as both canvas and palette for his art. His work can be viewed at www.mnartists. org/dennis_chilcote.
Carol Colburn - Duluth, MN
Carol teaches sewing workshops at North House that incorporate traditional Scandinavian textile traditions along with contemporary craft. Through her travels, she has found inspiration in everyday as well as the festive textile and clothing traditions of Scandinavia. Her numerous publications discuss the design, techniques, and meanings behind Norwegian folk textiles, including clothing and household items. She taught period clothing design, pattern making, and sewing in universities before she began teaching focused heritage sewing workshops at Vesaas Farm Studio in Telemark, Norway, Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, and at North House. Students in her sewing workshops are introduced to an appreciation of traditional techniques while creating contemporary custom garments that are ultimately practical for the northern climate.
Emily Derke - Grand Marais, MN
Emily has had a love for craft as long as she can remember. For the last six or seven years, she has focused on learning about and practicing making pottery, and baskets, while also exploring many other traditional skills and crafts. This search for knowledge and experience has brought her from her home in Minnesota, to both the east and west coasts to learn from many experienced teachers. Most recently, Emily’s focus has been on basketry. Primarily useful willow baskets, but she also has an unusual fixation for making micro-miniatures. 49
Eric grew up in rural southern Illinois fishing, hunting, foraging, and gardening as a way of life. He has continued to build on the skills and knowledge of his roots by attending a naturopathic school, woodworking and teaching self-sufficient food classes, harvesting his own food, and perfecting food preservation and fermentation methods from around the world in a local context.
Tina Fung Holder - Washburn, WI
Since 1996, Tina Fung Holder has lived and worked in northwest Wisconsin after moving from the urban city life in Chicago. While pursuing her formal education in Chicago, Tina did extensive research in basketry techniques at the Field Museum. Since moving to the north woods she has explored both traditional and new applications of the available natural materials and thinks that anything that grows flexible is fair game. Tina enjoys developing new basket designs and teaching them in workshops. Her basketry is sold in galleries in the region.
Kim Garrett - Ely, MN
Kim started rosemaling 6 years ago by taking a class at the North House Folk School with rosemaling instructor Mary Schliep. She fell in love with it and has been painting ever since. Kim has studied with several Vesterheim Gold Medal winning rosemaling instructors. She has also studied with Norwegian instructors here in the US and while studying traditional rosemaling and other Scandinavian folk art in Norway. Kim’s goal is to bring together a blend of traditional Scandinavian folk art with modern techniques and point of view.
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Ted Gephart - Bayfield, WI
Ted lives on Wisconsin’s “north coast” of Lake Superior with his wife and two daughters. He missed the boat for the first time as a young boy and has been doing it since then as a hobby. Okay, he’s also been a charter captain since 1985. Among the many marine classes Ted has instructed are Wisconsin boater safety and the U.S. Coast Guard license exam review course. He is the founder of North Coast Community Sailing.
Jim Gilbert - Waconia, MN
Since 1998, Jim has been an instructor of environmental studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Previously Jim served as a Hopkins Public School science teacher and naturalist for 30 years. He is a consulting naturalist for WCCO Radio, co-author of the Minnesota Weatherguide Calendars, author of three books on nature in Minnesota and writer of a weekly newspaper column.
Mark & Katya Gordon - Two Harbors, MN
Mark and Katya Gordon are co-owners of Amicus Adenture Sailing, a small family-owned charter business that operates out of Knife River, MN. Mark (captain) has more than 25 years experience in leading trips and over 18 years as a licensed Captain and EMT. Katya (first mate) is a lifelong sailor and is a veteran of outdoor wilderness experiences, with more than 15 years of experience leading trips in mountains, lakes, deserts, rivers and oceans. Together they have sailed thousands of miles on Lake Superior and beyond with their two daughters Cedar and Lamar.
Scott Graden - Two Harbors, MN
The regionally-renowned creative force behind the sustainable, local & distinctly northern cuisine at the New Scenic Café, Chef Scott Graden does not hesitate to share his cooking artistry with others. Chef Graden has taught at the Blue Heron, the Kitchen Window, and the Minnesota State Fair, among other places. His passion for culinary arts, industriousness, and wry humor are revealed in his tutelage. He teaches in systems and philosophies, shifting the focus away from memory-based methods.
Molly Grant - Deerfield, NH
Molly Grant began leatherworking in her early 20’s, first by working on her own and then by apprenticing at the Black Swan Leather Shop at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH where she learned the basic skills of traditional leatherworking. She became a juried member in 1989 of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and while showing her line of handbags had the opportunity to meet Paul Mathews, owner of the Cordwainer Shop. Within a few months time Molly was traveling to national craft shows with Paul and learning the art of being a Cordwainer. The original patterns and designs that Paul and his father Edward Mathews designed beginning in the1930’s are still used today. Molly continues to make handbags, but her main business is showing her line of custom hand made footwear and teaching shoemaking workshops at her shop in New Hampshire, as well as traveling nationally to craft schools to teach the art of shoemaking.
Anna Gunnarsdóttir - Akureyri, Iceland
Anna is a native of Akureyri, Iceland. She studied textile art and has her own studio and gallery, “Svartfugl and Hvítspói,” in Akureyri. She also took various felt making courses in Denmark, Norway, the UK, and the USA. She works mainly with wool, silk, leather, and fish-skin. Anna is the member of Textile Association as well as the Artists Association of Iceland. She has taken part in many solo and group exhibitions in Iceland and around the world. She has received many awards and prizes for her work, including being named City-Artist of Akureyri in the year 2008.
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Brent Gurtek - Duluth Township, MN
Brent Gurtek has been professionally fashioning authentic, custom muzzle loading firearms since 2001, having made over 70 such weapons, to date. He is a member of the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association and the Contemporary Longrifle Association. He has successfully hunted white tail deer and black bear with firearms he has made himself. He lives with his wife, Ann, just north of Duluth in French River, in a period house they built themselves, along with much of the furnishings.
Bryan Hansel - Grand Marais, MN
Bryan likes spending his mornings and evenings along the shore of Lake Superior making photographs of the sun creating new colors in the sky. He learned photography over 20 years ago in the black and white darkroom. Now, he makes his living taking photos. Not only is he a professional photographer, he writes freelance articles for magazines and he’s a Lake Superior kayak guide. Bryan loves the North Shore and shares his passion for the area teaching photography workshops and guiding. Learn more about him at www. bryanhansel.com.
