Class Description: Using natural materials, you will learn how to bind broomcorn to a sapling handle using a traditional American-style weave. The binding string is held under pressure with your feet, leaving both hands free to create a wide variety of broom styles. Each student will hand craft a cobweb broom and one or more hand brooms. This class is open to beginning broom weavers and returning students. Please Note: this class ends at 3 PM on Sunday.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Born in the west central mountains of Virginia, where he still resides, Gary Robinson learned the art of broom making in 1991 and has been making brooms full time since then. Gary’s brooms appeared in the historical drama Sommersby starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster and have been purchased by George Washington’s Mount Vernon for use in their portrayal of colonial life. Over the years, demonstrating and teaching his craft has been one of the most fulfilling parts of his journey.

Gary has been a juried Demonstrating Artisan at the Waterford Fair since 1991. He is a Waterford Landmark Artisan, exemplifying excellence in craft and education, and for his commitment to the Waterford Foundation's preservation mission. We recorded a conversation with Gary after his 2021 class, which is on our YouTube channel.

Class Description: Let the wood guide you! In this class, you’ll learn basic greenwood spoon carving techniques, including selecting the best trees for carving, breaking-down logs into usable spoon blanks, and practicing the basic axe and knife skills needed for safe and efficient carving. Using only three tools (axe, straight knife, and hook knife), you'll begin carving your own wooden spoon; leaving with a few blisters on your hands, an appreciation for the therapeutic nature and addictive qualities of spoon carving, and the basic technique, confidence, and reference material needed to continue carving on your own. The small group format allows for safe and individualized instruction. The tuition fee includes materials: greenwood spoon blanks for carving, a dedicated (physically distanced) workstation, use of carving tools, course materials, personalized instruction, coaching, and encouragement. Please Note: an optional $80 take-home tool kit may be purchased in advance when you register. To order the take-home tool kit, you must register for the class before May 1st.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: For the past ten years, Ian Hart has been interested in researching, understanding, and reproducing traditional wood and metal work, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries. During his senior year in college at the American College of the Building Arts, he assisted in the instruction of the freshman class in traditional metalwork. He spent several summers working at folk schools (Adirondack Folk School, Tillers International, and Touchstone); a portion of that time was spent teaching classes, which ranged from ornamental ironwork, spoon and bowl carving, and carved furniture. He was a Demonstrating Artisan at the Waterford Fair (2021, 2022).

Class Description: Learn how to make your own salves and balms using methods that are historically accurate to early Virginia, including the use of plants native to the area. Weather permitting, students will go outside to learn how to identify and forage for wild plants that may be incorporated into your projects. Learn how to complete your class projects with packaging and labeling.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Maureen Anderson's home farm is a family-owned and operated venture of love and commitment to reviving the lost arts. They strive to farm in a sustainable manner and are committed to utilizing time-honored “old fashioned” methods as well. These methods both enhance the lives of their animals and maintain a connection to the earth. By offering and promoting products and educational ventures nationwide, they support and encouraging other small farms. They believe that small farms are the backbone of our culture and our country, producing healthier food, creating superior products, and fostering healthy economies and communities.

Class Description: Using a chair you bring from home, you will learn how to replace the seat with splint. The history, origin, and preservation of this woven seat style will also be discussed. If you aren’t sure if your chair is suitable for the class (click here to see an example of a suitable chair frame), please email an image to us in advance to ensure that you have what you need to successfully complete the project. Please Note: you will need to bring the following supplies to class: a standard stapler, a bucket or pan that will hold a gallon of water, a spray bottle (for water), an old towel, hand snips, pruners or sturdy scissors (to cut the reed), needle nose pliers, a utility knife, two 2-inch spring clamps, a pencil or pen, a butter knife (a thin blade is optimal), and your chair.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Pamela Foster has been weaving for over 40 years. She specializes in wicker restoration, but weaves all types of chair seats, including splint, cane, rush, bamboo, rattan, willow, and grasses. She has woven seats for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and restored a wicker sled for the Loudoun Museum. She has been reproducing Gustav Stickley wicker lampshades for over 25 years, which are sold nationwide. She has been teaching for the Waterford Craft School since its inception in 2016.

You can learn more about Pamela in this YouTube video short, which captures a conversation we had with her in her cozy, mountaintop studio in 2021.

Class Description: Learn all of the intricacies, tricks and tips for making all natural goat’s milk soap using fresh milk, gathered botanicals and herbs, and vegetable oils using the cold process soap making method. Craftswoman, dairymaid and herbalist Maureen Anderson has 25 years of experience and will present this class in an entertaining and mindful way! Students will watch as a few simple ingredients are transformed into beautiful skincare that they will take home. Students will also gain knowledge of various herbs and their healing properties.

