Everett Noel wants a totally handcrafted life.
Creative energy radiates off Everett Noel. Only 25, the Northern California–based knife maker has been showing his work at West Coast Craft and other craft shows for over a decade, having learned the trade from YouTube and a local blacksmith. He crafts stunningly sophisticated blades, equally useful and beautiful, from hardwoods collected from his land near the small city of Grass Valley. “I want my knives to be like sculptures that hang on the wall and transform into tools when you take them down and use them,” he says. Taking inspiration from distinctly Californian artists such as Jay Nelson and JB Blunk, Noel aims to live a fully handcrafted life, incorporating handmade tools, clothing, furniture, and art into everything he does. Deborah Bishop visited his bucolic Northern California cabin and studio in “Forging a Path” in the Summer 2024 issue of American Craft. Watch Everett Noel in conversation with fellow knife makers Vu Nguyen and Bob Cramer and chef Yia Vang in the Summer 2024 American Craft Forum here.
Noel’s 2024 knife Night Sky Ulu is made of redwood from the estate of JB Blunk, carbon steel, and brass.
