Victoria Wood Studio

Events

Week One - July 16 - 20
SHAVINGS SHAVINGS AND MORE SHAVINGS

Week Two - July 23 - 27
THE PLANES OF ROBERTS CREEK

Week Three - July 30 - August 3
THE ART OF DOVETAILS

Week Four - August 6 - 10 JOINERY -
THE JOYS OF OWNING A SLOT MORTISER

Week Five - August 15 - 17
VENEERS AND CURVES - THE EXHILARATION OF LAMINATION

Week Six - August 20 - 24
HARDWARE, FINISHING AND GRADUATION - THE END OF THE SIX WEEKS

Six Weeks at Inside Passage

The Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking is a school located in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast. We decided to move our business there for six weeks so Dieuwertje could attend their artisan program. This school is very unique both in the method and approach to the craft. The caliber of teaching is very high. Students work daily with Robert van Norman a well respected artisan whose work has been displayed in North America, Europe and Japan. He is an experienced teacher who adheres to principles inspired by James Krenov.

The Artisan course invites students to discover the relationship that exists between the craftsperson and the material. Students are encouraged to immerse themselves in the work attending the school six days a week from morning to night. They are supported by other staff and the resident craftsman. The small class size ensures a great deal of individual attention. The beautiful setting at Roberts Creek further helps to encourage students to slow down and deepen their craft.

I will be writing a weekly column documenting the process that Dieuwertje will go through over the next six weeks. I will provide a brief synopsis of each week followed by interviews with students and staff. This week I will interview Dieuwertje and find out what it is like to immerse yourself in a course of this nature.

Week One - July 16 - 20 SHAVINGS SHAVINGS AND MORE SHAVINGS

Every time I dropped by the benchroom this week, the floor and benches were full of fluffy white shavings. The most common site was to see students with their hand tools patiently and repetitively planing the same piece of wood. The first week emphasized working with simple yet well tuned and effective hand tools. From an outsiders perspective, the room had an almost meditative feeling to it. Everyone seemed very focused on their tasks.

INTERVIEW WITH DIEUWERTJE VON AESCH

FS -Describe the rhythm of your first week.

DVA - It was like seeing planing on one level and then going deeper with it. You really have to pay attention. The biggest part of it was slowing down and really focusing on what you are doing. The other part was taking away the fear, the mystery of how things are made. Something like being unafraid to take apart your plane regrinding, honing and tuning over and over again. Knowing how to sharpen properly and be in control of the process. To do this you are really using all your senses.

FS -So you are much more connected to your tools?

DVA - More than that. You are much more connected to yourself. It is the three of you together. The wood, the plane and yourself.

FS - What made you decide to come to Inside Passage?

DVA - I have a deep desire to be a very good craftsperson. For me, it is not just about design it is about getting really close to the wood, to the piece. To make something that people want to get closer to and experience and enjoy not just on a surface level.

NEXT WEEK - AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT VAN NORMAN

Week Two - July 23 - 26 THE PLANES OF ROBERTS CREEK

The workshop seemed busier this week. More students had joined and the teachers were kept busy circulating throughout the room. Yet it still felt quiet for a class this size. The main sounds were the scraping of planes and the light tapping of instruments as students worked. The focus for week two was on the craft of making and using wooden hand planes. James Krenov says the plane is the "cabinetmakers violin; the instrument that sets the tune in the orchestra.

Dieuwertje describes the second week this way:

"You think that planes need to be heavy iron things with mechanical adjustments. Then you actually make the plane and it is adjusted in a very tactile way with a little tap here and a feel of the blade and the sole. Again it's about slowing down and trusting my own process. Kind of like learning someone else's process to find my own unique place within it all. This week I find myself thinking more about the shapes and textural possibilities of working in wood rather than a specific structure or object."

