6 Comments
Oct 22, 2022Liked by Amy Umbel

NOTE: I sent a version of the following to Amy in a DM and she encouraged me to repost here as a comment.

First - thanks so much for the very kind words re RUAC. Really appreciate it. One minor correction - no need to address it in your article- just more of an fyi. I actually kicked off RUAC (Rise Up and Carve) in Feb of 2019. We’d grown into quite a substantial global community well prior to Covid & lockdowns. We did take the opportunity when lockdowns started, to reach out to all the spoon clubs we could find to offer ruac as a way for them to either continue their ‘local’ meetings using ruac or to just hang & find others to carve with regardless of trying to meet virtually with their club. i.e. We had a well established platform built on Zoom that we could offer to assist them, but Covid & lockdowns weren’t the impetus for ruac. I did it mainly to help myself in developing a daily carving habit, as well as to give something back to the spoon community that welcomed me. It quickly grew with the help of so many others to be way bigger than I ever imagined initially.

Now - fantastic article and so much is going on in my head reading it in the wake of reading Sean Hearn’s (sp?) - Huron Spoon Company - IG post about ‘giving up’ carving, shutting down and seeking a regular FT job. My heart aches for the emotional turmoil I see so many talented and hardworking crafters go through to try to figure out how they can make a living with their craft and survive. I’ve watched craft for decades - and have been of those ‘trapped’ in a FT professional career watching enviously from the sidelines thinking ‘someday I’ll escape and be a pro slöjdare!’ So naive in many ways. So much respect for those who try. So much hurt and prayer for those who feel ‘failure’. So much awe for those who try and succeed in making it work. Everyone’s definition of ‘success’ will vary. In my mind - all have been successful in so many ways. But - I am grateful that I’ve had a career that let me lead a comfortable existence, raise a family, and experience the depth & joy of craft as a hobby. Maybe someday I’ll do it as an avocation, but for now I support those I can while I learn and grow and just create for fun. Keep up the fantastic work with this substack, and Cut The Craft. 👏👊❤️🙏

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Oct 25, 2022Liked by Amy Umbel

That Otto Salomon excerpt gives me some useful language for my questions about my own life and craft. Thanks for that. (And thanks for giving me MORE to add to my reading list. Jeez.)

A lot of my thinking over the past couple of years has orbited the concept of balance. How do I find a balance between screen time and craft time? How do I find a balance between a career that pays well and a hobby that I want to take seriously but that pays--for me, right now--nothing? (Really, these two questions are the same question.) I've been very stressed at times, feeling like I can't free up enough time to make the progress I want as a craftsperson because of this pesky full-time job I have. It's freeing to remember the freedom that comes along with that: I can keep my craft focused on "educational slöjd" and development of myself as a person, without the practical side of it mattering, at all. I don't want to brag, but I'm really good at turning things I love into obligations. So any way to cut back on "shoulds" is welcome.

I tried hard to think of an insightful question to end this comment. But I'm feeling more reflective than inquisitive. I'm grateful for your perspective.

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Thank you Amy for that excellent review of Sloyd in the USA. I follow and have learned online from most of those individuals that you mention. I was most fortunate to take a week course on spoon and bowl carving from Drew Langsner at his Country Workshops in 2014. Great Sloyd training there.

Thanks again. Cheers, Michael O’Brien, Alabama

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