Julia Gold

Instructor Profiles

Julia Gold
Herbalist / Homestead Arts

My Philosophy...
All we have is this very moment, the one we are experiencing right now. I believe that the choice is mine in how I decide to live in this moment. I tell myself to take the time to consider the moment I have with the world I am creating. The work that I do, whether it’s with children, grownups, plants, the Earth or one of the many natural resources that become a handcrafted work of use and art, I do so with reverence. I care about my relationships and I work to form many. I find myself swinging between the relationships in my public and private spaces. In the time I spend with others, I treasure the lessons they bring. In the time I spend alone, thinking, creating, planning and performing my craft, I treasure the feeling of fullness found in states of flow. I’ve learned that unselfish intensions to share the bounties of beauty created by a handmade life fold back onto itself and provide a life with moments of joy and giddy happiness. Other moments require a willingness for sacrifice. Joy without pain is not as sweet, happiness without sorrow is not as complete. There is a spiraling ebb and flow between these states and each time I make a revolution the experiences made me more; more skilled, more patient, more understanding, more graceful, more knowledgeable. I seek to find balance between these moments.

“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke

My Story...
The question every young person hears, “What do you want to do with your life?” My answer; I want to make beautiful spaces that can surround a community. The first step on this quest was art school. However, half way to the finish line I was told by a ceramics professor that if I was going to “make it” as a potter that I would have to be the best. The thought of that kind of cold and shallow competition changed my course. Instead, I choose to use art to teach. I earned a degree in fine arts and education with a certificate that allowed me to teach children. For the past twenty years, eight and nine year-olds have become some of my best friends as we’ve work together in our third-grade classroom in Ann Arbor. We’ve built school gardens, explored curricula by building, doing, thinking and laughing. They’ve taught me how to teach.

The next step on this journey was becoming a mother. My little girls lead the way as I wanted them to connect with the natural world. My husband, Jason and I found three acres of borrowed land and very old house surrounded by farm fields and forest. This is where we set out to teach ourselves how to lead a simpler life. With little eyes watching and little hands imitating, I settled into a homesteader’s life with swelling gardens of vegetables, medicinal and culinary herbs, cut flowers and dye plants. Handmade goat barns and chicken coops filled up with life and with it, responsibility. What do you do with 2 gallons of goat milk a day? Learn how to make cheese and soap, of course. It’s been twelve years and there has been many bumps, bruises, rashes, illnesses, insomnia, back pain, and heartache to mend. I turned to my garden and we formed a different kind of relationship with the plants there and in the wild. With time and dedication, they showed me how they are healers in so many ways. Beauty is found in relationships with the natural world.

It was on that little piece of property where the idea of a folk school was born. It was our farm school. It was the last step in my journey, the creation of a place where this kind of knowledge can be enjoyed and shared by all that cross our doorstep. Welcome to the Michigan Folk School!

I teach the things my curiosity leads me to learn and in doing so, find complete joy: cheese making, soap making, fermentation, herbalism and stained glass.