Four Winds Boat Shop and Woodcraft
Four Winds is a South Dakota based business offering workshops in traditional crafts and custom cedar strip boat construction.
It is my sincere hope that making these resources available will inspire and enhance your connection to nature.
-Dawne Olson
"Prairie Hope" donated to raffle for the Boys and Girls Club in Vermillion in 2022
_JPG.jpg)
Click on the envelope to read Newsletter -->
What It's All About
Four Winds Boat Shop and Woodcraft provides individual and group experiences in traditional crafts such as cedar strip boat building (canoes and kayaks), wooden snowshoes, carving, basket making, kite building, furniture crafting and many, many other "hands-on", outdoorsy projects. Guests tailor their project to fit their schedule and interests and the studio provides the materials, tools, space and guidance to make their creative vision a reality. I work with all types of groups and ability levels! Sometimes people visit simply to 'unplug' for a few hours, sit by the fire, relax in the sauna, enjoy the library or poke around in the wood scraps until you are seized by a moment of creative spontaneity! An old one room schoolhouse in a pastoral setting is waiting to be discovered by you. We don't build "things" here... we connect people, nature, tradition and spirituality in ways that revive and orient individuals to a higher purpose and deeply meaningful, long lasting achievements that can be appreciated for generations.
There are several options available to customize individual and/or group experiences. One scenario would be group participation in a multi-week course building a single canoe to learn the process and then donate the boat to raffle for a cause. Another scenario is the option to work with me one-on-one; my involvement is as much or as little as the client desires. A third scenario is when a customer works with me to choose the design and wood for their boat and I custom build it for them.
There is so much more to enjoying the outdoors than canoeing or camping. There are several workshop options available: building things as simple as a bluebird house or a birch bark Christmas tree canoe ornament, (get the kids involved!)
For a full menu of workshops that can be customized for the individual or a group please check out the menu options above!
Get in touch with me and see what we can do to help you accomplish your dream today!
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
- William A. Ward
Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, "Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
Come from the four winds, breath,
and breathe on these slain, that they may live." -Ezekiel 37:9