Mark Hansen - Grand Marais, MN
Mark was introduced to the craft of wooden ski making after meeting Marvin Salo, whose father was a master ski maker trained in the old Saami school of ski construction, nearly two decades ago. Since then, he has collaborated with ski historians, researchers, and builders, to learn about the wooden ski’s origin, design variations, cultural functions and construction methods. From his findings, Mark has been teaching students from around the globe about wooden ski construction. His investigations into the wooden ski have also led him to a number of exhibitions, commissions and presentations on the subject. Mark’s interest in traditional methods of transportation throughout northern cultures also include wooden work boat construction, from birch bark canoes to Norse prams; toboggan and sled construction; northern clothing; and traditional shelter designs, including the yurt. Mark was instrumental in the founding of the North House Folk School. He operates his own business, Hansen Boat Works, and was recently nominated to receive an invitation for the Bush Foundation’s Enduring Vision Award.
Dave Hanson - Duluth, MN
Metalworking has always been important in Dave’s life, learning from his cousin who owns one of the largest machine shops in Iowa. Known to have one of the largest travelling blacksmith shops in the five-state area, Dave spends countless hours around the Midwest demonstrating his work and skills to the public at rendezvous and special events. Dave founded the Lake Superior Metal Smith Club. Other pastimes include training and caring for his horses, woodcarving and pottery.
Kate Hartman - Madison, WI
Kate first learned to knit in high school. Since then, she has explored a variety of knitting traditions, including both the English/American and Continental knitting techniques, lace knitting, Aran, and the multi-colored Fair Isle and Scandinavian techniques. Kate enjoys making sweaters, socks, mittens, and other garments in a variety of styles and materials, using many of her own wheel-spun yarns. She likes teaching and believes that enjoyment and enthusiasm are necessary as adults learn a new craft. Kate currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin, and has the good fortune of to be married to a knitter/spinner.
50
Todd Hawkinson - St Paul, MN
Todd Hawkinson has been handcrafting jewelry since 1971. His apprenticeship under both Ray Grobe and Robert Burke was an old world learning experience unavailable today. As an educator, Todd was the head of the Jewelry Manufacturing & Repair Program at both the Minneapolis Community & Technical College and the Southeast Technical College in Red Wing Minnesota. Currently his direction is in historic jewelry manufacturing techniques. From 1890 to 1915 jewelry design was going through dramatic changes. The Victorian Era was coming to a close, Art Nouveau was at its peak, Edwardian designs were introduced and the Arts & Crafts movement was flourishing. Jewelry of this period had an enduring quality looked up to today. With a workshop in St. Paul Minnesota he continues to produce history inspired jewelry of quality.
Peter Henrikson - Grand Marais, MN
Peter settled in Grand Marais after a transient career of log building, basket making, timber bridge building, and teaching timber skills on public lands. He is now a professional timber framer and designer and has been teaching timber framing at North House since 1998. Peter has taught black ash basketry and paddle making courses, but now focuses on timber framing and spending time with his family (he’s a man who’s rich in daughters).
Mike Hero - Grand Marais, MN
Mike Hero caught his first trout on a fly on the streams of the North Shore more than fifty years ago. He has avidly tied flies and fly fished the lakes and streams of the area ever since. Mike also has extensive experience fishing the “Driftless Area” of Southeastern Minnesota and Southwest Wisconsin, as well as many of the famous trout streams of the eastern and western US. Mike brings to the class teaching experience he gained a previously licensed vocational teacher in a technical college, as well as teaching numerous fly fishing classes at North House. He was a long time member of the St. Paul Fly Tiers club and is a life member of Trout Unlimited.
Jock Holmen - Burnsville, MN
Jock Holmen, “The Norwegian Termite,” has been a professional woodcarver for over 30 years. He is a gold medal winner at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American National Juried Exhibitions in Decorah, Iowa, and won the First Place Carving award at the 2005 Northern Woods Exhibition in Minneapolis. In addition to his commissioned projects, Jock is a contributing editor at American Woodworker magazine, and teaches woodcarving classes. He has received training and tutoring from various American and Norwegian master carvers.
Allen Holzhueter - Madison, WI
Allen has been knitting since the 1980s with an interest in multicolor knitting techniques. He has focused on the knitting traditions of Northern Europe and the British Isles and has taught traditional Scandinavian, Fair Isle and Latvian projects using the multicolor technique. Allen has expanded on his fiber interests to include spinning his own knitting yarns on one of his several spinning wheels. Allen lives in Madison, where he divides his time among knitting and spinning projects and spoiling the family Greyhounds.
Jason Hovatter - Portland, OR
As far back as he can remember, Jason has been wondering how things worked before our modern age of convenience and forgetfulness. As he traveled the country via foot and train hopping, he learned various leatherworking skills and apprenticed with a master shoemaker in southern Oregon. He now runs his own custom shoemaking business, traveling to medieval re-enactments across the Western US, and teaching both period and modern styles and leaving a growing army of cobblers and cordwainers in his wake. www. laughingcrowe.com/shoemaking-classes/
888-387-9762
Stefania Isaacson - St. Charles, IL
Stefania has been a life-long knitter, and started spinning and dying to supply herself with the best yarns in the world! She got her Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning from the Handweaver’s Guild of America in 1997. Since then she has opened her own business called Handspun by Stefania and taught numerous workshops dealing in natural dyes, spinning and basket making. She has spoken about the fiber arts to numerous groups, and has appeared on Home & Garden TV as a guest on the Carol Duvall Show. She sells handspun, natural hand dyed yarns, original knitting kits using her own yarns and patterns, hand dyed roving dyed with natural dyes, and handmade baskets. She was previously a high school English teacher, and now enjoys teaching spinning, dyeing, and knitting to fiber enthusiasts. Most recently, Stefania has authored a book on natural dyes called In Search of the Perfect Green–and Orange, Too!
Amy James - Grand Marais, MN
Amy taught herself to bake using a free Fleischmann Yeast booklet back in 1972. She has been a teacher almost as long, in settings from traditional school classrooms to wilderness, with students from preschoolers through seniors, and covering topics from life science to sea kayaking. Combining her passions for teaching and baking, with a little science and history thrown in for good measure, Amy leads bread baking courses for new to intermediate bakers.
Julie Kean - Hovland, MN
Julie has been making baskets and ornaments since 1981. She utilizes materials gathered from the woods around her home in Hovland. Her favorite materials are birch bark and red-osier dogwood. In 2001, Julie’s artistic talents were featured on the program “Venture North” on public television. At times, Julie integrates other natural materials into her work including pinecones, driftwood and spruce roots.
Layne Kennedy - Minneapolis, MN
Layne Kennedy is a nationally recognized magazine photographer. His assignments take him all around the globe for publications like “Smithsonian,” “National Geographic,” “Traveler,” “Islands,” “Backpacker,” “Time,” “Newsweek,” and “National Geographic Adventure,” to name a few. Layne is the founder and director of the Superior/Gunflint Photography Workshop, conducting wilderness adventure photography trips. Visit his website www.laynekennedy.com or his blog www.firstexposure.wordpress.com.
