I was honoured to be interviewed for an article in the GP entitled "Finding my way back to health by carpentry on a whim". As the article describes, carpentry became my salvation from exhaustion.
It's funny how life turns out sometimes and sometimes I wonder if it's not possible to escape "one's fate" for ever?! Carpentry was a strong interest in my teens and early 20s, but it was not something I chose as a profession. However, it was there in the back of my mind, pulling at me until I finally couldn't ignore it anymore. Every part of my body craved the smell of freshly hewn oak and wood chips in my fingers. Youtube went warm as the family fell asleep and I dove deeper and deeper into the carpentry icon. That activity, however, was completely free of wood chips , but for that very reason a bit frustrating and soulless. Carpentry is kind of something you do. But how would it be possible to build a carpenter's workshop? A carpentry shop is expensive, at least if you want to make furniture and fine carpentry. It also needs to be quite large.
On 25 m2
With the help of my family, especially my father and my wife, I built an attic house on the plot. That's where I started! At 25m2. Ideas have been flowing and although the space put limits on what I could do, it also required me to be resourceful and creative. I looked at problems in my own everyday life and from there it has grown.
Now I have a much bigger room but my house is still there on the plot. It reminds me of what can become a reality if you just want to and believe it can be done.
And at the same time I got a call from my dad's cousin asking if I wanted an old carpenter's bench just as I was about to start... well, you have to wonder if it was in the blood and just waiting to be activated. I was named after my grandfather's grandfather, I knew that much from before. What I didn't know was that this great-grandfather Ola was also a cabinetmaker and that his homemade carpenter's bench was ready to find its way home to me.
