Surveying the massive damage Hurricane Sandy wreaked upon the local New Jersey forest landscape, ARTwood founder Bruce Lemler saw not just tragedy, but also opportunity. Gathering a wide range of beautiful timber through clearing fallen trees, he began creating handcrafted, artisanal wood furnishings and accessories, offering them to buyers nationwide at affordable prices this winter, thereby reaching an untapped market with products to satisfy shoppers’ style, soul and wallets.
“As we cleaned our area of trees and branches, my decades of woodworking experience allowed me to see the amazing potential in the wood, so we started offering to clear neighbors’ yards, and even drove around town, stopping to ask homeowners about clearing particularly beautiful fallen trees,” explains ARTwood owner Bruce Lemler. “Then we took a long look at the selling landscape and noticed an untapped market. Our customer longs to surround himself/herself with beautiful, unique furnishings that fulfill their budget requirements, and of equal importance, suit their environmental-consciousness. There’s companies out there that meet one or two of those desires, but ours is the first to satisfy all of them.”
ARTwood products include smaller pieces (vases, cutting boards, candles, trays) as well as larger (benches, tables, vertical garden trellises, indoor/outdoor standing coolers, etc.) and utilize a wide range of local woods, from walnut, pine and oak, to birch, Douglas Fir and splat maple. Interested shoppers may purchase via ARTwood’s website, http://artwood.myshopify.com/ ; or at the company’s home studio in Sparta, NJ; or at New Jersey-area artisan craft/design shows, including the December 12<sup>th</sup> Lafayette Preservation Foundation Holiday Craft Bazaar in Lafayette, NJ.
ARTwood was founded in 2015 by owners Bruce Lemler and Teresa Sellinger and currently operates at 9 Stonebridge Road, Sparta, NJ 07871. ARTwood photos and posts may be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/ or on Twitter @ARTwoodbyLemler. For additional information and interviews contact Teresa Sellinger at 646.734.4307 or ARTwoodlemler@gmail.com
Contact:
Teresa Sellinger
ARTwood
646.734.4307
9 Stonebridge Road, Sparta, NJ 07871
artwoodlemler@gmail.com
http://artwood.myshopify.com/
