From Trees To Treasures—

Woodworker Takes Inspiration From Nature

By Kendra Bobowick

Tracing his fingertips along each whorl in the wood and sliding a palm against its uneven edges, James Opdahl reached toward the tapered end of his handmade bench. “Some slabs of wood have a quality people are attracted to,” he said. Already successfully selling pieces from Shortt’s Farm & Garden Center in Sandy Hook, Mr Opdahl has recently opted to expand his business, Natural Selections, which uses reclaimed wood. “I love the wood and use what would otherwise be thrown aside,” he said.

Mr Opdahl gets his material from a variety of sources, including tree crews or saw mills that set aside imperfect pieces that could otherwise be pulped. Wood “isn’t harvested and clear cut” for his livelihood, he explained.

He is untraditional. His furniture is not squared off at the edges and will not sit flush against a straight wall. In fact, the bench he displayed at Shortt’s last week is related more to the forest it came from than to the mill that sliced its plank. “It’s something from nature that I put together. It’s made by nature and I presented it that way,” he said.

With a hint of polish and black cherry base, the bench is what Mr Opdahl calls free-form. Why? “I see a piece of wood and I ‘see’ what it is. It’s not square and many people think it’s no good, but I see something I can use.”  Everything has a use, he said.

“Even one piece of wood could get the gears rolling. Sometimes I can see a whole project,” he explained. What is it about the natural edges on his outdoor lawn furniture — knots included — or the darker bark still clinging to the wood that is now an indoor, finished bench?

“People want something different,” he answered. “They want something unusual.” With an eye toward the rippled edge of a picnic bench or the prominent tree rings and gnarled bark of another piece, he considers his furniture “functional art.” With a strip of wood in hand, Mr Opdahl said, “I use my own design and I make something useable.” His work is also “pleasing to the eye, so it’s art,” he said.

His approach? “I like simplicity of form,” he said. “I love the natural elements and by putting them together I get something different.”

Mr Opdahl is about to another appealing twist to his indoor furniture offerings. What is the surprise? He  will have the wood and beams from old New York barns on his hands in coming months. “I want to use the lumber from the structures, the antique, hand-hewn beams,” he said. Thinking of the old barns, he noted, “We’ll recycle the wood and tin from the roofs.” What types of furniture does he “see” in the old lumber?

“I want to make old farmhouse furniture. It’s 200-year-old wood,” he said, with visions of reproduction pieces in mind.

He intends to put profits toward an environmental venture — GreenJungle.org, a nonprofit organization. “With the ball rolling, I can donate to the group,” he said. Visit GreenJungle.org to learn about the efforts aimed at “encouraging economic, social, ecologic, and scientific development through the use of sustainable natural resources” in villages in Costa Rica, for example, where Mr Opdahl plans to visit. He said if his furniture sales “pay for my travels” he can also set additional money aside for the nonprofit.

On sale in part through Shortt’s nursery or by contacting Mr Opdahl directly, buyers can find a variety of yard furniture, Japanese-inspired pergolas, and locust wood garden planters. Indoor pieces include the finished furniture. Learn more about Mr Opdahl’s furniture by calling 352-624-3704, or send him an e-mail at jamesopdahl@yahoo.com. All “found” wood is milled through a friend, Ron Padovanni in Yorktown, N.Y.