Instructor Bio: Maureen Anderson's home farm is a family-owned and operated venture of love and commitment to reviving the lost arts. They strive to farm in a sustainable manner and are committed to utilizing time-honored “old fashioned” methods as well. These methods both enhance the lives of their animals and maintain a connection to the earth. By offering and promoting products and educational ventures nationwide, they support and encouraging other small farms. They believe that small farms are the backbone of our culture and our country, producing healthier food, creating superior products, and fostering healthy economies and communities.

Class Description: Learn how to carve the surface of a wooden blank to create a cutting board that is both useful and decorative. Students will choose from a selection of 17th c. patterns and learn how to transcribe and carve them using gouges and chisels. Some basic woodworking and hand tool experience is recommended, but not required. Discussion topics will include how and why furniture developed and changed over time. Please Note: this class requires a specific set of tools that are not included in the tuition fee. You can purchase the $191 take-home tool kit when you register. OR, you may bring your own tools from home to reduce the tool kit fee, but they must be identical to those on the Tool List in order to successfully complete the project. If you have some tools at home, but not all, you will be able to select the individual tools that you need to purchase when you register. If you are planning to bring tools from home, please print the attachment to make sure your tools match those on the list prior to registering. The instructor will be purchasing the tools in advance of class and there will not be any extras available if you do not purchase the kit or bring the identical tools from home. 

Please Also Note: this class ends at 3 PM on Sunday.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: For the past ten years, Ian Hart has been interested in researching, understanding, and reproducing traditional wood and metal work, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries. During his senior year in college at the American College of the Building Arts, he assisted in the instruction of the freshman class in traditional metalwork. He spent several summers working at folk schools (Adirondack Folk School, Tillers International, and Touchstone); a portion of that time was spent teaching classes, which ranged from ornamental ironwork, spoon and bowl carving, and carved furniture. He was a Demonstrating Artisan at the Waterford Fair (2021, 2022)

Class Description: Do you have a cane chair seat with a hole in it? Learn the craft of hand woven cane to replace the seat of a chair you bring to class. To successfully complete a newly caned seat in two days, the chair you bring to class should have 70 or fewer holes in the wood frame (example of a suitable chair frame). If you have any questions about the suitability of your project, please email us a picture of the chair you would like to work on in advance of the class. Additional Information: If your chair has more than 70 holes, extra cane material may be purchased from the instructor during class so that you can complete your project at home. Please Note: this classes ends at 3 PM on Sunday.

You will need to bring the following supplies to class: a bucket or pan that will hold a gallon of water, a spray bottle for water, an old towel, hand snips or pruners (to clip the cane), an awl if you have one, an old oyster shucker if you have one (don't buy one) or a narrow butter knife, and your chair. The instructor will bring all the other tools and supplies you need to successfully complete the project.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Pamela Foster has been weaving for over 40 years. She specializes in wicker restoration, but weaves all types of chair seats, including splint, cane, rush, bamboo, rattan, willow, and grasses. She has woven seats for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and restored a wicker sled for the Loudoun Museum. She has also been reproducing Gustav Stickley wicker lampshades for over 25 years, which are sold nationwide. She has been teaching for the Waterford Craft School since its inception in 2016.

We visited Pamela in her cozy, moutaintop studio in 2021 and recorded our conversation, which you can watch on our YouTube channel.

Class Description: Join baker David S. Cargo to learn how to build a portable stacked-brick oven. You’ll build the oven together as a team, and while it is firing, learn how to make dough for flatbreads and pizza. When the oven has reached optimal temperature, you’ll bake naan, pita bread, and pizza in the hot brick oven, then cap off the class with a wood-fired tasting party! You will leave with hands-on experience in building and baking in stacked brick ovens, along with flat bread recipes, and plans for three different oven sizes.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee (and a pizza party at the end of class). If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: David S. Cargo is one of the founding members of the Saint Paul Bread Club, a former baker at Trotter's Cafe and Bakery, a former baker at the St. Agnes Baking Company, and a featured baker in Kim Ode's cookbook, Baking with the Saint Paul Bread Club: Recipes, Tips, and Stories.

David's been teaching his oven-building class since 2010. He's taught it over 70 times and to hundreds of students in several states. His workshop was selected to be on the program for the Kneading Conference in Maine in 2016, 2017, and 2018. He also presented a shortened version at the annual meeting of the Masonry Heater Association at Wildacres, North Carolina, in 2018. We are pleased to welcome him back to the Waterford Craft School. Check out our conversation with David on our YouTube channel, which we recorded via Zoom in April, 2021.