For longer than I’ve been alive, my grandfather has made friends and family a wooden Santa Claus for Christmas. He began with just a few of these intarsia pieces for his coworkers, siblings, and friends, but as other people began to admire them, he created more and more each year.

I worked on them with him as a child in his workshop, spending a portion of my summer learning how to use a sanding drum and carving gouge, how to create a design from what you see in the world, and how to transform disparate pieces of wood into a work of art to be treasured. There was always something so satisfying about the process—I loved getting to sign the back of my Santa, knowing that I’d made it myself.

Flash-forward to 2022. After many years in the Marketing space, I founded Riven Raven Workshop out of a desire to recapture that feeling I had as a child, working with my grandfather in his workshop. I wanted to work with my hands, to connect more directly with my customers, and to craft things that would bring people joy. Through Riven Raven Workshop, I can do that.