I've always had a drive to create, from a very young age. I have fond memories of rambling in the woods and swamps of Massachusetts, building stick forts and exploring the construction of old stone walls and wells we found.  When we came indoors, it was building Lego sets, or rainy day projects with my artist mother.

 

As I got older I kept placing myself in situations where my happiest times were those working with my hands. In high school I worked at stable, making basic carpentry repairs to the fences and stalls, and found a refuge building sets for the drama guild. It was there that I got a crash course in tool use and how to take a design from visualization to finished product.

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In college, with limited tools and resources I swung to a different type of outlet: computer animation. With only a computer, I could create fantastic objects, set, and characters and bring them to life. I liked that I wasn't limited by expensive tools and materials.

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In 2012 I left my animation job and followed my wife to Oregon for her work. It was time to pivot back to more concrete things: making a home, making a family. I took woodworking courses at the local community college so that I could renovate the house while she worked. I found my computer skills from animation were useful in design and planning. The house projects got more elaborate. Soon the projects in the garage were not house projects at all, but personal ones. Ideas I just had to try, and my wife patiently indulged delays to the kitchen renovation.

 

I knew that I this was quickly becoming more than a hobby, and so Oak & Iron was born.

 

Oak & Iron is a project of mine that has been in the making my whole life. It combines my desire to create, adds my appreciation for nature and its materials, and my experience in design and technology. Thank you for being a part of it.

-Nat Stein

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