This week we interview Robert Van Norman, Founder, Resident Craftsman and Teacher at Inside Passage. One of the questions in the interview is about James Krenov whose teachings and philosophy are a major influence at the school. James Krenov was trained and became a recognized furniture maker in Sweden. In 1981 he moved to California and established the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking School. An accomplished teacher and craftsman he has also published several key books on cabinetmaking and woodworking. His works are displayed in Sweden, Norway, Japan and the U.S.

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT VAN NORMAN

FS -What made you decide to open a school in Roberts Creek?

RVN - We knew we wanted to be on the Coast. We wanted to be near a major center but not in a major center. I have a friend, Gary Kent, from the School of the Redwoods who lives on the Sunshine Coast. I checked out Gibsons and it just didn't feel right. So I took a drive to Roberts Creek. I remember, it was 5:00, I parked at the Gumboot Cafe and I sat down and had a beer. Right away I felt like this was it. I felt like I was in another world. The slow pace here was the feeling I wanted for the school.

I think the ferry ride over is actually an added bonus. You are coming across, it is so beautiful and you can't do anything for forty minutes. Students really feel that they are leaving behind that hectic world.

FS - Why is that feeling that you found at Roberts Creek so important?

RVN - The program here is so intense, you are really immersed in it. Sequestered is a word that has been used by one of our students. You are literally taken away from your busy life. The environment here allows students to simply concentrate on the craft.

FS - What first drew you to the teachings of James Krenov?

RVN -It was 1987 and I had been given the opportunity to teach shop at a Youth Corrections Centre in Saskatchewan. There was a young fellow who had joined the class; he was only fourteen years old. When he first showed up he was really irritating to the other students, creating a disruption. So I told him, I don't care what you do when you come to class but you need to do something.

The next class he showed up with a guitar. He was only fourteen but he was really amazing, he could play really well. At the end of the day I said, partly joking, why don't you make a guitar? The next day he showed up with no guitar. I thought there was going to be a problem, but he said to me, I'm going to make a guitar.

So I went out and bought two books. The first was Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technologies by William Cumpiano. The second was A Cabinet Makers Notebook by James Krenov. I remember the moment exactly. Flipping through the page of Krenovs book I thought, this is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing.

Four months later my student had made his guitar and I had consumed A Cabinet Makers Notebook. I eventually decided to contact James Krenov. I just looked up his name in the phone book and called him up. For the next thirteen years I called him when I had problems or questions.

FS - Was he very approachable?

RVN - He was very generous with his time. Sometimes he would put things on hold and we would talk for an hour. Of course he suggested I attend the School of the Redwoods. When I finally did make the decision to go there, he set aside a whole day for me, even arranged a walk around. I think I went to that school as much to get the teaching from Jim as to learn the craft. I had decided I wanted to learn from the best.

FS - How would you describe your own teaching style?

When I left the School of the Redwoods, Jim gave me these words of advice; if you want to teach this craft you have to practice this craft. Students at Inside Passage are taught by teachers who have learned from their own experience.

Jim also taught me there is a difference between teaching and instruction. True teaching allows the student to be involved.

NEXT WEEK - AN INTERVIEW WITH YVONNE VAN NORMAN

Week Three - July 30 - August 3 THE ART OF DOVETAILS

This week began with students making their own tools that were needed for hand joinery. The rest of the time was spent in the layout, cutting and careful fitting of dovetails. Each student made their own drawer using hand cut dovetails and a finely tuned drawer fitting technique called "let go".

The benchroom was very focused this week. Some days it even seemed a little surreal as many students were wearing optivisors which are special glasses designed to help focus in on the fine work of making dovetails.

Dieuwertje describes it this way:

"This week demystified dovetails and actually made them enjoyable. Although they can be difficult, the teachers here take away the mystery. You realize it is about not rushing. There is no fast way to learn a dovetail. You just have to slow down."

In this segment I interview Yvonne van Norman, Robert's wife, to get some background on the development of the Inside Passage School and Gallery. Yvonne’s office is in the middle of the small gallery attached to the benchroom.

AN INTERVIEW WITH YVONNE VAN NORMAN

FS - When you first started Inside Passage was there always going to be the two of you in the business?

