Wu Hanyen

Baddies in the Game Parlor is done (as its gonna be). We had a blast making this table and 4 chairs with game accessories in two weeks. Thank you @bcstudentcraft for hosting us! #gametables #woodworking #woodturning #artistresidency

I had the pleasure of taking a Kumiko workshop with @big_sand_woodworking in Ibaraki. Kumiko is a traditional Japanese woodworking technique using precisely cut strips of wood to form intricate geometric patterns. With Kumiko, consistency from the very beginning is crucial. Any tiny error early on multiplies into visible gaps later. Jon offered to go over kanna setup with me again. Even though this was my second introduction to kanna, I still learned *a lot*. It’s remarkable how a seemingly simple thing like the kanna can require so much attention and care. Aside from cranking out couple of patterns, I learned the art of uradashi (tapping) and how to get over my fear of sawing on the line, amongst many other things! Thank you so much Jon for the wonderful workshop 🪚⚡️

🪵 🚨 I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be teaching at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts this summer! Applications are open now and it’s FREE to apply this year! Check out @haystack_school latest post for details on how to apply. This is a class I’ve been dreaming up and am excited to share, as informed by my recent studies in Japan 🇯🇵 and an ongoing interest in tools and ritual. Course description below 👇🏽 In this workshop, we’ll make tools that bring care and attention to daily rituals. Using woodworking techniques like shaping, carving, joinery, and turning, we’ll explore how functional objects can hold meaning, beauty, and intention. Each participant will design and build a one-of-a-kind tool to support or reimagine their own practice. By the end, everyone leaves with a handmade object and a deeper connection to making by hand. All levels welcome! ✨ Session 4 | July 26 – August 7 General applications for Summer Workshops close on February 20. Feel free to DM me with any questions! #Haystack2026
#HaystackMountainSchoolOfCrafts
#CraftEducation
#HaystackAt75

sign and I spent a few days in Kawasaki Village in Nara learning coopering with Hirohito-san. We burned cedar scraps to stay warm, soaked in a cedar bathtub Hirohito built, ate rice from cedar barrels, and made our own small barrels from start to finish. Hirohito @tarumaru_to_kioke and Miho @yado.hanare run a quaint Airbnb in a traditional house and are part of a younger generation setting down roots in Yoshino County. There was something special about slowing down, working with our hands, and being welcomed into a community so deeply tied to Japanese cedar and all its uses. It was meaningful to share this experience with Em. She doesn’t usually work with wood, but after carving the groove for the barrel bottom, Hirohito smiled and said she was “surprisingly good!” 😂 Feeling grateful for folks who choose to live simply and keep age old traditions alive while generously sharing their knowledge 🙏🏽

Spent a day in Shikoku Island learning how to forge a knife and I am buzzing from the heat of the forge 🔥 Worked alongside the sweetest crew, learned how to read the color of hot steel in the dark, quenched my blade in one smooth motion, and engraved 鄔(“wu”) on the side. Working in pairs with one person guiding the blade while the other hammers, is a classic Japanese blacksmithing workflow. This was my first time forging and I couldn’t believe that the tiny bar of steel we started with stretched into the knife I made. My blade will get sharpened by sensei Nobuyah-san before they ship it back to the States. I’m excited to shape the handle with the help of my buddy @kuttyknives who is a knife maker 🔪 Huge thank you to @nobuyah @jessethedeshi and @fitsbach for such a wonderful class. It was a trek to get to Shimanto but absolutely worth it!

