Meet the maker: Molly Sjöstam

Molly Sjöstam is a Swedish carver who lives in the small village of Gräsmyr outside Umeå. We meet via Zoom and Molly is sitting in the kitchen of her small cottage. Behind her are grey-green kitchen doors, a wood stove, a cast-iron pot and a lot of wooden objects. You can tell the ceilings aren’t very high. She greets me with a big, infectious smile.

I was born and raised in Umeå, but I moved out here to Gräsmyr at the end of August last year. So this is my first summer here and it’s great! I built a greenhouse yesterday with my dad and a neighbour.

How did you get into carving and when was that?
I’ve always liked doing things with my hands and built and and invented things. I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid but then I got into building conservation. It’s houses like that I’ve designed, older houses. I was at home one night Googling for building conservation courses near Umeå and then I ended up at Vindelns folkhögskola, and I went there for Building Conservation 2017-2018. Absolutely amazing! They also have a course there called Wood and Blacksmithing, and I felt “I’m not done here” so I went Wood and Blacksmithing 2018-2019. I had been carving a bit before. When I was eight, we were in Nusnäs and I got my first knife and a little Dala horse that I sat and carved…

When I got the carving knife in my hand at Vindeln, it was like a piece of my life puzzle fell into place. I just felt like “wow, this is what I want to do”.

You work a bit with Julia Kalthoff. Do you do that from home or do you go to Stockholm?
From home. We do Facetime, and I do client emails. And then I get a box of axe handles every so often and I do carving work. It works really well. Otherwise, I do sloyd and sell what I carve and give courses. These are like my legs.

So you can make a living out of sloyd?
Yes, it’s possible when I live the way I live and only have myself to take care of.

When it comes to courses, are you tied to any schools or do you run independent stuff?
It’s been mostly independent. But I’ve just done two semesters of children’s courses through the cultural school here in Umeå. A bunch of kids, 7 years old and up, have been coming every Wednesday to carve.

Wow, what do they think?
I’ve heard them say to their parents “You don’t have to pick me up when you finish. You can come a little later.”

Super good reviews indeed… Awesome! But do you do any courses over the internet? Does it work well?
I’ve done one through the Home Crafts Association in Västerbotten and we did carving of various kinds and we were four instructors. There was a camera aimed at the subject itself and a camera aimed straight at us. Everyone got the same close-up. In real life you have to stand jostle one another… So that was good. But then there were some people who had a bit worse camera or resolution. Then I thought it was a bit difficult to explain the fiber direction. We were cutting cinnamon buns and it’s a bit tricky with the direction of the fibres when the piece is round. Trying to show that in a pixelated camera was a bit difficult… It was really exciting and educational to try anyway!

As well as cinnamon buns, Molly is also carving and painting Ballerina cookies. She shows me some and I really want to eat one, they look so real. She also shows me a scoop with a flower pattern and a jar with a leaf pattern and a rose, both very pretty.

How long does it take you to make one of those?
It varies. This one with a lot of chip carving I’ve had lying on the table and then I make a cut like when I eat breakfast so it can sit for months. But then I get crafty sometimes and then I can finish a spoon in a day, with patterns and painting and everything from blank to finished. I don’t want to rush and mass-produce, but have time to enjoy the process.

Molly shows me a spoon with a cool chip carving pattern painted in green.

I wonder, when you’re chip carving… does it ever go wrong? Not the way you intended… What do you do?
I always have the attitude when I’m doing a course, but also on my own, that it can’t go wrong. It just turns out differently. The wood didn’t want to go the way I wanted it to, so maybe there’s a little bend there instead, etc. And then I go on from there.

I feel like I’m on a journey of discovery together with the wood.

Do you usually have a clear picture in your head before you start of what it will become?
No, not usually, but I can say “this feels like a leaf spoon”. Then I will develop it as I go along.

Where do you get your wood?
I have some relatives who have forest so I ask for birch for my birthday and Christmas. I’ve received some nice trunks of wood that I’ve split up the way I want them, but then by the cottage where I live now there is some wood that I can take. And I don’t need that much really.

If one’s interested in learning how to carve and make such beautiful patterns as you do, how do you get started? What kind of stuff do you need?
You can take a course with me then, haha! But I also don’t think it should be a big threshold to get started. I have a chips carving knife, but you don’t have to have that. If you have a regular carving knife, you can just tape it so that only the tip shows, so you don’t cut your hands. You don’t need a whole workshop. You hardly need a kitchen table. You can just sit on the floor if you want. I have Jögge’s books and they contain the classic grips. There are a few different carving grips that are safe and ergonomic. After all, your body’s supposed to last for the rest of your life, and if you do a lot of work, it’s really important – even though one sits like a cheese doodle sometimes!

What paints do you use, by the way?
Linseed oil paint… just tubes of artist linseed oil paints.

If one’s gotten started and realize that one wants to do crafts full time, do you have any tips?
Go for it! And explore yourself. Ask yourself, what is my design language and when does the joy of crafting feel the most for me? Go for what makes you happy.

Usually when you’re being yourself, it tends to go down well.

Do you have any other hobbies?
I really enjoy long distance running, skiing, cycling and swimming. To work hard with my body. And I like old cars… Dad and I have been restoring an old VW-buss for five years which is finished now. So I’ve been going around in it. The idea is that it will be like a sloyd cabin on wheels.

What’s the best thing about working full-time with sloyd?
That I get to do what I love most of all. That I’m in charge of my everyday life. And you meet such nice people. And I get to travel around Sweden a bit because I’m doing courses.

What was it that made you dare to take the plunge when many people might want to but don’t dare? Do you have any tips for daring?
I don’t really know. I thought it was so much fun and so I just kept going and then people started to contact me and wanted to buy things and book courses. Eventually I didn’t have time to do anything else and I thought “I’m going to do it!”. And I’ll keep going until it’s no longer possible or it will be possible forever.

Is there anything that you don’t like or that you miss in this career choice?
Looooong break. Hmm…. I don’t know, no, I can’t think of anything.

What do you have coming up this year?
I have some courses and stuff booked and some orders. But I guess the long term goal is to live on a farm and be self-sufficient, do crafts and give classes.

Do you have any role model?
Jögge has been a great inspiration to me. We almost live next door to each other… or in the neighbouring village anyway! In Vindeln we had a week of sculpting with a sculptor who lives here and he’s really good too. So he’s a bit of an idol. And then my grandfather, and my father.

What kind of reaction do you get when you meet a new person and tell them you’re into sloyd?
Since I started doing wood carving, I’ve made a lot of friends who are doing the same thing, via Instagram for example. But usually when I meet people from outside who are completely unaware of sloyd, they wonder what my real job is. And then I just say “this is my job”.

Molly seems so happy and content with life that I can’t help but be inspired!

Follow Molly on Instagram @slojdarmolly

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