In this virtual course, students will learn the basics of hand carving spirals in wood using a knife and a stick (literally). The simplicity of tools and materials allows this course to be inclusive to those without studio space and extensive tooling.
This course will begin with layout, simple holding jigs, knife safety, and will cover carving spirals in kiln dried wood, non-linear shapes, and basic sanding.
Join us, it’s going to be big fun and who doesn’t love a unicorn horn.
All skill levels welcome. No prerequisites. All you need is a computer and a good internet connection!
WOO is a non-profit safe space for training underrepresented genders in our field. As such, enrollment is limited to non-binary, trans, and woman-identifying people over the age of 18.
photo credit: Jim Escalante
Sylvie Rosenthal started building at age six at an experimental design museum where she made circuses, catapults, rockets, and robots. She trained as a welder at Austin Community College and received her BFA from The Rochester Institute of Technology, Woodworking and Furniture Design Program in the School for American Crafts, built two houses from the ground up with her mentor Doug Sigler, and received her MFA in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Sylvie has been routinely invited as a visiting artist, teacher, and researcher to many schools including San Diego State University (CA), University of Wisconsin Whitewater and Madison (WI), Penland School of Crafts (NC), Haystack Mountain School (ME), Anderson Ranch Arts Center (CO), Australia National University (Canberra, Australia) and Tainan National University of the Arts (Tainan, Taiwan R.O.C.). She has shown nationally at galleries and museums such as The Fuller Craft Museum (MA), The Mint Museum (NC), and the Museum of Art and Design (NYC). Currently, Sylvie maintains a studio practice making furniture on commission, production work for sale online, and sculpture dealing with the intersecting flight patterns of the histories of trade, the intentional and unintentional transplantations that come with it, hybridity, materiality, queer theory, and the natural world. Sylvie teaches woodworking and design thinking in many settings, such as university and college programs, craft school workshops, and to children through Lower Astronomy Projects, hands on creativity and woodworking projects for children ages 5-12. She recently finished her service on the board of trustees of CERF+, the Artists’ Safety Net which helps artists build strong and resilient careers.
See more images of her work below, or by visiting her website sylvierosenthal.com, lowerastronomystudios.com (coming late Feb or March 2021) or on her instagram @boat_boat or @lower.astronomy
Scope 2014
Mahogany, steel, brass, paint, bass wood, paint, salt clay, epoxy resin, plasti dip, velcro, optical lenses, casters
85” x 66” x 26”
photo credit: Jim Escalante
Swizzle Mallet 2020
Mahogany, basswood, milk paint, osmo oil, wax finish
40.5” x 8.75” x 3”
photo credit: Jim Escalante