Ryan Kennedy - Charleston, WV
Ryan Kennedy lives a very musical life. The son of musical parents, he has performed professionally since he was twelve years old, and in a very eclectic and diverse range of styles including Classical guitar, musical theater, R&B, Rock n’ Roll, and Jazz. Since returning to his hometown of Charleston, WV after graduating Magna Cum Laude from the Berklee College of music in Boston, Massachusetts, every day has brought new musical challenges and adventures. He is the guitarist for the internationally renowned jazz pianist, Bob Thompson, and his band, The Bob Thompson Unit, as well as his own group, The Ryan Kennedy Trio, which is celebrating its first CD release entitled, “Something To Say”. Ryan is also one of the lead guitarists for the Mountain Stage house band; a traveling radio show based in Charleston and broadcast around the world on NPR and the Voice of America satellite radio.
Ken Koscik - Monona, WI
Canoes and canoeing are Ken’s passion. If he’s not building canoes for the local Kiwanis club, he’s paddling them in the Quetico. Ken first learned to build canoes in 1968 and has added over 75 new projects to his list since then. A former student at the Wooden Boat School in Brooklin, Maine, Ken keeps refining the cedar strip construction technique. The chevron has become his trademark. Recently, Ken was invited to teach a woodstrip building class in Norway. Visit Ken’s web site to learn more about cedar-strip canoe building www.kencanoe.com. 888-387-9762
Elise Kyllo - Grand Marais, MN
Elise is a gardener and visual artist. She finds balance in the urban chaos by engaging the seasons. In the summer, she is usually outdoors in somebody’s garden; in the cold months, she is making art. The simplicity and endless possibilities of working with wool intrigue her, especially creating felted creatures inspired by her experiences as a painter and printmaker. “I can’t think of a more meditative, pure and organic medium than working with wool and water and reusing old socks.”
Candace LaCosse - Duluth, MN
With an eclectic professional background in journalism, education, and art, Candace strives for sustainability and life-long learning. Following her 2012 internship at North House, she left for New Hampshire to apprentice at The Cordwainer Shop and has been making shoes since. Her other areas of interest include wood-fired baking, food fermentation, simple shelters, black ash basketry, and traditional cultures around the world.
Andy Lambert - Minneapolis, MN
Andy accidentally fell in love with traditional Appalachian clogging in 2004 when he saw the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers perform in south Minneapolis. It’s with this group that he learned, performed and started teaching from ’05 to ’10. Along the way, he joined Pert Near Sandstone as the band’s percussionist and has to date recorded 5 albums and clogged with the band all over the country. Andy has performed on domestic and international stages at places such as: First Avenue, A Prairie Home Companion, Big Top Chautauqua, Wood Songs Radio Hour, Music City Roots and various folk festivals in Latvia and France.
Bill Lane - Tofte, MN
For 25-years, Bill Lane spent the Marches and Aprils of his life in pursuit of northern forest owls, starting as an uninformed hobbyist and metamorphosing into a biologist whose knowledge of owls and their behaviors fueled an unrelenting passion for Strigidaen discovery and understanding. One night in 2012 though, he realized that time had progressed and the owls he once pursued with zeal, were no longer abundant in Minnesota’s north woods landscape. He placed his field data sheet in its folder and ended 25 years of springtime owling. He can’t quite get the saw-whets and boreals and barreds and long-eareds out of his system though so now, instead of going to the owls, they come to him…in waves…during the September and October migration. This is a perfect opportunity to participate in a banding operation which, per net hour, is the most productive saw-whet capture point in the US and Canada. Learn more about Bill’s efforts at www.mindspring.com/~owlman/
Cheryl Larsen - Grand Marais, MN
Expressive movement is the essence of what sparks her imagination and kindles her inspiration. Whether it be in the form of interpretive dance, rhythmns of nature, the play of words or the smooth flow of dyes across silk, it is what Cheryl seeks. As a fiber artist, she has purposely developed skills in a multitude of techniques to allow her to combine various mediums, textures and embellishments in individual pieces. Cheryl’s passions also include spending lots of time outdoors, writing and learning about new places and other cultures.
Paul Linden - Minneapolis, MN
Paul Linden is an artist who lives in Minneapolis and works in the Art Department of the University of Minnesota. He has taught courses and workshops in sculptural woodworking, metal fabrication and metal-casting and has a deep love for craft-based techniques. Paul has almost never met a tool that he didn’t like, and proves this by his ever-expanding collection. He takes great satisfaction from using self-made tools and is constantly modifying, remaking, and learning the use of old and new hand tools. Paul tries hard to spend all of his extra time either in the wood or metal shop, or outside with his kids. 51
Avery Linden Carlson - Minneapolis, MN
Avery is a lover of craft work, playing chess and reading, and the outdoors, and he loves to combine these things whenever possible. He has been visiting the North Shore and the surrounding wilderness for his entire life, and has developed a special connection to NHFS as a student and a volunteer. Avery has practiced various fiber arts and woodworking specifically, but his newest passion and focus is leather-craft. He is very comfortable using knives of different sorts and enjoys helping others to learn safe and useful knife skills. His favorite woodshop tool is the spokeshave and he can deftly create a large pile of shavings on request. While in Grand Marias, his love of wood-fired pizza and skipping rocks on the harbor is nearly the only thing that will coax him from the wood shop.
Michael Lipton - Charleston, WV
Born in Ossining, NY, and raised in Miami, FL, Michael Lipton moved to a farm in rural Calhoun County, West Virginia, in 1973 when he was 19. Lipton has been the electric guitarist for the syndicated NPR show “Mountain Stage” since the late 1980s. He leads the R&B/gospel group The Carpenter Ants, which has now been together with its original lineup for 28 years. Lipton has toured with various bands, produced numerous CDs, scored three feature films, documentaries and shorts. Recently, he won an Edward R. Murrow Award and The Columbia School of Journalism Award for work on the radio documentary “The Great Textbook War.” In 2005, Lipton founded the WV Music Hall of Fame and continues to be the organization’s director. As a journalist, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, Spin, LA Weekly, Hustler and The New York Times.
Fred Livesay - Vadnais Heights, MN
Fred discovered his woodworking skills at age 10. He later trained as a wheelwright and carriage-builder for seven summers and then went on to study Scandinavian folk art, decorative arts, art history and museum studies. Fred currently makes his living as a carpenter but hopes to make teaching and craftwork his fulltime job. Fred has taught at North House since its beginning, has studied crafts in Sweden and demonstrates crafts in the five state area. Fred also teaches at the Milan Village Art School, Ingebretsen’s, the American Swedish Institute and Woodcraft.
