Meet the fabulous Miss Scotch, shopgirl extraordinaire, who's living in Hawaii as an apprentice woodworker learning to build custom furniture. In part two of our interview, Miss Scotch shares with us the weirdest place she's ever found sawdust in, and why she'd like to make a gallows for George W Bush...
How did you become interested in making furniture?
I graduated in 2003 with a degree in Art History. While I was deciding whether or not to go back in pursuit of a PhD, I got a job at the Chase Gallery, where I met Frank. After awhile, business got slow and Frank offered to let me do sanding work for him to supplement my income. I began alternating every other day, working at the gallery and in the wood shop. It was very strange! Half the week I was a girl - wearing dresses & high heels selling art, the other half was spent getting dirty & working with power tools.
As you've probably surmised, getting dirty was a lot more fun! Frank offered to teach me the trade and I quit the gallery to work full-time in the shop. Ultimately, I have found making my own art is far more satisfying than selling other people's stuff. It's likely I'll return to academia someday, but for now, I'm having fun in trade school.
What’s the weirdest place you’ve gotten sawdust in?
There is no place on my body that is a virgin to sawdust. It gets absolutely everywhere. There's a great Japanese existentialist novel called, The Woman in the Dunes, which is about a woman who shovels sand out of her house all day everyday, while more continuously drops in through the night. It is, of course, about the absurdity of existence but I often think of it literally because cleaning my house, is really that ridiculous. The stuff is everywhere.
How many injuries have you had?
I've had a couple of really close calls...but nothing too terrible. The worst so far was a stomach injury I sustained while carrying two very heavy pieces of lumber. I knew I didn't have the strength to set them down carefully, so I let them drop on the table - when they dropped my stomach skin sandwiched between the planks and the full weight, plus the spring-back motion, resulted in a nasty pinch that ripped off a bunch of skin and bruised the surrounding area. It hurt so bad I was afraid to look at it.
When the blood started to soak through my shirt, I checked it and nearly passed out. One of the hardest things about my job is that if my head isn't always in the game - I'm gonna get hurt. With office work, you can zone out when you're hungover or tired and not have to worry about chopping your hand off or falling on the table saw.
Honorable mention goes to Frank's parrot attacking me & biting through my thumb in a fit of jealous rage. Frank got rid of her shortly after that incident, but she & I still have unfinished business that may or may not involve a cage match with a broom & knee pads...
What is it about Hawaii that makes it the perfect place for you to learn?
From a business stand point it makes sense because Hawaii has a tourist-driven economy. It's an easier place than most to earn a living making art. Thankfully, there is also a very wealthy set here with vacation homes that need furnishing. More philosophically, I believe this place to be a hotbed of creative energy. There is something very special about the Big Island of Hawaii - possibly because the island itself is still actively forming, which makes it fertile for all things, including artistic endeavors. Oh, I should also mention that the mild climate makes working outdoors year-round a great pleasure, too.
If you could make one piece of furniture for one person (dead or alive) who would it be?
A gallows for George W. Bush? (Can I say that?) Actually, I would really love to build a massive bookshelf for Henry Rollins. I understand he is a voracious reader and I really respect what he has to say as well as the career choices he has made. He inspires me to be tougher, more disciplined and to keep my integrity.
What’s your favorite thing about making furniture?
That is the toughest question of all. There are so many things that make woodworking a perfect fit. If I absolutely had to choose one, I would say the artistic high I get every single day from the pure act of creating something beautiful from raw material. It is infinitely satisfying and although it is cliche to say - doing it isn't like work at all. If I had enough money to not have to work, I would still build furniture everyday - although it would be weirder, and not easily marketable.
You can find the first part of our interview with Miss Scotch, HERE.
Visit Miss Scotch's Etsy shop to purchase her custom made furniture and woodworkings, or email her at: MissScotch@gmail.com