I have been making traditional ornaments of birchbark and straw for the past 30 years. I studied Swedish birchbark craft with Karin Lundholm of Dalarna, Sweden, and English strawplaiting with Marilyn Stearns of Springfield, Vermont – herself a student of Valerie Eastwood and Joan Hocking of Sussex, England. My designs are simple and time-honored. I gather my own materials with the exception of some of my wheat which is grown on a family farm in North Dakota. I follow a tradition which is so old it cannot be dated with certainty, being linked with pre-Christian rituals of harvest and solstice. I deeply love this tradition.
I also offer rush-seating and hand-caning of chairs. I studied traditional rushing with Earl Thomsen of Brandon, Vermont, and have been chairseating now for the past 15 years. I offer rush, hand-cane, splint and Danish cord seats.