I grew up with a carpenter & builder for a father, so I’ve been around woodworking my whole life. He built our house, some of our furniture, and even made a few of my toys (a cradle for my dolls comes to mind). Because I paid attention to this whilst playing in his woodshop (and also took two semesters of woodshop in junior high), I developed woodworking skills.
Since KAMPPINEN began, I have been thinking about more than textiles for the home – I’ve also wanted to design and create limited collections of functional pieces using wood as a nod to my heritage – and as a productive way to spend time with my dad. So, this past summer, during a trip to my homeland, my dad and I worked in collaboration – our first - on a collection of birdseye maple serving boards. Birdseye maple is a hard wood that gets its name from the beautiful, small, swirly pattern in the wood resembling bird’s eyes. A unique-looking wood, birdseye maple can be found in greatest abundance in The Great Lakes Region of North America, mostly in the northern half of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and parts of Canada, near the shores of Lake Superior.
The LINTU board was designed with the combination of the function and substance of a wooden cutting/serving board with the modern form of Nordic design, and the unique, pleasing aesthetic of swirling birdseye in mind.
Each board is hand-finished, and was wetted and hand-sanded multiple times to attain its very smooth and polished feel.
We enjoyed making these together, and we hope you enjoy using them together with your family and friends.
Kippis,
-Heidi Wiitanen for KAMPPINEN (and her dad)
