Adult and Family Workshops
Traditional Bow building w/ Matt Corradino
Dates: THURSDAY - SUNDAY, JUNE 18 - 21
Time: 10 am - 5 pm
Ages: 18+ (16+ with parent)
Cost: $550 / participant, includes a Shagbark Hickory or Osage Orange bow stave ($150 value)
8 Spots Available
Location: Vulpes Outdoor Classroom, Bloomfield, NJ
Bow making is an essential survival skill. Making and shooting projectile points from a bendy stick allowed our ancestors to procure larger harvests of meat with less personal risk.
The art of bow building has advanced greatly since it’s conception, but the concepts remain the same. With some simple techniques, a bowyer is able to carefully remove wood from a selected log and turn it into a functional hunting tool that can last generations.
Not only that, but the bow itself is a powerful symbol of precision, self-sufficiency and artistry. Something shifts when you hold a finished self-bow in your hand…
In North America, our best choice is Osage Orange. This class will cover the proper harvesting, seasoning, storage, processing, shaping, tillering and finally shooting of a traditional self bow.
Not only will participants leave with a finished longbow, they will have the information and experience to continue their bowyer’s journey for many years.
Matt is a seasoned bowyer, hunter and primitive technologist based in St. Croix, USVI. He is a long-time instructor at the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker school and runs his own organization, Caribbean Earth Skills with his wife, Carmen.
All tools and materials provided.
Braintanned Buckskin
W/ Conrad Simas
Dates: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, JUNE 27 & 28
Time: 10 am - 6 pm
Ages: 18 + (16+ with parent)
Cost: $220 / participant
Location: Vulpes Outdoor Classroom, Bloomfield, NJ
Hide tanning was a skill that was used in every culture across the globe. Each culture had different animal skins and different techniques, but the goal was always the same: preserve the skin to use as a highly durable, warm, soft and gorgeous material to make into clothing, bags, and much more. In this 2 day workshop, we will cover all the steps to make Brain-tanned Buckskin.
Day 1: Fleshing, cleaning, scraping and soaking the hide
Day 2: Stretching, drying, softening and smoking the hide.
*Any class of ours that involves animal processing is done in a way that is mindful and respectful to the animal. All hides are from carefully selected roadkill or from the local deer-processor where hides would normally be thrown in the trash. It is also worth noting that animal processing can be a visceral and emotional experience and we take careful consideration to make sure all students feel comfortable and supported through the entire experience.
Disclaimer: Students will not be going home with full-sized finished hide. Students will split the hides that are finished. This class is designed to introduce all of the steps of hide tanning so that each student has the knowledge to process a hide into buckskin. The entire process from deerskin to buckskin takes one person about 4-5 days.
All tools and materials provided
Wild Clay Pottery W/CONRAD SIMAS
Dates: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, July 11 & 12
Time: 10 am - 5 pm
Ages: 18+ (16+ with parent)
Cost: $200 / participant
Location: Vulpes Outdoor Classroom, Bloomfield, NJ
Learn the process of turning earth into functional vessels with our favorite mud master, Conrad Simas. Making earthenware pottery is a technology that goes back almost 20,000 years and has it’s place in history as food storage, water transportation, cooking, harvesting, weaponry and so much more. This class will cover everything from clay how to find, harvest and process wild clays to firing and quenching methods to seal the clay. Conrad’s method makes a functional vessel in 2 days or less.
Day 1: Intro to earthenware, clay processing, hand building pottery, burnishing, quick dry methods
Day 2: Drying & pre-heating pottery, pit firing method, sealing techniques, cooking on the fire
All tools and materials provided