In college, Alexandra Climent worked in the office of a construction firm that built bridges around New York. The firm bought dense South and Central American woods that wouldn’t rot in water. Intrigued, Alexandra journeyed to Panama to learn more. But she fell in love with the exotic wood and, instead of felling live trees, decided to import the stumps that farmers would otherwise burn to clear land. Five years ago, after working two jobs while she taught herself woodworking, she began carving full time. The 鈥攅verything from bowls and boxes to furniture and sculptures鈥攁re all works or aft, naturally dyed from the floor of the jungle and hard as stone. 鈥淭here was a lot of trial and error,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he rules of woodworking don鈥檛 apply. Most machines can鈥檛 handle wood this dense. I use the type of diamond blades that are typically used for metal.鈥
Favorite Carhartt Gear: 鈥淲hen I was in construction, I would go out to the job sites and all the guys were wearing Carhartts. I looked up to the brand. Now, I鈥檓 a woman in a workshop and I鈥檓 wearing my Carhartt overalls [] every day. Everything else just rips apart when you鈥檙e carrying stumps and getting covered in sawdust and glue.鈥
In this 4-part series, Carhartt teamed up with 国产吃瓜黑料 to recognize, thank, and tell the stories of a group of hardworking people that don鈥檛 often get appreciated for the work, dedication, and long hours they put in. The series also includes two brothers who are providing聽humanely-raised meats to area restaurants in Detroit,聽and a聽second-generation surfboard maker, and聽a聽woman聽saving Detroit鈥檚 dying trees聽聽from the landfill.聽To shop Carhartt, .