Derek Lucchese - South Gillies, ONT
Derek was an understudy and longtime friend of the famed bread oven builder Alan Scott. In fact, Derek’s first run-in with Alan happened during one of the first bread oven building workshops that North House ever hosted. Since then, Derek has gone on to build a wood-fired bakery of his own on a homestead just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario. Derek runs a wood-fired pizzeria and bakery and builds brick ovens in addition to baking weekly for the Thunder Bay Country Market. Learn more about Derek’s baking and building at www.bothhandsbread.ca.
Kelly Marshall - Minneapolis, MN
Kelly’s passion for textiles blossomed as a child through hand embroidery and knitting. In college, she learned bobbin lace while attending a 2 year folk high school in Sweden, studying textile design and techniques. After finishing her studies in Sweden, she returned home to complete her Bachelors of Science degree at the University of MN in textile design. She has studied Binche bobbin lace technique in Brugge, Belgium and a variety of other techniques. She started her weaving business, Custom Woven Interiors, in 1992. The business forcuses on custom textiles, functional and decorative, for interiors in residential and corporate settings. You can find many examples of her textiles on her website at www.kellymarshall.com. Her textiles are sold nationwide and also grace the homes of some of Minnesota’s local celebrities. For over 20 years, Kelly has enjoyed sharing the art of bobbin lace making with her students at the American Swedish Institute and other locations.
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Eric Mase - Ely, MN
In 1996, Eric Mase moved to Ely, Minnesota, to continue building birch bark canoes. Since then, he has built over 60 bark canoes, both full sized and scale models. For the past 12 years, Eric has spent time renewing his true passion: the drum. Eric’s focus on the cedar hand drum has been influenced by the same traditional tools and building methods that stem from handcrafted bark canoes.
Charlie Mayo - St. Croix Falls, WI
Since the 1970s, Charlie has had a consuming interest in birch bark. He has traveled to Scandinavia many times to study with the masters while pursuing this interest. He has demonstrated at Rice Lake Audubon, Swedish Institute, Luther College, Hostfest, and the Minnesota State Fair. Charlie is a founding board member of North House.
Mike McCall - Mankato, MN
Mike was born sometime in the last century in a humble log cabin that he built with his own hands. When asked about his early life, Michael tends to mumble and change the subject. If he isn’t out collecting fungus or flint, he may be seen wandering the beach at Grand Marais where he believes he lost his Congressional Medal of Honor. Mike’s favorite color is blue.
Marcie McIntire - Grand Portage, MN
Beadwork is widely practiced at Grand Portage, where for generation after generation it has enlivened the lives of Ojibwe people. Many of Marcie’s relatives have been beadworkers, and Marcie learned by watching her mother. Today she is a traditional artist specializing in floral-based Ojibwe beadwork, operating her own gallery, Ningii-Ozhitoomin Ojibwe Art Gallery, in Grand Portage. Marcie has been commissioned for exhibitions and instruction and teaches as far away as Arizona and Florida, and as close to home as Ontario and throughout Minnesota. Learn more about her work by visiting www.mnfolkarts.org/marcie/marcie.html.
Eric McNair Landry - Iqaluit, Nunavut
Eric grew up in Iqaluit, Nunavut where dog sledding, kite-skiing, and cold weather survival skills were learned at an early age. His passion for expeditions has resulted in more than 20,000km traveled via kite-ski. His adventures have taken him across the Northwest Passage, to the Gobi Desert, twice to the South Pole, and across the Greenland Icecap seven times. Eric holds the world record for the longest distance kite-skied in 24 hours; he has been nominated for National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year Award and received the Outdoor Idol Award in 2007. His passions include carpentry, circuity, and photography.
Kurt Mead - Finland, MN
Kurt Mead is a naturalist and homesteader trying to make a living in the forest near Finland, MN. He is the founder of the Minnesota Odonata Survey Project (dragonflies and damselflies) and the author of the award-winning “Dragonflies of the North Woods.” He recently spent a year in Sweden with his family, where, among other things, he played with Swedish birch and pine in an attempt to make beautiful items of practical value. Every year brings him closer to his goal of becoming an old, eccentric putterer.
Jim Miller - Duluth, MN
Jim Miller (Ph.D., geology, University of Minnesota) is an Associate Professor of Geology and Director of the Precambrian Research Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Formerly, he was a Senior Geologist with the Minnesota Geological Survey (1983-2008). His research specialty is the geology and mineral deposits of northeastern Minnesota. He has conducted geological research and led field trips for geologists and non-geologists for over 30 years.
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Emily Moe - Duluth, MN
Emily Moe has been a milliner and haberdasher for close to ten years. She learned her trade by apprenticing under Master Milliner Eva May in Chicago. She is captain of the Milliners of Etsy, a global group of over 300 milliners. She has been active in a dizzying number of artistic projects from knitting to radio drama, tango to bead embroidery and has been a piano teacher for 18 years. She loves hat-making because she can use all of her experience with other media in her hats. She believes that what one wears is a person’s purest form of artistic expression and that it is good to be comfortable in both stilettos and Carhartts, but probably not at the same time. She and her husband Adam, an embroidery artist, are the driving forces behind Moe Sew Co -- Fine millinery and hand-embroidery for the discriminating weirdo. They have shown their work together at craft fairs in Minneapolis, Chicago and Nashville. Emily’s Moe Sew Co millinery division maintains an Etsy storefront at MoeSewCoMillinery.etsy.com. She relocated to Duluth from Chicago last August.
Eric Moshier - Duluth, MN
Eric is a third-generation stone mason who has over 25 years of experience. As the owner of Solid Rock Masonry in Duluth, he has built Finnish, Swedish, Russian and German style masonry heaters throughout the Midwest and southern Ontario. A longtime member of the Masonry Heaters Association, he has led numerous workshops across the Great Lakes Region and at the MHA annual gathering. To complement his strong desire to educate people about heating with wood in efficient and beautiful ways, Eric has pursued projects ranging from coaching hockey to building log homes to being an environmental consultant. Visit www. solidrockmasonry.com.
Cindy Muus - Grand Marais, MN
Cindy is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and taught family and consumer sciences at Cook County High School in Grand Marais for 30+ years. She has been an instructor with North House since 1999 and calls this region home. She enjoys sewing not only because it is a creative outlet, but also because it gives one the ability to customize style, fabric, fit, and design features to suit individual tastes and needs.
Cody Myers - Duluth, MN
Growing up on a farm in the northwoods, Cody has always led a hands-on lifestyle. Through traveling he took a great interest in the way that people lived long ago and how those traditions still survive today in the world today. The fine balance of art and function, design and utility, steel seemed to be the perfect medium to work. As a blacksmith, he apprenticed under David Hanson at North House and continues to work with David as a co-instructor. Bringing hammer to hand, steel to anvil and turning billet to knife he is grateful to share in teaching the art he loves.
