Feb 15, 2009 11:00 pm US/Central
Finding Minnesota: Turning Salvage Wood Into Art
SPRING GROVE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
The barns and other rustic buildings that dot Minnesota's countryside will stand up through decades of harsh weather. But when they're finally ready to come down, their usefulness doesn't have to be over.
There's a man in Spring Grove, Minn. who is re-claiming sections of those old buildings, and turning them into something new.
There's a story in every board, every post and every plank that makes its way through Tim Blanski's workshop; a story that can take you back a century or more.
"This is barn siding. The reason I took this is you can see the natural weathering that's really deeply furrowed in here," Blanski said.
In the far-reaches of southeastern Minnesota, there's an abundance of old, salvage wood from barns, hog pens and fence posts. And when Blanski looks at what several decades of harsh weather has done to them, he sees gold. It's just waiting for him to uncover it.
"When I find a piece of wood like that that basically nature has created, and I get to turn it into something that people get to enjoy, it's like, that's what it's all about for what I do," said Blanski, who runs the
Granary WoodShops.
Blanski creates works of Minnesota art; tables, beds and conversation pieces. One table alone may contain wood from two granaries, a farmhouse and a barn. And he gives the history of each one.
"To me, all those pieces of wood are telling me a story about who lived there, where I got it, what it took to take it down. As it all comes together in different pieces of wood, the furniture by the time I'm done is a story to tell someone when they're looking at that piece of furniture," said Blanski.
His own life is an interesting story. He's a city boy, born and raised in Robbinsdale and he built a corporate career in St. Paul. But eight years ago, he and his wife found a place in Spring Grove and decided to drop their lives and move to the country.
"We quit our jobs, sold the house, packed up and moved to the country," said Blanski. "I think we both look at it as, it's unbelievable that we've had the fortune, the guts, to try it both and experience it both. That's what's been the beautiful thing."
Now, instead of roaming corporate hallways, he's taking long strolls through forests, fields and bluffs.
"I'm a tough guy to take a walk in the woods with. Literally just be walking, looking for roots, rotten branches, burls," he said.
"I actually worked on this tree root over the course of two different years. I would go back and pull the dirt away from the roots of the tree growing in a forest. Let it heal, come back the following year, dig at it again and give it another year to heal up. So this tree literally was a piece of furniture growing in the forest for a couple of years for me," Blanski said.
He's learned a lot about country living and says it's been good to him so far. Through his work reclaiming this area's past, he's been good for the country.
"I feel good about the opportunity to at least take that barn to a new life, a new living. And I've created some wonderful furniture, some wonderful stories for people. And the barn lives on," he said.
In a couple of months, you can meet Blanski in the Twin Cities. He's bringing some of his work to the Lake Home and Cabin Show at the Convention Center, April 3-5.
For more information about that show, and a link to Blanski's Web site, just click on the links below.
Lake Home And Cabin Show
The Granary WoodShops
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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