This is a one-of-a-kind handcrafted cutting board, made by craft educator, Rose Holdorf.
Each cutting board is crafted from locally-purchased Walnut, which Rose mills down in her workshop on the outskirts of Corvallis, OR. The walnut is sanded down to 220 grit and finished with hand carved beveled edges. Rose then uses a small kolrosing knife (similar to an exacto-knife) to carve unique patterns on each board that compliment the natural wood grain of each piece. This step alone can take an hour per board! The milk paint is mixed by hand from powder in small batches and each board gets 2-3 coats of paint per color. More colors & more complex patterns, handle additions-all take more time. After the boards have been painted, she sands the paint down with a fine steel wool, then applies a coat of food-safe, heat-treated walnut oil, which cures for at least 24 hours.
/// Rose grew up between a fir forest and an oak savanna in a house her parents built outside Corvallis, Oregon. A Macalester College alumna with a background in educational nonprofits, she attended North House Folk School in Minnesota to study traditional northern crafts, including timber framing, chair making, greenwood carving, blacksmithing, basket weaving, fibers, and natural dyeing. In 2018, she returned to the land where she was raised to revive her Dad’s wood shop and continue to carve, weave, sew, dye, and build.
Rose is a 2019 member of Teal Cooperative Gallery and teaches woodworking classes at Wildcraft Studio School, North House Folk School, Oregon State University Craft Center, Highland Woodshop, Nordic Northwest, American Swedish Institute, and Women’s Woodshop in Minneapolis, where she has been a Resident Artist since 2018. Whatever adventures may come, Rose hopes to always nurture our land and empower those who value it so we can have stronger relationships with the environment and each other.