I picked up woodworking as a hobby three years ago and I love doing it. I’ve always been adept with tools so getting started was hardly a daunting task. When I was a kid I used to build forts out of sticks and make bows out of wood and fishing line.

For someone who spends a lot of time looking at computer screens, it is a great way to work with my hands and have a creative outlet in the physical world. To me it’s a meditative art that lets me experiment and make unique things and give them as gifts to people I care about. The things I create are all one offs. People like to tell me I should make a design and sell it but that misses the point for me

I work slowly because I prefer to use hand tools in my process wherever it makes sense. At any given time I have two or three projects that I’m working on and have an endless backlog of project ideas. It is something that I intend to stick with and get better at because the whole process brings me joy. I like that woodworking allows for mistakes to be made and repaired. Furniture making allows you to dial in precise measurements and is an exercise in planning and carving is more freeform and relies far less on measurements and accuracy. I can experiment a lot with different species of woods and finishes to make unique things. There are endless craftspeople who post their work online that I am really inspired by. It really helps me see the beauty in simpler things and the difference putting care into every detail can make.