YVN - Initially the school was going to be more Robert's vision. He had a partner who loved the way Robert taught and the school was going to be about that. But early on when they were setting up, the phone was ringing day and night. I said I'll come and help you out for two weeks. Then it simply happened that I became the only person who knew how to do certain things.

FS - Do you like your job?

YVN - I do. I might not have said that a year ago. But we're at the point now where I love coming to work. I love dealing with the students. Last year I took on the photography for the website. I have to ask the students to tell me what they are working on now and they are more than willing to share.

FS - How does the gallery work?

YVN - The gallery is really in support of Roberts students. It's really his vision. He is very proud of all the students that walk through that door. If we sell a piece we don/t take any commission. It's all for the students.

FS - The Gallery is very small and simple in design.

YVN - That's Robert's style. He believes that less is more. Things should be simple and clean. He doesn't want to decorate. He wants the pieces to serve as decoration.

FS - Does the fact that people can wander through the school itself and observe the teachers and students complement the gallery?

YVN - Yes, letting people walk through he school has that effect. They will come back in after observing the school and the feeling they have is, "Oh my god, this was made here".

FS - Any future plans for the school?

YVN - I can't actually say we have a plan because the school has succeeded beyond our expectations. We are full to capacity. And we always want to have a small school. So we are just going to keep living Roberts dream.

Week Four - August 6 - 10 JOINERY - THE JOYS OF OWNING A SLOT MORTISER

This week the focus was on joinery. Simply put, joinery is the art of joining two pieces of wood together. Done properly it results in strength and beauty. Students were taught dowel construction, spline joinery and different types of mortise and tenon joinery. In addition, Robert developed a program for Dieuwertje and Luc, (another student in the class) which focused on door joinery. This process involved both hand work and the use of a machine called a slot mortiser. Essentially a mortise is a hole or slot in the wood made to receive a tenon. (See photo)

Part of the week was spent purchasing a Pemal slot mortiser for Victoria Wood Studio. This is an excellent machine built in Poland in 1988. Our research determined that this was the best machine out there for our business so we bought it even though it was located in Halifax and weighs 750 pounds. It is on its way to Victoria and should arrive just as we return from Inside Passage.

Dieuwertje describes the week this way:

"The highlight this week was using the slot mortiser machine at the school. It makes beautiful, deep, clean mortises. Learning to use the machine properly is very important since I just bought a used slot mortiser that was made in Poland. It is on the truck from Halifax as we speak and I am looking forward to using in gate joinery".

This week I interviewed Ian Godfrey. He teaches at the school two days a week and is in the process of setting up his own woodworking business in Roberts Creek. Ian was one of the first students to attend Inside Passage.

INTERVIEW WITH IAN GODFREY

FS - What made you come to Inside Passage?

IG -My partner Marnie and I took a weekend course in woodworking at a place called "The Joint" in Vancouver. I had a great time in the course and decided to leave my job in animation and pursue woodworking. I asked Jesse (the teacher at the Joint) if he knew any good woodworking schools. He specifically told me that the guy to study with was Robert Van Norman. And that coincidentally, he was just starting a school at Roberts Creek.

FS - Were you drawn to the school because of the teachings of James Krenov?

IG -I didn't know who James Krenov was. I always say Robert is my James Krenov.

FS - Describe the transition from Student to Teacher at Inside Passage

IG - I literally got thrown into a kind of sink or swim situation. I try to be simi liar to Roberts style. But I know I'm not anywhere close. He is a really good teacher. He is both good at his craft and an excellent teacher. Robert has got that rare combination.

FS - So what are your future plans?

IG - My partner and I just bought a house in Roberts Creek. It has got a garage with a shop and I'm currently pouring a concrete floor. I'll be moving my bench out of the school in September and setting up my own shop.

Week Five - August 15 - 17 VENEERS AND CURVES - THE EXHILARATION OF LAMINATION

Veneers are thin layers of wood that can be layered or applied over solid wood. This process increases strength and enhances beauty through the ability to work with different patterns and curves.

