EVENT DETAILS HERE!
Explore traditional bone crafting as you shape tools and adornments by hand—a hands-on workshop rooted in skill, care, and kinship.
Since time immemorial, bone has filled a material niche for humanity. Harder and sharper than wood, less brittle than stone, this often over-looked gift from our four-legged kin brings both beauty and function and has been used by all of our ancestors to shape our world.
With expert guidance from beloved Firefly Gathering instructor Josh Barnwell, participants will pick a project suited to your interests and needs: an awl or needle, a crochet hook, hair pin or even a whistle! In this hands-on workshop, you will transform these material gifts into beautiful functional crafts that invite the natural world into your daily life. Through cleaning, shaping, polishing, and finishing bone by hand, we’ll explore both the practical skills of the craft and the deeper understanding that comes from working directly with animal bodies.
Participants will learn:
Proper sourcing, handling and storage of bone
Basic deer anatomy and how it relates to human anatomy
How to select the right bone for different projects
Understanding and experience of which tools to use while working with bone and how to safely use them
Best practices for cleaning, shaping, polishing, and finishing bone
The basics of scrimshaw and other decorative techniques
Examples of additional bone projects to inspire future exploration
This class is open to all skill levels, from absolute beginners to experienced makers curious to explore a new material. By crafting with bone, participants are invited into a deeper relationship with the more-than-human world—one that can quietly shift how we understand kinship, care, and our human place within the larger living web of life.
This class will be held outdoors on Saturday, August 15th, 2026, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm in Asheville, NC.
