Al Bakke
Media: Metal, Woodturning
Al Bakke was born in rural Saskatchewan and moved to Saskatoon in 1948. The craft community in Saskatchewan will remember the Bakke Rock Shop, which he and his wife operated for 29 years. This enterprise led him to silver and goldsmithing and lapidary work. An active craftsperson for over forty years, Bakke has concentrated on lapidary, woodturning, knife making and blacksmithing. Largely self-taught through various workshops and symposia, Bakke has a singular ability to share his knowledge and skills. He attributes his positive, adventurous and free-spirited attitude to an early childhood experience — after tearing out the seat of his new pants and sobbing on the way home he realized, “how serious could it be? His mother wasn’t going to kill him” … so, he made an early discovery, that he need not worry. He consistently practices his own formula for living, “Don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t know; stay out of trouble; don’t do anything that might upset anyone; and do what will make you happy.”
