We think our alumni are pretty great! Find out more about where they come from and what inspires them.
Graduate Dawn LeRoy talks about setting herself up for a lasting career (in woodworking) that ends up being her ultimate masterpiece.
I believe woodworking will always have a stable ground in my life and I look forward to the endless rabbet holes within the craft that I may find myself exploring.
Without hand tools and “shop-less” - I lived this way for a few years until I decided I needed to re-enable my passion (in woodworking).
I set my mind to it and didn’t give up even though I was wait-listed - the administrators can attest to my determination (they might use other words to describe my excitement). Coree Wehr, Foundations of Woodworking Graduate, fall 2017
Two weeks ago I left stormy Port Townsend wondering what I would do with myself after wood school and how I would put my education to use. Now I'm excited to be embarking on the next seasonal chapter of my life in a new state, using my woodworking and related life skills in true homesteader fashion--repairing farm structures, sharpening garden tools, and turning into the capable handywoman I've always wanted to be.
For the past several years, I've been focusing on how to build with simple, earthen materials: clay, sand and straw. I'd like to continue working with sustainable materials whenever possible. I believe in a built world that's non-toxic.
Foundations, Winter 2017
After a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, Brandon Denning is using his G.I. Bill funding to attend the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and Preservation Trades at Fort Worden State Park.
Brandon Denning took the long way to arrive at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and Preservation Trades, but his G.I. Bill helped him walk through the door.
"Every day I could feel my brain expanding into uncharted territory, opening up pathways for new information to trickle down like water seeping over dry ground. I noticed patterns about myself and how I related to this skillset--first: struggle, second: slowly but surely get it, third: take off and run with it. I saw myself steadily improving each time I repeated a technique and employed it in projects as they increased in complexity."
By Jennry Monfore,
Foundations of Woodworking Winter 2018
Raphael Berrios is one of our Foundations of Woodworking scholarship students in Spring 2016. He also took our Timber Frame Tiny Home course and brought home one of the structures to finish for himself (you can follow his progress on his blog! Here’s what he had to say about what led him to PTSW, his experience so far, and thoughts for the future:
I've always loved making things. It took a while to figure out I preferred making things out of wood but when I did everything seemed to click in place.
I’m drawn to traditional joinery, the kind built to last. Japanese temples in particular have always felt magical to me, the great attention and care their builders took to ensure they’d survive for centuries.
I've always loved the look and feel of wood, especially when turned into a beautiful object, so for the past 15 years or so I have been making boxes out of hard woods.
My intentions are to sculpturally marry wood and stone. I have two such sculptural projects started. In woodworking I have a walnut mantle in the layout stage and a Shaker style headboard in the imagining stage.
While I am not actively seeking employment, I would enjoy receiving a few commissions to build garden gates.
Indigenous artist and professional musician Camas Logue has completed the Foundations of Woodworking and Traditions of Furniture intensives. He plans to return for Art of Furniture, or Built Environment, or both.