TWO: Woodwork by BROOKE WADE

Maple Board with Live Edge

This maple board has a large handle for holding and hanging. It has a unique live edge detail visible on both front and back. Made from fragment maple gathered in Brooklyn.*

Measures 19 1/2 X 5 3/4 inches at widest.

*allergy note, finished with walnut oil. 

1. What is your current city and neighborhood? Where did you grow up?

I was born in southwestern Michigan, where I spent my first ten years. It was great being a kid in a rural area. I had so much independence at such a young age. Also my mom worked as a health care provider for migrant farmworkers, so I really understood where my food came from which I think was a very special gift. I spent my next ten years in Cincinnati, an awesome city of which I know every nook and cranny. My current home is New York City,  in the baddest borough, Brooklyn, and the baddest neighborhood, Williamsburg! Happy to be spending this decade as a Brooklynite.

2. How did you get into this type of production? What made you interested in it?

I was an English major in college, and after graduation, I didn’t have an obvious “career direction.” After few subsequent office jobs left me clammy and disillusioned, in a frenzy I decided that I was going to work for this furniture company that I had read an article about once. It was called Brooklyn Farm Table, and they made gorgeous, hulking farm tables exclusively from wood salvaged from the five boroughs. The thought that the wood of a table could have a fascinating life and story for a hundred years, and then become an essential part of a family’s life and story for another hundred really attracted me. I searched out the founder, and though the company had folded after Hurricane Sandy destroyed their shop and tools, he introduced me to some great people that landed me squarely in the woodworking world. Not many people know this about me, but before I decided to go to college, I was a professional ballet dancer. While it may seem like a complete 180 to go from ballet to woodworking, I actually think it's been a pretty natural transition. I really enjoy work that requires the body and mind to be active and in sync, and contains a level of artistry. Both ballet and woodworking demand this.