This week marks a bitter-sweet occasion here at the studio. One of our number has decided to move on to greener grass- Literally! Our team mate Cooper is moving to Kansas City with his wife Emily. Once there, the couple hope to buy a home that sits on a minimum of 10 acres of land so Cooper can develop a disc golf course. In his spare time, Cooper is a semi-professional disc golfer!
Cooper has been working as an American Stonecraft artisan for over a year now. He is one of our most talented artists and can polish a stone until it has a mirror-like reflection! His wife Emily has a PhD. in Aerospace Engineering and has recently been offered a position as an assistant professor at the University of Kansas! The two have decided to accept the offer and move across the country to support Emily’s goals.Cooper with Emily However, that is not to say that Emily is dragging Cooper across the country kicking and screaming, far from it! Cooper is a Kansas native, having been raised in a small suburb outside the city. He is looking forward to the next phase of he and Emily’s adventure and is grateful to be moving closer to his extended family.
Cooper says that he hopes to work the land at his new Kansas City home- mentioning that he aims to build a disc golf course on the property where he can hold tournaments and teach others the love of the sport. Cooper has also been inspired to try his hand at farming. In the future he hopes to explore operational farming and discover if it is a sustainable and enjoyable business venture for him. Cooper’s plans for an agro-business are all about supporting a healthy lifestyle and simple pleasures. As an avid beer lover he has hinted that he would like to grow hops for local breweries!Cooper’s Back-yard Disc Golf! Looking back on his time at American Stonecraft, Cooper has fond memories – Reminiscing about a time that he and 4 visited Tangerini Farms in 20 degree weather and laughed as they tried to gather fieldstones that were frozen to the ground! Although it was bitterly cold, Cooper says it was on of the most memorable days.
While Cooper loves to explore the farms the studio partners with, his favorite part of his work happens inside the workshop. Cooper talks about how much he has enjoyed helping to develop the stone transformation process. He says that the progression of our procedure and the growth of our talent has been an incredible experience to participate in. “Every single day we make a new discovery that makes our work even more beautiful. A year ago I had to re-do half the stones I made, today we can polish stones to reflect like mirrors!”.
While we are sad to lose Cooper (not to mention his beautiful dog Bowie who comes to work with him every day) we are thrilled to see him off on a wonderful new chapter of his life-long adventure story. We will miss Cooper and Bowie dearly, but we won’t be sad for long! We have already started planning an American Stonecraft field trip to visit them in Kansas!
Happy Trails Cooper, Emily and Bowie! All the best of wishes!
