08/07/2026
āØSomething incredible has happenedāØI won 2nd place in the Grizzly Industrial, Inc. Makers Challenge 2026!!!
When I received the email informing of my placement I re-read it probably 12 times. I kept saying to myself ārunner upā¦runner upā¦what does that mean?ā Then it finally dawned on me - āHOLY SH*T!!! I won!!!ā
I still canāt believe it. Iāve continued to re-read that email. Even after the official announcement was made. This means so much. So much more than I could ever put into words.
Thank you to EVERY SINGLE PERSON who voted for me. Your vote helped get me to the Top Ten. But your vote was more than just that. It was another voice saying āDream big. Donāt give up on it. You can do this.ā So thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me!!!
Huge congratulations to Nicole Kazmierczak, the Runner-Up of the 2026 Grizzly Makers Challenge with her beautiful intarsia piece, Curiosity! š¦āØ
Representing 42 hours of dedicated work from concept to completion, Nicole brought this lifelike fox to life using 74 hand-cut, hand-shaped pieces based on her own original sketch. Free of dyes, stains, or paint, the design highlights the natural colors of cherry, black walnut, maple, Osage orange, poplar, tree of heaven, and bloodwood on a birch backer, creating a dimensional composition that practically leaps off the wall.
āThis piece utilizes a variety of grain, figure, and species together perfectly. A beautiful piece of intarsia.ā ā Logan Wittmer
Congratulations, Nicole! š
Read more about Nicole and her entry at grizzly.com/gmc.