Cassandra Aarssen the world’s leading expert on decluttering and organizing. She helps people to understand why we have such a hard time dealing with all the stuff in our lives. In addition to general organizing advice, I wanted to have Cas on the show to help the artists and creative people who listen to this show with our workspaces. I’ve talked to thousands of people who seem to have the same struggles and challenges when it comes to their workshops and studios. We save every weird screw and ...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 62
Within 5 years, the U.S. is likely to reach a critical juncture where is will be difficult to hire anyone to fix a leaky pipe or worse, repair a structural problem with your house. Ethan James is a leader at the forefront of research and education on the trade labor shortage. In this episode of The WTS we discussed what is being done to encourage young people to learn a trade and fill the massive gaps being created by an aging workforce of skilled tradespeople who are reaching retirement age. Pl...
Mar 17, 2023•58 min
Morgan Eckroth is the reigning US Barista Champion who finished second in the 2022 World Barista Championship. Morgandrinkscoffee is a blend of real world experience, practical advice, art, education, business, and pure entertainment: all revolving around coffee. In a sea of angry videos, cynical videos, confrontational videos, endless clickbait and short-attention span noise, Morgan's short form videos are a breath of fresh air. These videos are brief vignettes recreating simple, quiet, slice o...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 60
Basia Adamiec is a metalsmith and silversmith who crafts fine jewelry and shares her work with the world on her YouTube channel, The Art of Metalsmithing, a great resource for learning the tools and techniques needed to make your own jewelry and become a jeweler. Check out her work: https://www.youtube.com/@TheArtOfMetalsmithing Support The WTS at https://www.patreon.com/thewts Website: https://www.thewtspodcast.com/...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Benjamin Sinclair is the bass player for The Beths , as well as a hand tool woodworker. He also plays saxophone and keeps a detailed online journal of his experiences touring on the road. In this episode, we talk about art, performing with The Beths, and the convergence of creative interests. Read Ben's travel blog Listen to The Beths on Spotify Support The WTS...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 58
It was fun to catch up with Jason Hibbs from Bourbon Moth Woodworking and talk about the life cycle of woodworkers on YouTube, the Airstream cult, and why TV can't draw any audience for woodworking shows. We also have a formal statement from Blacktail Studio about the river table debate. Bourbon Moth on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Bourbonmoth Help support The WTS: https://www.patreon.com/thewts...
Jan 20, 2023•59 min
Jon is a graffiti artist and teacher whose videos transcend mere education and touch upon other topics and philosophy in the world of art. In this episode we get into the future of art and how artificial intelligence can create art much quicker and, in many cases, just as good as humans. Will we really need human artists for most art creation, especially commercial art and graphic design? Jon's video, The END of ART. https://youtu.be/x6cjWvjf220 Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/thewt...
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 56
Help support The WTS: https://www.patreon.com/thewts Kseniya Simonova's art is engaging, challenging, emotional, and inspiring…and she does it all with sand. Real-time stories, performed with sand. I first discovered Kseniya back in 2019 when I saw her perform on America’s Got Talent and was sent directly to the finals when Terry Crews gave her the golden buzzer. She also was a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, and the winner of Ukraine’s Got Talent. Kseniya has performed in more than 70 countri...
Dec 23, 2022•49 min•Ep. 55
Justin McElroy is a comedian, voice actor and podcaster known for long running podcasts such as Adventure Zone, Sawbones, My Brother, My Brother, and Me, and more. Woodworking has been his life’s work since late May of 2020. In this episode we talk about woodworking, podcasting, comedy, and how I caught a cold. Check out all the McElroy stuff: https://www.themcelroy.family/ How to fake in interest in woodworking: https://youtu.be/3atB76oL7yk Support the podcdast: https://www.patreon.com/thewts...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 54
Support the podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/thewts Cam Anderson from Blacktail Studio is back for the 3.5th time to talk about epoxy, big slabs of wood, and YouTube. Blacktail Studio is still the most popular woodworking channel on YouTube, recently passing 2 million subscribers, a significant number of whom are probably hate-watching. (You know who you are.) Cam's got over 227 million channel views…and that’s off the success of full-length videos, not shorts. His videos feature really reall...
Nov 25, 2022•59 min•Ep. 53
Bonsai is an artform unlike any other in the amount of time, dedication and patience it takes to see results. It’s a form of sculpture that can take years to see how your efforts will take shape. Bonsai trees can be centuries old and require very special care to keep them beautiful and healthy. And that’s where Darren George comes in. Darren describes himself as a bonsai practitioner. On his YouTube channel, Gro Bonsai , you'll learn what it takes to grow and maintain bonsai trees, and see the m...
