Woodbeard

Validate Email

Profile Name / Nickname / Stage Name *

Profile Photo

A square photo of 900x900 pixels or higher recommended, .jpg or .png format, 5mb maximum file size

Voluntary Self-Identification

The Arty Crowd funding sources require inclusion of members who identify as belonging to priority groups encompassing: Indigenous, ethnocultural communities, rural or remote residents, youth, and Francophones (english and french). Hamilton Arts Council further wants to measure its success in attracting members from all the diverse groups we serve in the Greater Hamilton Area arts community, including those who are LGBTQ2S+, and persons with disabilities. We will use the aggregates of the information collected here to measure our success in making The Arty Crowd an accessible and safe space for all who join. We thank the members of the committee from the Safer Spaces Project who advised us in creating an inclusive self-identification process.

Location

All profile holders must live or work in Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Flambourough, Glanbrook, Stoney Creek, Waterdown, Six Nations of the Grand River.

Contact Email Address

This email address is for your Artist Profile. You can choose a different address from your account email, or leave it the same.

Website

Biography / Artistic Statement / Creative Vision

<div class="w-wrapper" data-v-ab1ca44a="" data-v-a10a13dc="">
<div class="text-component 📚19-7-0uGevg 📚19-7-0NNp1l w-text--rendered" data-v-0d4a2734="" data-v-df07630a="" data-v-a10a13dc="" data-v-ab1ca44a="">
<h3>My name is Kristian (aka Woodbeard) and I'm a woodworker from Hamilton, Ontario</h3>
</div>
</div>
<div class="w-wrapper" data-v-ab1ca44a="" data-v-a10a13dc="">
<div class="text-component 📚19-7-0uGevg 📚19-7-0sEevC w-text--rendered" data-v-0d4a2734="" data-v-df07630a="" data-v-a10a13dc="" data-v-ab1ca44a="">

<strong>For starters...</strong>
In late 2015 I had been a web developer for most of my adult life and had never really made anything in real life. I wanted to learn to make something with my hands but didn't know what, so I just picked something that sounded like it might be fun. I got a wood carving set from Lee Valley Tools in Toronto.

I watched 7,185 YouTube videos on carving and whittling and after about 2 weeks and 48 cuts, I was hooked.

The first thing I carved was a really terrible little post for me to put my wedding ring on, but I was really happy to learn how to carve a rectangle into a cylinder. I next I made my wife a little wooden bunny out of basswood...and by "little wooden bunny" I mean it was a very basic, pretty much 2D version, but again I was happy to be learning.

For the next few years I turned half of our tiny apartment dining room into my workshop, using only hand tools to carve, chisel, and sand small items that were pretty much useless but helped me learn and progress. I accumulated hand tools, learned to cut some joints by hand (not well, but some still hold to this day), and had a lot of fun.

<em>(Lots of other plot points occurred here, which I'll someday fill y'all in on if you like)</em>

Over the years I spent my time learning how to do as many things by hand as possible. My wife and I moved to a real house in Hamilton and since I have a slightly bigger shop in our cellar basement I've aquired some more power tools to help make some tasks easier.

Hand tools are still magic to me and I hope to keep learning and coming up with cool stuff to make.

Ultimately, I'm just happy I found something to make with my hands, and am relatively capable at it. I have a long way to go before I can even be considered good at this, but the journey is a lot of fun.

Recently I started a podcast called Woodbeard Meets Makers where I am trying to get past my social anxiety, meet new people and share their talents with the listeners. It's been a lot of fun so far and has featured many Hamilton-area makers and artists.

Hope you like my work. Have a great day!

</div>
</div>

Practice