Just wrapped up coopering workshop with @kumpei_sugimoto in Komatsu 🍚 It was refreshing to learn such an intuitive and bare bones approach to coopering compared to the precision I’m used to in furniture making. We made a Sugi miso barrel, one of the traditional coopered tubs tied to Japan’s rich food culture. It blows my mind that wood can create a tight seal with no glue at all with minimal tools. Arigato gozaimasu Kumpei-san for sharing your knowledge! Your way with bamboo is mesmerizing to watch 🎋 Despite the language barrier, I loved how much we could communicate through body language and context, and how quickly things clicked with our woodworking and Japanese tool experience. It was sooo nice finally meeting @cedar.creek.farm in person, I couldn’t have asked for a better JUSFC fellow to share this experience with. Thank you for letting me tag along, and thank you to @flaxfolk for the beautiful photos and being such a supportive partner in this journey we share 💗 Arigato gozaimasu Sago-San @dongurinosato_ishikawa for being such a good host yet never understanding us 🫰🏽 Read more on my Substack, link in bio 🔗

In just four weeks, I made a replica of Tak Yoshino’s Zen dining chair under sensei @takyoshino guidance! I learned to work with kannas, as well as how to customize, sharpen, and care for them. More importantly, I feel like I relearned the patience and joy of working with wood 🪵 I’m honored to have been a student of Tak-san, one of the most joyful teachers I’ve ever met. hontoni! I hope to carry these lessons with me into my own teaching and my practice. Thank you to the Yoshino family for your endless hospitality, it’s been a pleasure to be a part of your family. And to Togo-san @wootogo.working the dreamboat apprentice, thank you for teaching me kanna setting and for your ichiban cooking skills. Subarashi ne! 🍶

I’ve been studying Japanese woodworking with sensei Tak Yoshino at the Mt Fuji Wood Culture Society @mtfujiwcs 🪵 I wake up to the view of Mt Fuji, meditate each morning and woodwork till dawn, sometimes I return to work after dinner. I have so much more to say about this experience but for now, I just feel so incredibly grateful to be here 🤎

Boob series 🍼 I’ve been playin around with boobs since the first glass class I ever took in 2016 at Urban Glass! But this is the first time that I’ve tried sculpting the nipple instead of adding hot bits or casted elements. Had to dig back to the archive for the first nipple cup I made 9 years ago, the glass was sooo thic 😂 Thank you for the brilliant idea, the clutch sculpting tool and ofc gaffing skills ⚡️ @adayamonthayear (I blew the wonky ones in the 2nd photo) Ok that’s all the glass for now. Onto Japan 🇯🇵

Glass experiments from my residency at @haystack_school 🫑 Having recently learned the CNC during my time @woodschoolmaine I wanted to combine that knowledge with glassblowing at Haystack. I made a vessel-like design based off of a detail from the Moy series. Then CNC’d blow mold out of cork to blow glass into, taking advantage of two resources I don’t normally have access to. Ideally would have had a lot more time to play around with this concept, made the molds more functional with some handles and hinges but proof of concept was all I had time for. Super fun experiment that unexpectedly turned out looking like bell peppers Thank you to @taller_la_yuma for working the CNC magic ✨ Shout out and TY to @adayamonthayear for the baller gaffer skills 🔥

Moy Island 🏝️ Had so much fun bringing this custom kitchen island to life for the formidable duo @fromhighgloss @shawncarney thank you for trusting my vision and letting me craft this piece for your insanely lovely home 💗 photo: @robchron

@haystack_school open studio residency was a dream come true ✨ i have no words to describe how magical it was to spend 2 weeks with 50 phenomenal artists, makers, thinkers ✨ Shout out to my hot shop baddies for the immaculate vibes! Being back in the hot shop for the first time in 7 years was like riding a really hot bike and I loved every minute of it ❤️‍🔥 Thank you to @adayamonthayear for being the best glass blowing partner and teacher!! I will cherish all the memories - daily 5pm swim, talking about 4C hair for hours, watching love island in gateway, bonfires by the water. In addition to blowing glass, I learned how to make rings, wheel throw and broom making. Thank you to for sharing your passion and knowledge @fern.estudio @henglee1017 @sunyoung.cheong @hankbastard @studio_ayumiya So much gratitude to the studio techs, the staff, and the kitchen staff for keeping us well fed and nourished, them corn miso cookies have my heart 🌽💛