Homespun is proud to partner with over 100 Minnesota artists and makers. "Meet the Maker" is a chance for you to learn more about the talented individuals behind the items we carry at Homespun. This week, meet Joel Steinberg. He owns and operates theCHAOSshop, making a wide variety of electrocuted wood items. Read on to learn more about Joel and his (crazy?) cool process!
Joel Steinberg of theCHAOSshop
How did theCHAOSshop start?
I have a really good friend who shares the desire to build and create. He started messing around with the electrifying process and showed me how to do it. I was instantly hooked and started messing around with the process myself. theCHAOSshop started soon after. I was having so much fun creating , I needed to get rid of some things. I posted a few pieces on etsy with a positive response and I just went from there.
What inspires you?
People inspire me! The amount of creative individuals out there in this world is amazing. I think with the social media craze in society today, now more than ever we can share what we are doing with everyone. Seeing what is happening with wood workers, tattoo artists, painters, sculptors, photography, mixed media, furniture makers, motorcycle builders, skateboarding, music, there is so much to be inspired by. After 15 minutes online, I have all kinds of ideas and I’m ready to get in the shop and lose myself for a while.
In case you were wondering what it looks like as wood is electrocuted!
Tell me about your creative process.
I have always been interested in re-purposing things, big and small. Like many, I feel objects can have more than one purpose or life in this great big world. To bring that new life to an object/objects is an art form and I love seeing what people come up with, myself included. The “fractaling process” as I call it, has been a great way to bring life to a variety of discarded wood objects. Whether it’s an old piece of furniture, wood sculpture, tree limbs, pallets, recycled construction lumber, etc.
It’s the unknown of what is going to happen when I apply the voltage to the wood. Watching the voltage move through the wood never gets old. Although it’s the same process, it’s never the same outcome. Never having the same outcome always results in unique, one-of-a-kind creations. I tend to start a few projects at a time and go back to one or the other at different times when it feels right.
How do you balance theCHAOSshop, working full time, and parenting?
Not relying on theCHAOSshop monetarily takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders. While I constantly feel the need to make things and tinker with ideas in the shop, it takes a back seat to my “grown up responsibilities." This helps a lot in the fact that the creative process is not forced. I work 40+ hrs per week in a hospital setting which can be exhausting at times and my main focus is my family and always will be. I have a five-year-old daughter and fifteen-month-old son who take up most of my time. I love being a Dad, a provider, and partner. I just don’t want to get lost in those roles and lose touch with who I am outside of that.
After a day at work, an evening at home taking care of the kids, I’m spent. Always in the back of mind though is still the desire to be me creatively. Some days I have no energy, other days I just tell myself to go outside because I know once I do, I won’t come back in for a while. I purposely don’t have a clock out in the shop so as not to be distracted. It’s a lot, but theCHAOSshop has taken on multiple meanings these days trying to make it all happen.
I enjoy where theCHAOSshop is, though. I do what I can when I can. The etsy shop brings a lot of custom work my way and I try to do a few markets throughout the year, but never feel pressured. The shows are so much fun! Just being around the creative buzz and meeting people is what it’s all about. I look forward to sharing the markets and DIY spirit with my kids. I can’t wait to make the markets a family thing.
Having the etsy shop, access to maker markets and local shops like Homespun who really have been so supportive is more than enough right now, and I feel fortunate to be in the position I am.
A sampling of some of Joel's work available at Homespun
Any words of wisdom to fellow aspiring artists/makers out there?
I really don’t define myself as an artist or maker, just one who enjoys creating. So don’t take being an artist or maker to serious. Being creative or artistic is not always easy and certainly cannot be forced. Just enjoy where you are and who you are and what you are doing. It is work, but if you love what you are doing, the work part is irrelevant.
Lastly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has purchased any CHAOS shop offering. Your interest in what I create is what inspires me most.
To see more of Joel's work, stop into Homespun or click here to check out his etsy shop.