Atelier Stōbben was founded in 2017 after a woodworking apprenticeship with my dad in Southern Alberta. As I walked behind their house in the aspen forest, I stumbled upon some aspen stumps he had drying under the treehouse he and my brother-in-law built, and I immediately thought they could be turned into lamps. That first turned into the production of wooden and copper-pipe lamps, and has led me
to designing and manufacturing a range of lamps from my Bommel wood-turned wooden lamps to experimenting with circadian lighting in my Manitoba Collection. My desire to design and produce is inspired from my Mennonite heritage of self-sufficiency and simple living. I come from a long line of makers, including my parents, who made/make almost everything.I continue to have a hand in making my products, but I am also collaborating with local artisans, such as the talented Montreal wood-turner, Pierre Tardif, who I first met 2 years as my teacher at the École d'ébénisterie d'art de Montréal, where I deepened my woodworking skills.
'Stobben' means 'stump' in Low German, the language my father spoke growing up in the Old Order colony of Mennonites in Mexico. So my inspiration partially comes from there, but I’m also hitting the refresh button and creating something modern, simple and inspired.