Nov 11, 2022•56 min•Ep. 52
Anne-Marie Faiola has created a soapmaking empire with Bramble Berry, a company she founded in 1999 in a 400 square foot space. Today she is CEO, the company has more than 100 employees With over 60,000 customers, Bramble Berry is THE place to shop online for supplies and kits as well as being a vast educational resource for people getting into the craft of soapmaking or starting their own businesses. And one of those resources is the Bramble Berry YouTube channel where Anne-Marie posted her fir...
Oct 28, 2022•54 min•Ep. 51
With the Halloween season upon us, I’m happy to have Jaime Nakae and Jay Grenier joining me back on the podcast. Their YouTube channel, Wicked Makers, is THE place to go for all your DIY Halloween decorating needs. You can learn how to make spiderwebs, creepy skulls, haunted mirrors, floating ghosts, pirate chests and much more. Suppoprt The WTS! https://www.patreon.com/thewts Wicked Makers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WickedMakers...
Oct 14, 2022•55 min
Jared Polin started posting videos on YouTube in 2008 and has been grinding ever since. His channel Fro Knows Photo is a great place to learn photography and keep up with the latest cameras, gear and photography news. In this episode we catch up with Jared's business, YouTube, the craft of photography, what kind of gear to consider, and ways you can get better shots. Jared's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/froknowsphoto Become a WTS+ member at https://www.patreon.com/thewts...
Sep 30, 2022•59 min
Support the podcast by becoming a WTS+ member: https://www.patreon.com/thewts Florian Gadsby is a ceramicist who creates hand thrown stoneware and pottery out of his studio in North London. He’s made thousands of exquisite cups, mugs, bowls, vases, jars and more which he sells on his website at floriangadsby.com. About 5 or 6 years ago he began diligently posting his work daily on instagram and hasn't missed a day since. Three years ago Florian began making and posting videos on YouTube allowing...
Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 48
Enjoy the podcast? Become a WTS+ member! https://www.patreon.com/thewts What exactly was Andy Warhol trying to say with his Marilyn Monroe series? Why are people emotionally moved, sometimes to tears, by viewing a large, geometric shape of color painted by Mark Rothko? Why does Nighthawks by Edward Hopper feel so cold and lonely? What makes Michaelangelo’s David different from other depictions of David? Who was the Mona Lisa and why was painting her so radical? What makes the paintings of Jean-M...
Sep 02, 2022•55 min•Ep. 47
Please help support the WTS! https://www.patreon.com/thewts This is one of the most kickass stories you’re going to hear on this podcast. Of all the artists and makers I’ve talked to, none have embodied the DIY spirit of this show more than filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, and their two daughters, Zelda and Lulu: The Adams Family. They are the ultimate DIY family: they take turns acting and directing, they write the screenplays, they are cinematographers, camera operators, carpenters, edit the...
Aug 19, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 46
Please consider supporting The WTS and becoming a WTS+ member. https://www.patreon.com/thewts Grady Hillhouse is a civil engineer and creator of Practical Engineering, a YouTube channel devoted to explaining the man-made infrastructure of the world surrounding us. His videos teach us about how aquifers and dams work, or how water towers supply our homes with water. You’ll learn about the importance of culverts, how pavement works, and how electrical transmission lines and traffic signals work. A...
Aug 05, 2022•53 min•Ep. 45
This week I talked to Sam Raimondi, the DIY Huntress, in her professional capacity as a psychologist to see if she can offer us all some strategies for dealing with the funk we all seem to be in after the past couple years. It’s great to have hobbies to give us an outlet to relieve some of the stress we feel, but with inflation, the cost of materials, looming recession, and general uncertainty, it can be pretty hard to pursue those activities. We also explored the role of social media and "influ...
Jul 22, 2022•53 min•Ep. 44
Martina and Hansi are the Norwegian duo behind Nerdforge, a YouTube channel devoted to creating art and building projects often with a fantasy and swords and sorcery focus. In this episode we talked about how they make books, armor, models, dioramas, and much more. And we discussed how Martina lost a finger using a tablesaw. Visit Nerdforge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Nerdforge The WTS Website: https://www.thewtspodcast.com/...
