We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cathy Harms. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cathy below.

Alright, Cathy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I began my journey learning metalsmithing at the University of Iowa, focusing on fabrication, soldering, anodizing aluminum, and creating functional and nonfunctional sculptural objects in metal. After my first day in the shop, working with my hands and with machinery, I knew this was it.

Years later, I started dabbling in woodworking and was primarily self taught. In 2015, I decided to focus on woodworking professionally and opened a one-woman woodworking studio called Charms Woodworks. I started by selling heirloom-quality wood educational toys internationally — the farthest order was from Mauritania, Africa. The first toy I sold is called the Spelling Tree, a Montessori-inspired educational toy that incorporates a fun literacy and fine motor experience for young learners. I then kept adding to my toy line, and made sound marble runs and planet-themed spinning tops made of polymer clay and maple, turned on a lathe.

In 2019, I became a teaching artist and taught toy making workshops at Kid Lab, a kids makerspace in Raleigh. Through my toymaking workshops, students have explored gears, pins, levers, and cranks to create automata theaters and Crankie machines, or moving panorama. We’ve experimented with mixed media art and reuse, using plywood cut shapes and bottle caps to create re(art). Students have built their own wood marble runs and designed the product packaging and toy logo for their toy business. I’ve also helped Girl Scouts earn their woodworking badge by working with tools to build their own birdhouses with a license plate roof.

These days, I focus on fine woodworking and advanced joinery techniques. I seek out classes, and like so many traditional craftspeople before me, I learned through mentors whom I found through woodworking associations, a local university, and word of mouth.

My mentors have taught me advanced joinery techniques like dovetails, bridle joints, and through mortises and tenons. They also helped me work through my big ideas, breaking down large, complex projects while considering design, aesthetics, wood movement, and wood properties. Through them, I learned furniture making, sawmilling, and how to run a small business.

With social media, woodworking organizations, and schools/classes, I count myself lucky to exist in a time where I am constantly learning from fellow woodworkers. I have also sought out scholarship opportunities at art and craft schools like Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Picosin Arts in Columbia, NC.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My work—including heirloom-quality wood educational toys and rustic to mid-century modern furniture—combines my passions for tinkering, woodworking, and creating fun and engaging learning experiences for children.

I enjoy creating in different styles and techniques, and I don’t want one piece to define my work. My woodworking is constantly evolving. It’s all about the small details, like leg chamfers and accenting unique characteristics in a piece of wood rather than concealing them. I consider myself a thinker and a designer, transversing the mediums of wood and metal to create pieces where superior function and great design work hand in hand.

My woodworking has been featured in Fine Woodworking Magazine, and my educational toys named “Etsy Finds.” I also teach toy-making workshops, which began at Kid Lab, a makerspace for kids. My passion for building has expanded into advanced carpentry, where I’ve learned how to build structures from the floor to the walls, putting up purlins and joists and a roof. As a certified instructor with Hope Renovations,I teach women and nonbinary folks in the skilled trades. I feel so blessed to be able to share my passions for woodworking with others.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I imagine I would have started earlier in this field if I had come across this book sooner: Women’s Work, Stories from Pioneering Women Shaping Our Workforce, by Chris Crisman. I grew up thinking that I needed to do what all my friends were doing — get a four-year degree at a university and land an office job. This book showed me all the different career paths out there and opened my eyes to new opportunities that await women forging their place in the world. The book is filled with portraits of women shaping our workforce as firefighters, woodworkers, pig farmers, cowgirls, gold miners, taxidermists, scholars—whatever they dream up.

My other go-to book is The Why & How of Woodworking by Michael Pekovich. It helps me when I am stuck on a project or I’m comparing myself to someone more accomplished. It reminds me of why I do what I do and why creating meaningful work matters.

My time in the shop becomes a break from the usual stress and voices swirling in my head. I turn it into a ritual, put on my shop apron, organize my tools, set up my playlist, and get the music going. Pekovich says if I don’t have time to do those things, then I probably don’t have time to be in the shop. This mindfulness also puts me in the zone so I work safer around hand and power tools and with more precision. My mindset going into a project makes all the difference. The book also reminds me to take the time to document my work, so I can share the craft with others and remind myself how far I’ve come.

Finally, The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell changed my mindset when tackling something new and perfecting my craft. According to research Gladwell describes, it takes about 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. This book completely changed my approach. Instead of giving up after a couple failed attempts at making butterfly keys, I decided to keep trying repeatedly until I could do them perfectly. I can’t make something amazing if I don’t put in the time to get the skills down.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?
Knowing what I know now, I would have done a few things differently, like seeking out other women in woodworking and creating my support system sooner. It can be intimidating walking into a community workshop or a classroom and being the only woman in the room. This is another reason why I am passionate about teaching women and gender-expansive folks in the skilled trades. I wish I had that support and encouragement when I started in the field.

What skills do you think were most essential?
Resilience and patience. Working with wood is incredibly rewarding, but be prepared for a big time commitment. I have made many mistakes along the way — there are sometimes mediocre designs — but it’s important to push through until you get to that a-ha moment. I like to choose projects that are above my skill level so I can learn to do something new every time and come up with new designs.

Another skill of sorts is knowing when you need to seek out inspiration and mentors. I encourage others like me not to wait for an opportunity to come your way. Learn traditions and techniques from those who came before you and those who are creating cutting-edge techniques today. Some of my favorite woodworkers I go to for inspiration are:

@christinaboydesign/ – She makes incredible custom furniture that is somehow both modern and rustic a at once with an added playfulness be it color, texture, or pattern.
@laurainelilliestudios – Valerie Berlage makes stunning wood art in western North Carolina. Her use of color, shape, texture, and pattern is unique, creative and beautiful.
@aspen_golann – Aspen Golann is trained as a 17th -to 19th-century woodworker and furniture maker, whose work explores gender and power through the manipulation of iconic American furniture forms.
@sammaloofwoodworker I am a big fan of Sam Maloof and his mid-century modern furniture.Their social media feed gives peeks into the Sam Maloof compound in southern California,, offers woodworking classes, tours and all sorts of fun things.

I also suggest working to find a community. Woodworkers are typically excited to share their knowledge and experience. Find a local guild, communicate with woodworkers on social media, read magazines/books, find a community woodworking shop, and take classes in your community or at arts and crafts schools. Having a community will help you stay inspired and motivated!

One more suggestion for others: Put your touch into what you make. Like all craft, if you enjoyed the process of making/designing it, it will show in the finished piece.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
An obstacle that stood in my way was listening to the naysayers who said I couldn’t have a career by following my passion. I decided to do it anyway and had faith that the income would follow.

My craft has taken on many forms over the years — selling heirloom-quality toys, commission work and one-offs, writing about woodworking and DIY, selling woodworking plans as passive income, and teaching youth and women and nonbinary folks the skilled trades.

You can see more of my work at charmswoodworks.com or on Instagram @charmswoodworks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.charmswoodworks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charmswoodworks