Get Out There: Sean Woolsey

Our friends over at the Wilderness Collective recently did an interview with master woodworker and KKi-advocate Sean Woolsey about his road trip up the California coast. Read further to get inspired to hit the road this summer and GET OUT THERE!

WC: You just got back from a road trip, right? It’d be rad to hear a little more about the length of your trip and where you went?

SW: Yes, my wife and I did a smaller trip (10 days) up the CA coast mid spring. It was amazing to see the seasons changing and flowers blooming as well as to kick some sand around between our toes. The trip was an inspiration trip for an upcoming art series where I’ll be incorporating photos of the natural environment in my art work on sheet metal. I will be using some of the photos that I took as inspiration, whether it be color palettes, textures, negative space, etc, in my upcoming CA series of work.

We hugged the coast the whole trip, and went as far north as San Francisco. Most of our time was spent in Big Sur, Santa Cruz, Montana De Oro, and Santa Barbara.

WC: When you prepare and pack for a trip, do you have a particular strategy? Has that changed at all, as you’ve taken more tours in your VW?

SW: I am a pretty simple packer. You find though that you can always be simpler. Literally, the last couple trips, we shipped clothes back because we over packed; we found ourselves wearing the same clothes day in and day out. A wise friend who has done a lot of traveling told me once “Lay out all your clothes, and put half back in your closet. Lay out all your money and bring twice as much.” I have found this to be extremely true.

As far as strategy, the most crucial element of our adventures is our vehicle, an ’87 VW Westfalia van, and making sure everything is buttoned up before hitting the open road. It does need some TLC, and requires some knowledge and pretty constant awareness as you travel. Before a trip, I always make sure the sink works and has enough potable water. I make sure the burners ignite and there is enough propane. I’ll always kick the tires a bit, to ensure the pressure is good. I’ll run through the engine and check that the coolant and oil is filled, the auxiliary battery and power inverter works, that we have spare belts, tools, etc… Oh, and an emergency kit is critical; you never know what’ll happen. I have learned that when driving a 25-year old vehicle, anything that can go wrong with it just might; so you have to be prepared for anything. But it is a choice for us, driving our Westy, as it makes us slow down a bit; at the Westy pace, we really get to appreciate things that I think if we were driving a faster, more reliable modern car we might overlook.

WC: Since we’re talking about packing and the whole preparation phase of a trip, I’m just curious, what about when you’re ready to go? Can you describe that feeling of when your foot hits the gas pedal and you make that first turn out of the driveway…

SW: The work that I create is fueled off of what I see and experience; I am constantly reminded of this. I have even written on the outside of the door into my studio “Through this door enter the happiest people on the planet.” This serves as a reminder to me that I am so honored and delighted to see the things that I can on these trips, and when I get back from them I am so filled with inspiration that it pours out of me in the studio. It is essential fuel for my creative mind. At a certain point, though, that fades away and I need more encounters in the natural world. And on the other side of my door (leading out) it reads “Wildness is a Necessity” a favorite John Muir quote of mine. This serves as a reminder that when the creative well runs dry, or sometimes even when it isn’t, it’s time to get back in nature and experience as much as I can; my art deeply resonates with my connection and relationship with nature.