Jul 08, 2022•50 min•Ep. 43
Jon Grim is a clear voice and advocate for graffiti culture, as well as an art mentor drawing on the history of the medium to teach and refine techniques used by graffiti artists. On his youtube channel, The Artist Block you’ll learn about the typography associated with tags, tools for painting and bombing, styles of graffiti, and what to look for when evaluating tags, throw-ups, and pieces. You’ll also learn about the culture and impact of graffiti and its place within the larger world of art. ...
Jun 24, 2022•59 min•Ep. 42
Scott Reeder is a Hollywood prop master who is responsible for everything actors touch on a film or television set. A big part of his job is sourcing or creating realistic objects that look like the real thing, but are safe for the actors to use, such as bottles you can bust over someone’s head, glass shards you can chew on or roll around on, retractable knives, or non-alcoholic whiskey. But he is also called on to create props that won’t interfere with the sound recording on set…things like pap...
Jun 10, 2022•55 min•Ep. 41
Chris Berry is a professional house painter who's been posting videos on his YouTube channel, Paint Life TV for the past 11 years. It's a show where you can learn everything about painting your own home, or how to become a professional painter. In this episode, we talked about how to decide if you should hire a pro or paint your home yourself, the tools of the trade, how to begin a lucrative career as a painter, and current trends. Get my monthly newsletter: https://notesfromsteve.com Try a Shap...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 40
Matty Benedetto is the host, creator, and evil genius behind Unnecessary Inventions , where he showcases his totally unnecessary inventions. Inventions that solve problems that don’t exist, but actually seem kinda practical. In this episode Matty and I talk about his army of 3D printers, his Superbowl commercial, and how he makes his ingenius inventions. Try a Shaper Origin risk-free in your shop for 30 days: https://shapertools.com/wts Unnecessary Inventions: https://www.youtube.com/c/Unnecessa...
May 13, 2022•52 min•Ep. 39
Dan Harmon is the writer, executive producer and creator of the Emmy award winning animated series Rick and Morty, but he's also a maker and woodworker who's systematically turning "his friend Dylan's house" into a batcave. Follow Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danharmon/ Begin your own woodworking hobby this weekend with The Weekend Woodworker course. Check it out: https://weekendwoodworkercourse.com...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 38
Jeff Thorman is the creator and host of Home Renovision DIY , a YouTube channel started on April 3, 2016. He has been a general contractor for over 25 years and shows viewers how to renovate and remodel their own homes by dispensing a plethora of tips, tricks, hacks and advice…perfect every time. Whether you want to learn how to install drywall, or a drop ceiling, install floor tile, hang kitchen cabinets, paint a room or add lighting fixtures, Home Renovision DIY is a solid resource. In this ep...
Apr 15, 2022•54 min•Ep. 37
Scott Brown is a professional carpenter who started posting videos on YouTube in February, 2016. In 2018 when he leaned into producing the storytelling, vlog style videos he’s known for today. Today, this series has over 330 episodes and is going strong, showcasing the day to day workings of his carpentry business, Scott Brown Carpentry , in Nelson, New Zealand. In this episode, Scott talks about the challenges facing builders in New Zealand, how building is different, and what he's learned from...
Apr 08, 2022•53 min•Ep. 36
In this episode I spoke with Sam Raimondi about her aproach to building things, flipping firniture, designing retail spaces, and home renovation. She started her YouTube channel, DIY Huntress, in May of 2016 and since then has posted more than 100 videos showcasing her creative passions. Sam is also a full-time psychologist, so we got into a little of that side of her life and how she manages two careers. Visit Sam on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Diyhuntress Get started in woodworking for ...
Apr 01, 2022•55 min•Ep. 35
There is no hotter debate in the woodworking community at the moment than the use of epoxy resin in woodworking, commonly seen in river tables. Is epoxy the freshest and coolest new material to work with since the invention of plywood, or is it an ugly, hideous abomination that has the staying power of a fidget spinner? To talk about this, I invited the two most prominent makers at the forefront of this topic to join me on the show. They also happen to have the two hottest maker channels on YouT...
Mar 25, 2022•50 min•Ep. 34
This week on the podcast I wanted to mix things up a bit and talk to someone who is a member of The Weekend Woodworker and a super creative individual. Neil Patrick Harris has a long resume going back several decades in the entertainment industry and in the past couple years he's gotten into woodworking, so I thought it would be fun to talk to him about his experience so far and how… and if … he's able to juggle this hobby with his career and family. We also talked about his awesome new newslett...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 33
