Carpentry is truly in my blood; my Opa was a home builder from Holland and two of his sons followed suit. While my first career was in secondary education, the spark to create beautiful things out of wood has always been with me. In 2020 I apprenticed under master furniture builder Andreas Niemann in Mapua, NZ. I spent 5 months in Niemann’s shop, but learned two very valuable lessons: keep your blades sharp and never forgo attention to detail.
From that point on I experienced a variety of roles in woodwork, from teaching high school kids, to production framing and truss building, renovations, new construction, Euro-style sheet metal roofing and cladding, timber framing, and cabinet making. I take pride in my diverse skill set and enduring desire to learn.
Gazing forward, I have found that traditional methods of home building appeal to me the most - log construction, Japanese joinery, and timber framing continue to interest me. But modern construction and its regulation maintain my working attention. I believe an open mind – to new products and methods - is essential when designing and building anything from a desk to a dwelling. Nelson is a beautiful place to live and play, and I am excited to be on the crew with f2a!