Students also studied lamination, especially a process called tapered lamination. Here thin layers of wood are laminated together and the ends are tapered (see photo). Finally, they were taught coopering which is another way of making curves with solid wood.

The week seemed jam packed. Three new students had joined the group as the subjects this week are very popular. Making curves and veneers can open up many new design possibilities.

Dieuwertje found that:
"My favorite part of the week was making a coopered door that I hand shaped and textured with carving tools"

AN INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN KELLY

This week I interviewed Kevin Kelly. Kevin is a Resident Craftsman at Inside Passage. This is a second year program available only to students who have completed the Craftsman (9 mos.) program at either Inside Passage or College of the Redwoods. Part of the commitment of a Resident Craftsman is to be available to assist students in the other programs, especially in the evening. This way students have continual access to skilled crafts people and can take full advantage of this opportunity while in Roberts Creek.

Kevin completed his first year at the College of the Redwoods but decided to move to Canada for his second year. During our first week at Inside Passage, Robert offered him a part time teaching position which Kevin accepted. So, in addition to assisting students like Dieuwertje in the evening he also took on teaching responsibilities during the day.

FS - You spent your first year at College of the Redwoods (CR) but you decided to come to Inside Passage for your second year. What prompted this decision?

KK - After I completed my first year at CR, I wanted to apply for a second year. But that was going to be JK's (James Krenov's) last year teaching so there was an abundance of applications for just one spot. I didn't see applying here as any different than CR. Robert and I both went to the same school. It was an easy fit. Coming to Canada was a bonus.

FS - What drew you to furniture making? I believe you have spent many years in the construction trades as a finish carpenter working on high end homes. Is that right?

KK - Yes. I received my degree in Construction and Engineering Technology from Northern Arizona University. I have been involved in construction pretty much my whole life. Early on, I realized I had an attraction to the finer details and I didn't enjoy lugging heavy material around. I spent the late 90's doing cabinet work and finish carpentry before I went to CR. After CR I went back to the same company but I did what I would refer to as shop carpentry. That is, we would use pretty much all the machines you see here (at the school) on the site doing fine work on some very high end homes. We even milled all our wood from stock keeping the grain graphics whenever possible.

FS - What are your plans for the future?

KK - I am teaching one day a week and I would like to keep on with that.

FS - Have you taught before?

KK - Yes, but not at this level. It is challenging but it is extremely rewarding. I hope to stay here, open my own shop and make furniture.

Week Six - August 20 - 24 HARDWARE, FINISHING AND GRADUATION - THE END OF THE SIX WEEKS

This week students learned how to make their own hardware out of wood and metal. Finishing and different ways of preparing wood for finishing were also discussed.

As it was the last week everyone was working hard to finish all the "extra" projects that they had taken on. Because there are always teachers available, students are able to take on many other projects as well as those that are part of the curriculum. Robert even made the time to come in early on the last day to fit in a lesson on making spoke shaves.

This class of artisans was unique. Six students went through the whole six weeks together, most of whom came in every evening and on Saturdays to take full advantage of their time at Roberts Creek.

To acknowledge their dedication Robert insisted that they all sign the bottom of their benches. This is an honor usually only given to students who complete the Craftsman (9 mos) program.

In another rite of passage, Dieuwertje gave the hat she had been wearing for the six weeks to Robert and Yvonne's daughter Taylor. A little bit of her will be left behind in Roberts Creek.

This week I interviewed Dieuwertje to find out her impressions of the course and what it is like to be back in Victoria.

FS - How does it feel to be back?

DVA - This week I'm integrating all the new skills I learned. I have re-arranged my shop to better utilize my new skills and all the new tools I have made. I feel energized. What I learnt at Inside Passage is a much more tactile, artistic approach to wood working. More handwork.

I find it more enjoyable, I'm paying more attention to what I do. Every detail stands out for me now, I just see so much more.