About me and my craft
A hobby carpenter from Ensamheten
My work
My name is Daniel Andersson and I grew up in the small village Ensamheten (The Solitude) in the inland of Västerbotten, ten kilometers from the nearest town. My family has lived here for six generations; taken care of the forest, worked and walked the same paths as we do today.
The Solitude is so much more than a village. It is deep roots and community. fucking around with the cousins and being chased by the buck. It is to grow up with 500 hectares of forest as a backyard and nature as a playground. Far from friends but close to the fishing pond, cloudberry bogs and with the snowmobile next to the house. It is to have moose meat hanging in my wood workshop and to hand-dig your own fiber broadband over 1 km into the village.
But for others, perhaps the village is best known as the "arm wrestling village". Growing up in the middle of the forest means that you get to be creative and invent things to have fun with. Many of us got really good at arm wrestling. My cousins Heidi and Fia even became the best in the world (several times over). Our first "arm wrestling room" in the village was actually in the barn where I now have my woodwork shop
My interest in crafts began as a child with carving wooden swords and looking for new, cooler woods. Today I make my craft in Grandpa Tore's old woodwork shop here in Ensamheten. A large part of the wood I work with are from his gigantic storehouse in the barn attic. I have learned carpentry by using the Solitude mentality "think for yourself!". Grandpa's perfect craftsmanship and dad's careful sanding have also been - and are - a great inspiration in my work.
I like to come up with new shapes and experiment with different types of wood. Therefore, I do not have any ready-made templates, but each product looks different. I spend a lot of time finding woods with a unique character. This means that I not only select the most stable types of wood but also work with wood that can be more fragile but have a unique appearance.
For me, it is important to preserve the character of the wood and the natural feel. Therefore, I do not do major treatments on my products but only a surface treatment with paraffin oil. The wood may thus continue to be the living material it is, which means that there is a risk that smaller cracks may appear over time, but a material such as wood ages with dignity and that is exactly what the charm of it is.
The loneliness. The roots are deep!
In grandfather's carpentry.
Contact
Do you have questions or are you interested in buying one of my products? Fill in the form or send an email to: solitude.woodcraft@gmail.com
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