I grew up in the Canadian Rockies, surrounded by forest and mountains, and the particular quality of light that belongs to high places. I spent my youth learning to see, under the care of Susanne Swibold, an artist, explorer, teacher and naturalist, whose life was itself an act of following what she believed to be true. Her curiosity was contagious, and her questions resisted easy answers. She taught me that the most honest work comes from within, a lesson that has shaped my life.
Drawing and photography brought me to the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts on the Island of Paros, Greece. In that light, ancient and clear, I continued to develop my eye; this time under the guidance of photography professor Elizabeth Carson, who became a close mentor and friend. Liz taught me to see with the camera, to observe light and shadow, and craft a print in the silver darkroom. The wooden fishing boats of the Aegean had already drawn my eye; she helped me look at them more carefully. I will never forget the day Liz introduced me to the local furniture maker, in a whitewashed workshop with a courtyard dappled in the shade of cypress trees. There, I first understood making as something inseparable from hands, material, and place.
The Carpenter’s Boat Shop in Maine became my foundation in woodworking. I apprenticed in traditional wooden boatbuilding, learning the language of wood and water, and when the boats were finished, we launched them into the sea. From Maine I travelled to Fosen Folkehøgskole in Norway. There, each boat we built began as a tree felled in the forest, milled into boards, and shaped by hand. By late spring we sailed along the Norwegian coast in the northern light which never quite fades. Immersed in that tradition, I discovered a way of learning rooted in community and dialogue; one that holds education and personal growth as belonging to each other. I returned to The Carpenter’s Boat Shop as an instructor, carrying that belief into my teaching.
I completed my cabinetmaking apprenticeship in Alberta, in the Rocky Mountains where my journey began. Returning home to formalize what I had gathered abroad, I received the 2023 Top Apprentice Award from Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training and earned my Red Seal endorsement. I currently work as a cabinetmaker and draftsperson.
I acknowledge that I live and work on the ancestral territories of the Îyârhe Nakoda, Blackfoot Confederacy, and Tsuutʼina peoples. Their deep and enduring relationship with this land and its materials is something I think about with gratitude, and with the awareness that the trees I work with belong to a world far older than any of us.