Northwoods Fiber Guild - Grand Marais, MN
North House is pleased to partner with the members of our area’s Northwoods Fiber Guild to host the Northern Fibers Retreat. The Northwoods Fiber Guild has over 55 members and meets bi-monthly to celebrate the many forms fibers can take. Each December, the Guild hosts a not-tobe-missed Holiday Open House and Sale with hundreds of handmade items. During the Retreat, the Guild will host the Saturday night Show-and-Share, as well as the Fibers for Kids program, which will be taught by Kay Rosenthal, Mary MacDonald, Cheryl Larsen, Penny Ortmann, Maxene Linehan and Karen Cedarmoon.
52
Phillip Odden/Else Bigton - Barronett, WI
Phillip and Else are professional woodcarvers and furniture makers in the Norwegian tradition. They have taught carving classes for over 20 years, specializing in the classic ornamental styles of Baroque (acanthus), Rococo, and Romanesque dragon style. Else is also an accomplished weaver and cabinet maker. Phillip enjoys picture carving, free form ale bowls, and kubbestols. The couple was commissioned to work on the Stave Church which stands in the Norwegian Pavilion at Epcot in Florida and the Gol Stave Church replica, which stands in Minot, North Dakota. Visit www. norskwoodworks.com to learn more.
Kim Ode - Edina, MN
Kim Ode has written two cookbooks for the Minnesota Historical Society Press: “Rhubarb Renaissance,” and “Baking With the St. Paul Bread Club: Recipes, Tips, and Stories,” which was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. She’s also a North House alum, having learned to make her wood-fired brick oven from the legendary Alan Scott. She’s been a feature writer with the Star Tribune since 1985, and is in her fifth year of doing the monthly Baking Central for its Taste section. She and her husband, John Danicic, live in Edina, Minn., but spend as much of their summer as possible sailing on Lake Superior.
Beatrice Ojakangas - Duluth, MN
Beatrice is a freelance food writer who lives in Duluth, Minnesota. She has a BS degree in Home Economics from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Beatrice has been a food editor at Sunset Magazine in California and has also written for food magazines including Gourmet, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Country Living, Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, and Fast and Healthy. Beatrice has written 29 cookbooks, one of which, “The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever (500 recipes!),” was recently cited as one of the top 100 cookbooks by Cooking Light Magazine. In May 2005, she was inducted into The James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame, joining famed foodies Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. www.beatrice-ojakangas.com
Jim Ouray - Duluth, MN
Jim is a puppeteer and builder. He has directed and performed in the summer solstice puppet pageant here at North House for many years. When he is not making puppet shows, Jim is often tinkering with shelters. Having grown up in a big city on the east coast, Jim has long yearned for smaller dwellings in beautiful places. Jim loves home made cabins and camp shelters, and has found yurts to be a remarkable hybrid between the two. He appreciates the adaptability of yurts, and believes that time spent in a circle improves the disposition. Jim lives on the beach in Duluth and in the forest outside Grand Marais.
Martha Owen - Murphy, NC
Martha began her adventure in spinning at the John C. Campbell Folk School, (founded in 1925), in Brasstown, North Carolina in 1978. Since 1980 her extended family has included sheep and angora rabbits, currently Corriedale/ Merino, Romney, Shetland and a little Blue faced Leicester for fun. Also a banjo player and known to tell a story or two, Martha’s interest in sheep and wool, music and dance, have carried her quite literally and joyfully around the world. Her children say she is a wool nerd but her sheep say she is outstanding in her field!
Shawn Perich - Grand Marais, MN
Shawn Perich grew up in a northern Minnesota hunting family and began helping out with home deer processing at a young age. He is an avid hunter who enjoys preparing and eating wild game. Perich is a veteran outdoor writer and co-owner of Northern Wilds Media, Inc. in Grand Marais. His popular weekly column, Points North, has appeared in Minnesota Outdoor News for over 20 years. He resides in Hovland with his partner Vikki and their dog.
888-387-9762
Cathryn Peters - Angora, MN
Cathryn is a chair seat weaver, antler basketmaker, teacher, writer, pattern author who hails from Angora, Minnesota. She delights in sharing her nearly 40 years of accumulated knowledge and resources to those who desire to perpetuate the nearly lost art of wicker restoration, chair seat weaving, and basketry. Cathryn’s works have appeared on public television, and in books, periodicals and national galleries and she teaches nationwide. Visit her resource and information website at www.WickerWoman.com
Craig/Dianne Peterson - Grand Marais, MN
Craig and Dianne relocated to Grand Marais from Waseca, Minnesota, where they made their own Swedish Potato sausage and demonstrated sausage making at Farmamerica, the Minnesota Agricultural Interpretive Center. With a focus on organic ingredients and healthy food products, they have been teaching classes at North House for 17+ years and have been featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Over the years, they have expanded sausage offerings to include German, Italian, Mexican, American, Morroccan and Minnesota’s own “North House Wild.” They are currently expanding into smoking sausage.
Lou Pignolet - Hovland, MN
Lou grew up in New Jersey and came to Minnesota in 1970, where he taught and did research as a chemistry professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. After 38 years he retired to Hovland, MN, to enjoy the wild nature of the North Shore. Lou and his wife have had a cabin in Hovland since 1980. Lou has always had an interest in woodworking and became inspired by the beautiful lathe turned wood bowls in Hawaii during a vacation in 2005. After taking a course in wood turning on a spring-pole lathe at the North House in 2006, he set up a woodturning shop in Hovland and learned the craft by trial and error and advice from wood turners in Hawaii. Lou spends much of his time turning artistic bark-edged and unusual shaped bowls from local wood. His bowls combine the natural beauty of the wood with form and function. He participates in art shows and workshops on the North Shore and has established a reputation for making unique wooden bowls that are in high demand.
Harley Refsal - Decorah, IA
Harley specializes in Scandinavian-style flat plane figure carving, a minimalist style that leaves the tool marks exposed. He has won numerous carving awards and has taught carving classes throughout the United States, Canada, and Scandinavia. In 1996, he was decorated by the government and King of Norway for his contributions to Norwegian folk art studies. Harley is the author of “Art and Technique of Scandinavian-Style Woodcarving.” In addition to his carving and teaching, Harley is a professor of Norwegian language and Scandinavian folk art at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.
Mary Reichert - Duluth, MN
Mary began working on farms and learning the fiber arts in her mid twenties, knitting, spinning, and weaving, but it wasn’t until she started felting that she focused her passion for creating beauty in the world. She loves the textures, the ability to shape forms without sewing, the ability to sew forms with such a forgiving fabric, and the connection to a long line of those who have come before, especially the nomads of Central Asia whose lives rotate with the seasons of the grasslands and the animals they sustain. Mary hopes to keep breathing new life into these old ways, honoring the incredible marriage of function and beauty and passing on this art through hands-on experiences at her studio, Otlak Felt Studio and Clothing, in her hometown of Duluth, MN.
