“My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal. We never lose, somehow we win out.”
About the Artist
Jen Holsten grew up summering at her grandparents’ small cottage on East Bear Island on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Fascinated by her grandfather’s woodshop and projects, she fell in love with the birdseye maple dresser her grandfather made in the room she stayed in when she was a young child. In 2002, Jen took basic, intermediate, and advanced classes at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockland, Maine. She stayed on as an apprentice during the summer of 2003 and began designing and making cabinets, benches and tables. She wanted to find a way to introduce people to the beauty of wood grain, the naturally occurring patterns in each board and the variation of lumber milled from old growth or dying trees. Jen first began collecting imperfect boards and end-cuts cast off by high-end furniture makers. She began to incorporate knots, worm holes, live edge, spalted wood and other imperfections into each piece she made. Before she knew it, she had a varied collection of mini-masterpieces ready to share.
Jen resides on Peaks Island, Maine, and makes her boards overlooking the shipping channel of Casco Bay in the winter months. During the warmer months, she moves to her workshop located on Hersey Island on Lake Cobbosseecontee in Winthrop, Maine.
Style & Quality
Many of the board’s shapes come from forms found in nature. We are drawn to rounded edges and ultra smooth finishes, and so, even our square boards have rounded edges. Each board goes through at least five or six sanding stages to create a smoothness which draws people in to handle them at shows. The boards are finished with a combination of organic beeswax and food-grade mineral oil made in small batches. Our favorite board is the sea glass heart which we created by using a profile of an actual piece of heart-shaped sea glass found on Casino Beach in Cape Elizabeth, ME. We used an old overhead projector and traced the enlarged outline onto tracing paper taped to a wall and then transferred the shape onto a piece of wood. Before we knew it, we had created an original piece.
