Kinship Crafts was founded in an interesting time. The year 2021 saw the closure of many small businesses even while corporate giants amassed enormous wealth. As communities, our independence and our common life were eroded at a pace faster and more shocking than most of us could ever have anticipated. The future remained shrouded in doubt.
Amid such collective trauma, despair might prove tempting. Why work for a hope that may never arrive? When dreams recede like a mirage in the distance, why bother to give chase? But thoughts such as these become there own fulfillment if allowed to rule. The future will never be theirs who quit the field while day remains.
Kinship Crafts was founded on the belief that commerce and community should not be severed, and that we can express love for our neighbours – and love for ourselves – when we create and purchase our own locally made goods. We further believe that cheap goods and international trade have weakened our communities.
Any society that relies on foreign trade and large corporations for its basic needs will necessarily be subject to forces beyond its control. This should have been obvious at the outset. But according to the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, our province grows only 8% of the vegetables we need. Let that sink in for a moment.
There is no over-night solution to this problem, but each one of us can help build resilience through the choices we make every day. Whenever we produce or purchase goods locally, whenever we forego the blandishments of modern entertainment and trans-national merchants, we empower our community to withstand the shocks and disruptions of uncertain times.
My Story
Kinship Crafts was born of a desire to live by my own values. In 2010 I resigned my long-term position as a systems administrator to pursue woodworking. After my time at Boston’s North Bennett Street School, I returned to Moncton and began setting up my home workshop. This turned out to be more challenging than I expected, and after running out of cash I went back to work as an inventory manager until the spring of 2020.
What happened next will come as no surprise. For weeks on end I found myself sitting in an office without any work to do. And in short order I, like so many others, found myself out of a job. Also like so many others, I had more time for the garden that year.
In the Spring of 2021 I began selling cedar planters. Large, heavy, and very seasonal – after a few months I decided it was not the product line for a man with limited space. I moved into cutting boards and, after careful consideration, established Kinship Crafts as my brand.
Kinship Crafts is a solo operation. I make everything myself and do most of my own marketing. But it isn’t meant to stay that way. Woodworking is only the beginning. My hope for the future is to expand into crafts of all sorts. To that end, I’ve put out a call for collaboration. Working together, we may yet see a more independent and sustainable New Brunswick. Deo volente.