888-387-9762
Bob Ristow - Hopkinton, IA
Bob’s interest in Shaker Oval Boxes began with a visit to the Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire. To advance his knowledge in box making he attended several classes taught by John Wilson at the Home Shop in Charlotte, Michigan, to learn the procedures in making these boxes. Since then Bob has demonstrated these procedures at several woodcarving clubs in Iowa and Minnesota, and has taught several classes at the Fine Woodworkers Store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Waldorf Woodcarving Weekend at Forest City, Iowa and at the Woodcarvers Rendezvous at West Glacier, Montana. Bob is also experimenting with different woods, shapes and sizes to make these boxes. His other interests are woodcarving, woodturning, winemaking and fiber arts.
Karen Rognsvoog - Minnetonka, MN
Karen has been dyeing natural fibers and growing plants for dye since the mid-70s. Always interested in the colors of nature, boiling plants, weeds, flowers and bark for use with fibers made this an inexpensive hobby for her. After some hands-on experience, she began teaching in schools and community centers in the Twin Cities area. She regularily teaches at North House Folk School and the Clearing Folk School, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, and the Minnetonka Community Center. She is a professional pianist and amateur cellist and teaches piano lessons. Some of her other hobbies include fishing, Japanese ink painting, Japanese shibori, gardening (has her own dye garden), spinning and ham radio. She’s always on the lookout for new and interesting dyestuffs, so don’t follow her on the road too closely. She notes, “I brake for roadside weeds.”
Ann Russ - Grand Marais, MN
Ann has been a resident of Cook County since the 1980s. She has led numerous naturalist activities for all ages in all seasons and considers annual bird migrations one of life’s joys. Harmony singing is another passion; her ability to spontaneously coax multiple harmony parts out of any size group, whether four or four hundred, is legendary.
Jim Sannerud - St. Paul, MN
Jim has been working with wood since he took his first woodworking class at the age of nine. That experience inspired him to start his own woodworking business and share with others the beauty and quality of hand-made wooden objects. In 2007 he began a pilot program in Ukraine teaching woodturning to children in orphanages. He has taught private and small group classes for the last 7 years in his St.Paul studio as well as at various folk schools, colleges and universities around the country. Jim makes his living woodturning and designing and building furniture.
Cecilia Schiller - St. Paul, MN
Sculptor and woodcarver Cecilia Schiller works in her studio on the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul to make interactive, gear-driven, people powered, carved mechanical pieces (also called automata). These whimsical and colorful sculptures are brought to life when viewers turn a crank. The movement of the gears and figures mesmerize viewers, both young and old. Cecilia honed a unique skillset that combines fine aesthetic details with high quality, durable workmanship while building sets and other creative imagery for theaters and private companies, including Children’s Theater, In the Heart of the Beast, Guthrie and Minnesota Opera. Ms. Schiller has won numerous grants and awards for her work. See more at www.ceciliaschiller.com
Mary Schliep - Grand Marais, MN
Mary started rosemaling in 1989 and has been busily painting ever since. Mary specializes in the Valdres and Telemark styles (each defined by the geographic region where they found their beginning in Scandinavia). Since the school’s founding, Mary has been a consistent teacher at North House. She demonstrates annually at Hostfest in Minot, North Dakota. Mary has studied with 8 Gold Medalists and two Norwegian instructors. 53
Larry Schmitt - Madison, WI As a child, Larry learned many textile techniques from his parents, including nalbinding. Since the early 1980s, he has been teaching and researching nalbinding and has written a number of instructional manuals. These workbooks are some of the only resources on nalbinding in English. Larry has taught and exhibited nalbinding throughout the country and has even had students from Norway and Germany, but he considers North House home base. Larry is also interested in traditional, easy-to-complete textile projects that utilize tools and equipment that are portable and easy to obtain or construct. His classes at North House reflect his continuing interest in traditional textile crafts. Randy Schnobrich - Grand Marais, MN
Randy’s life in the North is a classic: he has mushed dogs, planted 20,000+ trees on his homestead and built eight outbuildings on his property (but still no garage). He moved to the North Shore from Wisconsin in 1994 with plans to raise a family and create a new lifestyle. After buying some land “back in the woods a bit,” he and his wife built a woodshop and log home, a perfect spot to raise three kids and live a little closer to the earth. With more than 20 years of woodworking under his belt, Randy has built everything from cabins to dogsleds, commissioned furniture to custom doors. Nearly all of his interests lie in the outdoors, and he says it’s hard to remember life before Cook County.
David Seaton - Grand Marais, MN
David built his first guitar at the age of fourteen. He has traveled as close to home as Colorado and as far away as Israel to study the craft, which has led him into new and innovative ways to construct the instrument, create new sounds, and expand on the current voice of the guitar. Dave runs Hungry Jack Outfitters on the Gunflint Trail with his wife Nancy.
Michael Seiler - Lanesboro, MN
Michael is co-owner of Crown Trout Jewelers in Lanesboro, MN and has been working in the metal arts since 1995 mastering the techniques of fabrication, stone setting, wax carving, stone cutting and stone inlay work. Michael has been awarded grants from the McKnight Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board for his signature stone cutting and lapidary talent. His goals are to create new and innovative techniques in stone setting and ring design combining lapidary and metal work. Preview his designs at www.crowntrout.com.
Molly Sharp - Zirconia, NC
Molly first studied her craft in England over 30 years ago. After living in England for 10 years, she moved back to the U.S. in 1981 and perfected her skills through various workshops with some of this country’s finest jewelers. She has been a fulltime professional jeweler since 1995. Molly is the mother of two grown children and resides in western North Carolina with her husband, potter David Voorhees. Molly also has work in numerous galleries throughout the U.S. and is a member of the prestigious Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville, NC. Visit www.mollysharpmetalsmith. com for more info about Molly.
Erik Simula - Finland, MN
Erik is a master birch bark canoe builder, instructor at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and director of the Arrowhead Wilderness School, whose mission is deep ecology education. Inspired by Finnish, Saami, and Anishinabe art and culture, Erik hikes or skis in the woods daily, enjoys a weekly wood-fired sauna, and leads a subsistence lifestyle which includes maple syruping, organic orcharding, harvesting wild rice, netting fish and hauling firewood with his sled dog team. A former national park ranger at Grand Portage National Monument and outdoor skills instructor for Voyageur Outward Bound and Vermillion College in Ely, Minnesota, Erik’s many skills include being a logsmith, dogsled builder, snowshoe-maker, and wilderness guide. more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Karen Smaby - Grand Marais, MN
In an effort to un-earth herself from the mountains of scraps she accumulates as an avid fiber artist, Karen revels in recycling projects, like penny rugs, that make use of materials she already has. Karen works with both wool and paper to create an intensity of colors and textures in items of everyday use. She is a member of and exhibits through the Northwoods Fiber Guild and teaches bookbinding to local high school students.
