Makanda Woodshop

07/15/2025

My first ✨GALLERY NIGHT✨ was magical. was absolutely packed, conversations about the art flowed in and out the front door all night. I am honored to have work in Visual Impressions - the show is up through the end of July (details in my last post).

Here are some photos from the night featuring best friends, new friends, my parents, and a legendary Seattle artist 😍

PS: Jake and Chanel were very relieved when the back brace fit under the jumpsuit, I was ready to ditch it, they insisted I try it 😆🥰

1. The most supportive boyfriend I’ve ever dreamed of having
2. Number Seventy Six
3. The absolute best hype man, (took most of these photos, was also there when I got the email saying I’d gotten into the show)
4. Me proud to show four pieces, Jake proud of me
5. “STEVE FU**ING JENSEN” is what I yelled in the parking garage after I learned the legendary Seattle artist (wood carver & multimedia) has work in the show as well. He is so kind, told me I should be celebrating this milestone and to “Keep going” 😭😭😭
6. My new friend Grace makes cool art out of foraged materials, she’s kind and her art is rad.
7. The foundation of Team Makanda
8. I am loved.

So grateful. Love yous.

07/02/2025

Showing this month in Kirkland! Visual Impressions opens this weekend and runs through July 31 at Ryan James Fine Arts

Not only is this the live debut of Vessel 76, it’s also my first time having work in a gallery show; I am thrilled.

Gallery Night reception is July 10, 6-9pm. I’ll see you there!

Ryan James Fine Arts
425 Urban Plaza STE 165, Kirkland WA 98033

Gallery hours: Mon-Sat 11-7p, Sun 12-5p

#425

05/23/2025

05/16/2025

** no medical advice, horror stories, nor opinions on my decisions, please. Validation, encouragement, love, and hype much appreciated **

It’s time for my fourth back surgery. As you know, Makanda Woodshop is my desperate, determined attempt to build some type of legacy (and maybe even a life) after all my big plans and achievements couldn’t save me from becoming suddenly disabled at 23.

I’ve built this thing with the explicit knowledge that the amount of time I’m able to spend working is directly related to my pain levels, which fluctuate based on variables out of my control as degenerative disc disease progresses and chronic illnesses… remain chronic.

The idea of diving into art as my primary focus being that working for myself and building an art a career allows me to cater to my always-evolving needs without losing progress, and the tiny workshop my family helped me build allows me take advantage of the moments that I am able to work as they ebb and flow over time.

This last year especially has been a slow ebb back into higher pain levels, and the accompanying need to put medical stuff (plus the resulting hit to my mental state) in the forefront of my days, with planned shop time often eaten up by recovery days. BUT a shift back in the right direction is on the horizon…kinda.

About that surgery I mentioned…
The disc above my current fusion is herniated and bulging into my spinal cavity, now compressing both the left and right L3 nerve roots, causing pain to shoot down both of my legs.

Regular Epidural Steroid Injections are no longer resolving the nerve pain down my left leg. Scans confirm the bulge is growing rather than resolving.

The good news is that we don’t need to fuse this level yet. We “go in and clean [L3-L4] up” now, and we fuse if/when it happens again.

CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

04/12/2025

A friend commented “it’s giving MALS scar, emphasized” and she’s not wrong. Part of why I kept carving as the void got larger was because I identified with the wound. It is absolutely a visual representation of the hole chronic illness has torn in my life, via my body - much more realistic than the neat surgical scars hidden under my clothing.

My most prominent use of yet, and I am so very happy with the result!

** This post is my entry into a competition by Starbond Adhesives - any activity you give it will give me a better chance of winning supplies! 🫶🏻

I used two colors of starbond on this piece. I started with black, and the more I found the shape of the vessel, the less stable some of the wood became. I chose brown to strengthen these softer areas so that I wouldn’t lose their character within in the larger black void. I am thrilled with the result.

I tend to use both medium and medium thick formulas, depending on the void. I’m a huge fan of the accelerator, it keeps the process moving and made switching between colors simple (watch the process of this vessel, including how I use Starbond l, in my latest reel!)

04/04/2025

B00B VESSEL 58, WOMB COLLECTION
VESSEL TYPE: DRY VASE
WOOD: CHERRY - DOMESTIC HARDWOOD
Carved from a chunk I found in a furniture maker’s offcut pile at a sidewalk sale in Ballard, WA at
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Tyler Loftis Studio - Tribecca, NYC
“A Night of Art to Celebrate the Resilience of the Body in the face of Autoimmune Disease”
Visit my linkree (in BI0) to contribute to this fundraising event for The Autoimmune Alliance & Workers with Autoimmune Ailments Alliance alliance .alliance (doubleUtripleA)

04/04/2025

B00B VESSEL 70, WOMB COLLECTION
VESSEL TYPE: OFFERING
WOOD: WALNUT - DOMESTIC HARDWOOD
Walnut chunk cut off the end of a live-edge piece in my parents’ collection. Originally a mill-end from in Duvall, WA
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Tyler Loftis Studio - Tribecca, NYC
“A Night of Art to Celebrate the Resilience of the Body in the face of Autoimmune Disease”
Visit my linkree (in BI0) to contribute to this fundraising event for The Autoimmune Alliance & Workers with Autoimmune Ailments Alliance alliance

04/03/2025

B00B VESSEL 40 (re-worked)
VESSEL TYPE: DRY VASE
WOOD: BUBINGA - RARE, EXOTIC SPECIES, GROWS IN AFRICA. A VERY HARD WOOD.
Carved from a chunk I found in a furniture maker’s offcut pile at a sidewalk sale in Ballard, WA at
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Tyler Loftis Studio - Tribecca, NYC
“A Night of Art to Celebrate the Resilience of the Body in the face of Autoimmune Disease”
Visit my linkree (in BI0) to contribute to this fundraising event for The Autoimmune Alliance & Workers with Autoimmune Ailments Alliance (doubleUtripleA)
alliance

04/02/2025

B00B VESSEL 74
VESSEL TYPE: TAPER CANDLESTICK
WOOD: WALNUT - DOMESTIC HARDWOOD
Wood rescued from a box labeled “scraps” at a lumber yard in the S**O district of Seattle.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Tyler Loftis Studio - Tribecca, NYC
“A Night of Art to Celebrate the Resilience of the Body in the face of Autoimmune Disease”
Visit my linkree (in BI0) to contribute to this fundraising event for The Autoimmune Alliance & Workers with Autoimmune Ailments Alliance (doubleUtripleA)
alliance

04/02/2025

B00B VESSEL 64, WOMB COLLECTION
VESSEL TYPE: DRY VASE
WOOD: CHERRY - DOMESTIC HARDWOOD
Carved from a chunk I found in a furniture maker’s offcut pile at a sidewalk sale in Ballard, WA at
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Tyler Loftis Studio - Tribecca, NYC
“A Night of Art to Celebrate the Resilience of the Body in the face of Autoimmune Disease”
Visit my linkree (in BI0) to contribute to this fundraising event for The Autoimmune Alliance & Workers with Autoimmune Ailments Alliance (doubleUtripleA)alliance