Meet the Toolmakers
Fabiano is a designer, maker and educator based in Rochester, NY. He started woodworking in 2011 while studying in the School for American Crafts at RIT. After receiving his BFA there he moved to Snowmass Village, Colorado and worked as the Studio Coordinator for the Woodworking and Furniture Design program at Anderson Ranch. In 2017 he returned to RIT to pursue his MFA in Furniture Design and has since been working full time as the shop technician for RIT's Industrial Design program.
In the studio, he draws inspiration from the materials and processes used throughout crafts' long history. With a reverence for both craft and design, his work explores the intersection of both interests in an attempt to make contemporary work that highlights the qualities found in primitive utilitarian objects.
Learn more about Fabiano on his website.
Fabiano SArra
David was born in El Paso, Texas and spent much of his life in Austin, Texas. Initially he began his undergraduate career attending Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, pursuing a degree program for Biology / Art. He attended the program for two years before returning to Austin to complete his BFA at the University of Texas in Austin, with a primary emphasis in painting. He earned his MFA in Metalsmithing in 2007 from San Diego State University. David taught in the art department at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas for 10 years. During 8 of those years he was responsible for creating and heading the Metalsmithing and Jewelry Department. In 2018 he relocated to Penland, North Carolina to dedicate his time to be an independent artist and workshop instructor. Much of his work embraces the craft of Metalsmithing and its collected history of techniques and objects. The resulting works rendered in metal, mixed media, and handmade artist books are vehicles to communicate ideas surrounding identity, narrative, and forays into material and process-based work.
Learn more about David on his website.
David Clemons
Kelly Harris is a woodworker, furniture maker, designer, and educator. She designs and builds both collections and custom pieces in her shop located in Brooklyn, NY. When she is not busy in the shop, you can find her teaching woodworking classes and leading workshops to share her love of the craft with others. Kelly's work is primarily in wood with a focus on solid joinery, simple yet playful design, shape exploration, and hidden splashes of color.
Learn more about Kelly on her website.
Kelly Harris
“I really love the feeling when axing. To be relaxed and work in your own rhythm. The axe becomes an extension of yourself. Sometimes you use your whole body to chop off big chunks, and sometimes you gently carve see-through shavings. Disappear into the grain to see where to place the next cut. Slowly let the shape get closer to your aim. Listen to the sound of a sharp tool in the green wood.
As important as the axe has been in the history of mankind, it still is for us today, but not for the same reasons. Working with your hands makes you relate and connect to the world around you in a more respectful and humble way. Craft and nature also work as a calm oasis for many people in this fast spinning world. The axe embodies strength in so many ways.
I make axes out of curiosity and love for the tool itself. Also, because making tools for others is like spreading waves of all this around the world. Hoping they will inspire people to make something with their own hands, giving others as much satisfaction as it gives me.” - Julia Kalthoff
Learn more about Julia on their website.
Julia Kalthoff
ME is a carpenter and woodworker who lives in midcoast Maine. In addition to their shop space in Rockland where they pursue personal work and commissions, they work full time as a carpenter for a local frame-to-finish builder.
Learn more about ME on their Instagram.
ME Hitt
Rachel Kedinger is an artist currently living in Philadelphia Pennsylvania creating her own work. Rachel primarily makes objects out of metal with a focus on utilitarian use. Before moving to Philly in early 2018 Rachel participated in the Core Fellowship Program at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. She has also lived in Detroit, MI and Rehoboth Beach, DE, seeking opportunities to work with various artists and metalsmithing shops. Previous to living and working in Michigan Rachel grew up in Wisconsin and went to school at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee where she received her BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in 2012.
Learn more about Rachel on her website.
Rachel Kedinger
Meghan Martin is an artist & blacksmith currently living in Western North Carolina. Meghan creates a wide range of work, including functional objects for the home, hand tools, and an evolving series of sculptural wall pieces. She draws inspiration from nature and her work as a gardener, creating pieces that delicately reference time, erosion, rock formations and other geologic phenomena.
Learn more about Meghan on her website.
MEGHAN MARTIN
Andrew Meers is a Master Bladesmith and Metalsmith originally from the Boston Area.
He was born in Kyongsangbuk-do South Korea, and was adopted to American Parents in 1984. Andrew attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he received his BFA in Sculpture. After learning how to make knives from his mentor JD Smith, Andrew enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he received his MFA in Metalsmithing with a focus in Blacksmithing.
Andrew earned his Journeymansmith rating from the American Bladesmithing Society in 2013, and then earned his Mastersmith rating in 2015. He received the B.R Hughes award during this time which is awarded for the best knife submitted by a Mastersmith applicant. Andrew has been a resident at The National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and finished his Artist in Residence at Penland School of Craft in Western North Carolina in 2020.
Learn more about Andrew on his website.
ANDREW MEERS
Claire started out out with a furniture background, graduating from the North Bennett Street School’s cabinet and furniture program in 2010, picking up work at a cabinet shop for a few years after that. Over the past 9 years she has grown a small business making travishers. She has demonstrated how they work and how they are made at domestic and international fairs, and every once in a while sprinkling in a travisher making class. She is still making travishers, but is now picking up side work at cabinet shop exploring different ways to build solid cabinets and community.
Learn more about Claire on her website.
Claire Minihan
Eleanor Ingrid Rose was born in Monterey county, CA. She is a queer, craft-based sculpture artist, toolmaker, metalsmith, woodworker, and proud cat mom. Eleanor is one half of the collaborative project, Ladies Who Wood, alongside Stacy Motte. Eleanor holds a BFA from Pratt Institute and an MFA from UW Madison. She currently teaches sculptural woodworking at IUP and the occasional class at Workshop of Our Own. When she isn't teaching or making art she can usually be found trying to make updated versions of antique tools or spending too much time looking at eBay.
Learn more about Eleanor on her Instagram.
Eleanor Ingrid Rose
If you’re interested in making a tool for The Chairmaker’s Toolbox, please contact us here!