May 2025 – For Louise Prockter, life as Chief Scientist of Space Exploration at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (A.P.L.) was filled with long hours and frequent travel. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Louise had more personal time available and became intrigued with woodworking. After taking a few introductory courses, Louise wanted to immerse herself even more in her woodworking practice. She attended several CFC workshops and most recently completed the eight-week Turning Intensive.
When Louise started woodworking, she simply hoped to make things with her hands in a meditative and satisfying way. “All the teachers I have studied with at CFC have been exceptional, and I have greatly appreciated the collegiate atmosphere and the dedication to help students learn and grow.” She credits CFC with her robust skillset and confidence to turn her ideas into interesting, functional, and beautiful objects, especially Turning Intensive instructor Beth Ireland. “I remember having a conversation with Beth about how I didn’t know how to find inspiration for my work, and she pointed out to me that I have many years of space experience to draw from.”
In Louise’s day job, her main area of research was icy moons of giant planets. Her most recent spacecraft is the Europa Clipper, destined for Jupiter’s moon Europa, to study the moon’s ocean-covered surface. This was the basis for her Europa stool, made during the Turning Intensive. She also created the Big Bang stool and hopes to continue the series of stools inspired by the wonders of the cosmos. “Although a lot of thought and planning goes into woodworking, I love this aspect where I can touch something directly. I also love that I can produce something in a relatively short timescale, unlike my work projects on robotic spacecraft missions, which can take many years, sometimes decades, to come to fruition, and even then, you are doing everything remotely from millions of miles away.”
In addition to her space-inspired stools, Louise is interested in using reclaimed materials. She appreciates how she can learn from the construction of an old oak chest found in an alley or the challenge of repurposing some old cherry boards saved from a family kitchen to create nostalgic keepsakes.
Woodworking brings Louise a great amount of joy and satisfaction. Although she views herself as a relative beginner, she appreciates how woodworking helps her view the world around her in a different way. “I used to wake up in the middle of the night worrying about work. Now I wake up in the middle of the night, trying to work out how to put a joint together or figuring out the order of steps in a project.”