Chris Smither
Honing a synthesis of folk and blues for 50 years, Chris Smither is truly an American original. Still On the Levee, to be released on July 22, 2014 is a career-spanning retrospective double CD. Recorded in New Orleans with studio-mates, The Motivators, Still On the Levee plays host to special guests including Allen Toussaint and Loudon Wainwright III. The record highlights the vast catalog of an American music master. Reviewers and fans from around the world agree that Chris is a profound songwriter, a blistering guitarist and, as he puts it, a ‘one-man band to the bone!’ Chris melds the guitar styles of his two major influences, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, into his own signature sound. His music continues to draw deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. ‘Link Of Chain’, a tribute album of Chris Smither originals with stellar versions by Dave Alvin, Tim O’Brien, Bonnie Raitt, Josh Ritter, Loudon Wainwright III, Jorma Kaukonen, Eilen Jewell and others will be released on September 16, 2014.
Melinda Spinler - Grand Marais, MN
Melinda Spinler, together with her husband/man of all trades, lives on a self-sustaining homestead outside of Grand Marais. She is a partner in a cooperative Community Supported Agriculture, raises chickens and ducks for eggs and meat, operates a commercial maple syrup operation, harvests wild edibles of all kinds, enjoys electrical usage generated via the sun and wind, fills their freezers/root cellar/pantry shelves with their food year round and still has time to enjoy the northwoods. Whew…
Gigi Stafne - New Auburn, WI
Gigi is an enthusiastic educator, activist and writer within the botanical and natural medicine world, presently the coordinator of Herbalists Without Borders, a national & international non-profit addressing issues of natural medicine health care access globally. Earth ethics, ecology, sustainability and environmental health are woven through all the courses that she teaches. Presently, she teaches through Green Wisdom and operates Wild Earth Eco Tours, offering programs in herbalism to cross cultural ethnobotany tours. Gigi invites you to join her in a North House class with open hands, heart and mind.
Jarrod StoneDahl - Odanah, WI
Jarrod lives in Northern Wisconsin with his wife, April, and their four children. Jarrod is of Scandinavian descent, and much of his woodworking style is taken from this. He has been working with wood professionally since 1993. Using primarily hand tools, Jarrod carves spoons and bowls, builds skin boats and birch bark canoes, and log and timber framed homes and much more. WOODSPIRIT, their business, is dedicated to the preservation and use of the items that were used in earlier times in day to day living.
Jon Strom - Cook, MN
Look for the woodchips flying and you’re sure to find Jon. Jon is a sculptor, woodworker, and log builder with a strong interest in Swedish spoon and bowl carving techniques as well as the history of log building. He has demonstrated at Grand Portage National Monument, Old Fort William, and White Oak Society, and has taught at various workshops, including Goods from the Woods in Grand Rapids. Jon has also designed his own personal bowl-carving bench, which may be adapted by students for their own workshops. more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
Paula Sundet Wolf - Lutsen, MN
Paula has been gathering grasses and brush to make traditional crafts for 25 years. A resident of northern Minnesota, Paula has a deep appreciation for the Northwoods and its resources and likes to convey that appreciation through her basket weaving and twig furniture. Paula has an MA in anthropology with an emphasis on utilitarian art of North American cultures. She sells her work from her home.
Vladimir Yarish - Wells River, VT
Rueben Swenson - Mahtowa, MN
News articles written about “The Frugal Fly Fisher” make apparent Rueben’s wealth of knowledge of fly fishing the Arrowhead region of Minnesota, as well as the southern regions of the White River system of Arkansas and Missouri. Rueben was certified as a fly casting instructor and has instructed numerous individuals and groups on all facets of fly fishing. Ask him about the two world records he holds for brown trout caught on a fly rod sometime.
Vladimir Yarish, a master, award-winning basket maker, has worked with birch bark for more than 24 years. Born in Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan, he moved to Novgorod Province. He has been teaching birch bark basketry at his studio in the Cultural Palace of the city of Veliky Novgorod since 1993. Beginning in 1997 Vladimir has been invited to teach classes all over the US. Vladimir has published many articles on birch bark and traditional basket making for both academic journals and popular magazines. He is currently researching the history of traditional birch bark basketry, haunting, as permitted, every relevant museum and archeological site in Russia. His works have been featured in the Hamburg Museum of Ethnology, Germany, the St. Petersburg Toy Museum, and the Novgorod State Museum of Architecture, History, and Fine Arts. He has participated in numerous exhibitions and won awards at home and abroad for his basket-making talents.
Pop Wagner - St Paul, MN
Rick Yonker - White Bear Lake, MN
Rob Wells - Grand Marais, MN
John Zasada - Grand Rapids, MN
Pop Wagner mentored in Horsemanship and Training with Liz Lofgren from 1993 to 1996. He attended two of Buck Brannaman’s Horsemanship Clinics (1994 & 1995). Pop was introduced to handcrafted tack by Don Flatten in 1994. He mentored in cinch making with ArtCords founder, Darin Alexander from 2006 to the present time. He is also a folk singer and has performed at countless venues in 44 states and 10 foreign countries. He has hosted radio and TV shows and appeared in a Robert Altman film. Rob Wells is the executive chef of Lutsen Resort. He is a native New-Mexican, having grown up in the vicinity of Santa Fe, and has worked at several area restaurants most notably the Coyote Café, Inn of the Anasazi, and La Casa Sena. Rob lives in Grand Marais with his wife Kate and their two daughters Bronwyn and Aria.
David Williams - Grand Marais, MN
David Williams is a U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Captain and operates his Lake Superior charter fishing and guiding business on Lake Superior. His love for fishing, friendliness, and knowledge of the area will assure you of a memorable trip aboard the 27’ foot Regal Commodore.
Jo Wood - Duluth, MN
Rick has been tinkering with wood for many years. He has also been bow hunting and doing recreational archery since 1980. In 1995 he began learning the craft of building traditional longbows. He has taken several classes and taught many others how to build their own wooden bows. Rick managed his own bow building business called Kickapoo Valley Longbows. Now a high school teacher, Rick lives in White Bear Lake with his lovely wife Sue, three beautiful daughters, and his cat Honey. The biology, ecology, use and management of birch in northern forests has been a favorite topic of John’s for many years. John is a retired silviculturist with the U.S. Forest Service in Grand Rapids.
