About Me

I earned my Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Tennessee and am a historical archaeologist by trade. My work days are spent excavating sites, analyzing artifacts, and writing up the findings of those excavations.

I began working with wood after my father, who was a woodworker (as well as a cowboy and a world traveler with wild stories, but we’ll leave those for another time), died in 2016. Over the years I did some minor woodworking, but when my father passed away, I inherited his tools. One of the things I love about working with wood is that it allows me to maintain a connection to my dad, with whom I was very close.

I’d long been interested in woodturning, and with the tools I inherited from my dad, I had everything I needed to support the craft (bandsaw, drill press, etc)… except the lathe. Since my dad did not own a lathe during his lifetime, I asked for a small lathe as a Christmas gift and started teaching myself. Aside from reading books and researching some techniques on-line, I have had no formal instruction.

After learning woodturning through trial and error over many months – and pushing that little benchtop lathe to its limits! – I purchased a large lathe. This allowed me to broaden my work in terms of size and vessel type. I continue learning through doing knowing the possibilities are endless.

— Tanya Faberson Hurst