Community Spotlight: Julia Citrin

Julia Citrin moved to Jamaica Plain in 2018, but it was only in the past year that she found her way to the Eliot School for a wood carving class with our awesome instructor Isaac Gewirth. Now she has the woodworking bug and can’t wait to come back for more classes. 

We talked to her for our October Community Spotlight to learn what brought her to the Eliot School and what she gained from her experience with us. 

See our upcoming wood carving classes here. 

Transcript

Julia: My name's Julia Citrin. I moved to Jamaica Plain in 2018. I grew up in New Hampshire, coming to Boston a lot as a kid. My dad has been dabbling in woodworking for a few years now, and I wanted to give it a shot. So, I found the woodworking classes here at the Eliot School. 

What initially made you choose the Eliot School?

Julia: A friend of mine and I decided to take the spoon carving class together because that friend had taken another class with Isaac, the teacher. Isaac was great. Isaac was super sweet, super helpful, really well prepared, and adapted to different people’s different learning styles. The teacher can really make the difference between an incredible experience and a new craft or skill or art that you fall in love with, and something you just decide, “oh, this is not for me.”

This is the spoon I made. I believe the course is offered in a single-day class sometimes, and in a multi-day course. I took the single day, and it was one of the most wonderful days I've had, definitely that year, and probably in a little while longer. Hand carving is so satisfying. And I really, sort of experienced a kind of flow state, as they say.  

Is carving going to be a lifelong hobby for you?

Julia: It's definitely something I'll come back to. I am not currently in a position where it's time for me to, like, build out my own set of chisels and stuff. That’s an investment. So is taking a class, but you have access to all the tools and the knowledge.  

What would you like to see more of from the Eliot School in the future?

Julia: Just continued success, continued growth, continued increasing availability of classes. I have a lot of classes across disciplines that I would love to take.

Everybody is super welcoming. It's a nice way to meet some folks and learn something new. And it feels really good to try something new, especially when you're an adult and you think your life is already over. It's not! You can make a spoon!