Lori Zimmerman - Pine City, MN
Lori comes from generations of hardanger stitchers. She has worked with a wide variety of pieces from Christmas ornaments to baptismal gowns to wall hangings, as well as pieces of mixed stitch work. A long-time educator and lifelong learner, Lori has a passion for hand work of all kinds, continuing traditional crafts into new generations, and creating communities of stitchers with conversation and interest around common themes.
Jo loves gardening, walks in the woods, and every kind of textile art. An award-winning bead and fiber artist, she has practiced her skills with needle and thread for over 40 years, making everything from tipis to wedding ensembles. She has shared her knowledge and passion for hand stitching with students both regionally and nationally since 1997. Jo is a bead artist inspired by nature. Through her work she shares her connection with the abundance, peace and beauty of this place. Visit her website at www.JoWoodBeads.com.
Jeanne Wright - Grand Marais, MN
Jeanne believes that hands are a glimpse into a person’s life story. Her grandparents’strong thick fingers supported their farming life. Inspired by those around her that create with their hands, Jeanne has kept hers busy, too. She has built her own timber frame house and sauna (with her trusty husband), stocks the root cellar with garden produce, renders bear fat for soapmaking, and wields a hammer to build toys with her daughter. From wood working to fiber arts, beekeeping to mosaics, her hands are beginning to show her life’s work. Grandpa would be proud.
Nick Wroblewski - Viroqua, WI
Nick specializes in large multicolor woodcuts and has developed a distinctive technique reminiscent of the stylized Japanese masters yet uniquely his own. His work depicts the reverence he has for the conversations of the wild and a loyalty to the honesty of the handcrafted arts. Nick’s work can be seen in private collections and galleries throughout the country, as well as in various commercial designs and illustrations. He lives and prints from his home studio in Southwestern Wisconsin. 54
North House Staff & Interns Front, L-R: Andrew Beavers, school store & intern manager; Cindy Hansen, office assistant; Mary Cowen, program intern; Austin Kennedy, program intern; Greg Wright, executive director; Matt Nesheim, volunteer, classroom & sailing coordinator. Back, L-R: Kaitlyn Bohlin, development manager; Kay Costello, office manager & registrar; Russ Viton, facilities manager; Janet Ditmanson, office & events assistant; Emily Derke, program intern; Kathleen Viton, office assistant and deckhand coordinator; Jessa Frost, program director; Kate Watson, communications manager.
888-387-9762
Course Registration
Course registration may take place over the telephone or by going online to www.northhouse.org Upon receipt of registration and payment of the registration deposit, space in the selected course is reserved. A confirmation packet is then mailed out, including a required tools/materials list, list of local accommodations and liability release form which must be signed prior to class.
Course Sizes & Registration Deadlines
Courses are intentionally kept small and often fill quickly. Pre-registration as early as possible is encouraged. Registering at least three weeks prior to the course start date is especially advisable, as courses without a minimum number of registrations may be cancelled. If you find a class you want to take close to the start date, give us a call. Last minute changes may open a spot just for you!
Deposit & Payments
A registration deposit equal to $50 or 33% of the course tuition (whichever is greater) is due upon registration. For courses with tuition less than $50, the registration deposit equals the full course tuition. The remaining tuition balance plus the materials fee (unless otherwise indicated) is due three weeks before the course begins. For courses where the materials fee varies, the fee is paid directly to the instructor on the first day of class. Payments must be made in U.S. funds by cash, check or money order payable to North House Folk School. We also accept credit cards: Visa, M/C, AMEX or Discover.
Waiting Lists
North House manages waiting lists for courses that have filled to capacity. Individuals on the waiting list are contacted only if an opening becomes available.
Cancellations
If we must cancel a course, students receive a full refund of any payments made for that course. Students who cancel their enrollment more than 21 days prior to the first day of the course will receive a refund less a $50 cancellation fee to cover administrative costs. In recognition of the time and energy instructors invest in preparing for courses, students who cancel their enrollment 21 days or less prior to the first day of the course are not eligible for a refund.
Age Policy/“Age with Adult” Intergenerational Learning
All classes at North House Folk School are designed for and open to students 18 years old and up. In the interest of encouraging intergenerational learning, some North House courses are open to students under the age of 18 provided that they are accompanied by a fully enrolled adult student. Due to the unique nature of each course, minimum age requirements are defined by the instructor. All courses that are open for intergenerational learning are clearly defined by the course description. Generally youth tuition is discounted 25% , please inquire at registration about restrictions and more information.
Local Discounts
A local discount of 25% off course tuition (up to $200 a calendar year) is available to legal, year round residents of Cook County, Minn. The discount does not apply to materials fees. Proof of residency is required (MN Driver’s License or MN State ID).
Scholarships
Scholarships are available based on financial need. Call for more information.
Non-Discrimination Policy
In North House Folk School programs, no individual or group will be discriminated against because of race, gender, national origin, age or disability.
Membership
North House Folk School exists thanks to the financial support of 950+ donors whose foresight and generous commitment have been an essential. If our educational efforts align with your own ideals and interests we encourage you to become a supporting member. Every gift makes a difference. Membership benefits include two annual course catalogs, our membership newsletter Shavings, invitations to special events and programs, and free admission to special event speaker programs. North House Folk School is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) non-profit school. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Memorials, In-Kind Gifts and Endowment Bequests
North House Folk School welcomes many types of charitable contributions as long as they support our educational mission and vision. Gift types include annual support, memorials, in-kind donations and planned giving. For more information on giving, please contact us at 888.387.9762. North House’s endowment fund is part of the Cook County Community Fund and the Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation.
become a member There are many ways to support North House Folk School in its mission to enrich lives and build community through northern craft. Your donation is a vital part of preserving craft, fostering hands-on education and investing in our community. North House is an educational nonprofit which thrives thanks to the purposeful and generous involvement of friends like you! Name ______________________________________________ Mailing Address _______________________________________ City ____________________State __________ Zip __________ Phone ______________________________________________ E-mail _____________________________________________ YES, I would like to support the mission of North House by making a tax deductible donation. ___My one-time donation is: $25
$50
$100
OR ___My recurring monthly donation amt is: $15
$500 $25
Other _____ $50
Other _____
___ I would like to learn more about making a planned gift to North House through the Legacy Giving Circle
Payment Information ___ Check enclosed: made payable to North House Folk School ___ Credit card: please bill my credit card (information below) Cardholder name___________________________________________ Card number ______________________________________________ Exp. date __________Security code (on back of card) ______
Please mail to NHFS, PO Box 759, Grand Marais, MN 55604 888-387-9762
55
more details, more photos:
www.northhouse.org
North House Folk School
NON-Profit ORG U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 1861 Milwaukee, WI
PO Box 759 | On the harbor Grand Marais, Minnesota 55604 888-387-9762 | www.NorthHouse.org
postal customer
enriching lives, building community, teaching traditional northern crafts