B.J. Woodward, more commonly called “Woody,” likes to start every day with a walk along the rail trail in Jaffrey.
While walking, “I sometimes just get lost in my thoughts,” he said.
He likes to keep active and he certainly stays busy. Woodward is a Peterborough-based woodworker. He has worked in restoration and construction most of his life and now runs a home-based business, Woody’s Goodies.
Woodward has a variety of wood on the workbench in his studio. He picked up the base of a lamp he’s working on. The wood, he said, is persimmon that someone brought to him. People bring him wood quite often.
“I’m an unpretentious woodworker,” he said. “I use a lot of recycled wood.”
Woodward has a piece of cherry and 250-year-old chestnut with a hole for a timber peg that used to be attached to an old barn. Part of the process is figuring out what to do with the wood, and it’s also part of the fun.
“I have always liked coming up with new ideas. I’ve always liked solving problems,” Woodward said.
Woodward’s gallery is in an old restored post-and-beam barn. He pointed out where the cow stanchions used to be in the back section of the gallery. He renovated the barn with the help of his son, and it was a big project. He had to add a new floor in the gallery and insulate the walls. He put in windows and doors.
“The joys of post-and-beam are that they hold together miraculously well,” Woodward said, pointing to a place in the wall he had repaired and all the intact original wood around it.
On display is a whole shop of wooden art. There are clocks, tables, napkin rings, cabinets, lamps, mirrors, chestnut boxes and cutting boards. Each piece is unique. Woodward pointed out a woven lattice on the front of a cabinet. He wanted to try that out, he explained. “And check this out,” he said as he pulled the top part of the cabinet and it slid out. “Where you hide your money,” he said with a laugh.
Woodward knows the story behind most of the pieces of wood he uses. He picked up a barn brace that was resting in the corner of the room. He steadied it on the floor and indicated the horizontal divots that ran across the brace. He said it was cut using a pit saw. He described the scene – a man standing below, another above, each holding an end of the huge blade between them.
“That talks to me,” he said enthusiastically. “What a story that tells.”
The history of pieces of wood, where they were from and how they were used, inspires Woodward to find creative ways to give wood a new life.
A woman once brought Woodward a branch that had fallen off the maple tree in her yard. She explained that it used to have a swing hanging off and her children had played on it. She wanted Woodward to make something out of it.
He ended up making benches for her. He said she wanted something she could use.
“That was a huge responsibility to me to make sure they came out right,” he said.
For Woodward, woodworking is “looking at something and wondering, ‘What can I do with that?’” he explained.
And based on the variety of wooden creations in his gallery, there are almost limitless possibilities.
Items for sale are listed on Woody’s Goodies website, woodysgoodiesnh.com, and Woodward can be reached by email at woodward.woody1@gmail.com.
Woodward also participates in the Peterborough Art Tour and the Unitarian Universalist Church’s art show.