About the Author

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Charles Banks is a Minnesota-based carver with a passion for the Nordic arts. His area of study for the past twenty years has been Scandinavian Flat Plane figure carving. A current art educator and lifelong learner, Charles gives his students hands-on experience including history, influential individuals, a study of individual characters, and character design all culminating in the creation of his student's own hand-carved characters. Charles teaches at the John C. Campbell Folk School, The Vesterheim Folk School, and the Milan Village Arts School. His personal message to all students taking classes is, "Thank you for investing in yourself", "Sloyd time versus screen time" and "Welcome to the Flat Plane Family"!