INSTRUCTORs
Prin van Gulden is a homesteader and craftswoman passionate about illuminating our connections to land and humanity through traditional skills. She believes the relationships we maintain with the ecological world as we re-learn to utilize the gifts of nature are as essential as the skills to make a basket or skein of yarn. This type of craftsmanship practice helps us to own and process both the reverence and hardships that come with being human in our time.
She lives and homesteads in Craftsbury VT with her family. Prin teaches the Fiber Arts curriculum at Sterling College as well as classes and workshops around Vermont. website
Prin is teaching Cedar Bark Hats and Birch Bark Jewelry
Among other things, Penny is a homeschooling mom, craftsperson and homesteader, who is inspired by the traditions of other cultures to revitalize and share skills useful to everyday life. She strives to grow, craft and participate in seasonal harvests for many of her needs and wants and is grateful to be part of a generous community of talented makers and growers with whom she trades skills, ideas and wares. She uses hand-harvested resources from the forest, letting the qualities of varying materials dictate their use.
Penny is teaching Willow Bark Baskets and Black Ash Berry Baskets
A habitual wanderer and weed eater, Lucian Avery lives with his family in Hardwick. He likes making things for everyday life, like baskets, bowls and chicken soup. Lucian spends his days blacksmithing, focusing on hand tools - mostly for the garden, woodshop and kitchen.
Lucian is teaching Shrink Pot Carving and Knife Hafting, and instigating the Morning Walks.
Luke Boushee has worked as a mentor at Earthwalk Vermont since 2014 where he teaches youth primitive and naturalist skills through out the year. He leads adult workshops in a variety of subjects including basswood rope making, flint and steel blacksmithing, hide tanning, etc. He lives in a homemade yurt in central Vermont and spends most of his time learning traditional crafts and harvesting and preparing wild foods.
Luke is teaching workshops in Burl Bowl carving and Rope Making making.
Photo Taken By Brad Salon at the ROOTS Rendezvous
Erok "e-rok" Gillard is a local artist, activist, poet, uncle and lover of the wild. He enjoys printmaking, paper cutting, shadow puppetry and sharing artwork, especially through the mail. Erok hopes to someday be able to whistle like a cricket.
Erok is teaching Block Printing for adults and Wild Adventures, Games and Singing for kids.
He will also be leading a block printing session Friday afternoon, putting Sloyd Skills Gathering logos on shirts and patches. We will have some shirts and cloth but bring your own if you can.
Sean Miller lives in the bustling metropolis of Montpelier but is lucky enough to have a sloyd barn in his backyard. Passionate about making, building, and tinkering, his hands are usually busy. Carving has been his daily meditation for several years, with spoons taking center stage. He is a lover of trees- both standing and fallen to the forest floor.
Sean is teaching The Wooden Spoon.
In addition to teaching crafts and earth skills, Ross Doree is a long time educator who loves the collaborative experiences that arise from being outside with kids. He also enjoys making up stories (some good, some not so good) based on folk traditions and the intersection of suburban and wilderness living. He is currently the Youth Programs Director at Crow's Path in Burlington, VT.
Ross will be leading Stories and Games for kids.
Nancy VanWinkle spent nearly a decade teaching adolescents in a land-based Montessori program; it was here that she started teaching visual journaling as a form of self-expression. Over time, her love of books grew and Nancy learned everything she knows about bookbinding from Asheville-based artist, Erin Keane, dynamic book-binder and encaustic innovator . Nancy has been honored to join Erin as her teaching assistant at both John C. Campbell Folk School and Penland School for the Arts in western North Carolina. A fairly recent transplant to Vermont, Nancy teaches classes through local organizations and creates books in her home-based Nomadic Roots Studio, located in Craftsbury Village.
Nancy is teaching Coptic Book Binding.
Mary Watkevich has studied and taught land based traditional crafts for over a decade. She lives by the seasons in an old barn on a mountaintop in Vermont.
Mary is teaching Whisk Brooms.
Justin Sutera has been practicing and teaching wilderness skills and nature connection mentoring for over 15 years. He helps find that spark of curiosity within students, and together they explore the mysteries and beauty of the natural world. From the physical skills of survival and wildcrafting, to the softer skills of studying nature and constantly growing one's awareness, Justin is an expert at meeting students where they are at and guiding them towards deeper connections. website
Justin is teaching Bark Baskets for Kids