David Wolfgram

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"During a day and age where "we" as a society consume natural resources at such a rapid pace and then cast aside or waste, what in some parts of the World would be deemed as bountiful. I turn the remains of what thrist for expanison and "more" leave behind into beautiful functional heirloom quality works of art. My hope is that the discarded trees in our community will live on in vibration and history as designed by my heart and hands". David Wolfgram

I was 7 years old lying in bed with thoughts of my new creation making it impossible for sleep to creep its way in. My father had made me a pair of stilts and I was now turning them into a car. I had found an old worn out go- kart tire in a abandon lot behind the candy store that day. I spent hours building and rebuilding this car in my head. No, I never did get my car built. I realized that even if I could find 3 more tires, it would still take a fairy godmother to manifest what I have dreamt. But I never have forgotten that taste of excitement, vision, the swell of pure creation consuming from within. That was it I was addicted to creating things using my hands. I cant even remember how many tree houses and forts we built. My friends and I were constantly raiding the dumpsters across the street where they were building town houses. We even built a few boats and floated the canal that ran behind my home. 15 years later I was operating heavy equipment in Park City. Building rock walls and excavating for houses. I was back in the dumpsters on the site pulling supplies for my next creation. This time sadden at the wastefulness (and lack of consciousness). A few year after I moved to Ogden and took a job doing commercial concrete. A huge maple tree was taken out to make room for the Target in Layton. It was headed for the landfill. I took the tree and carved djembe drums from it. Working construction left me with my winters off. I fled the cold and headed to the Big Island of Hawaii. I took a job in a high end woodshop so I could spend time with a friend. Thats when I fell in love with the more refined woodwork. Again I was always raiding the burn barrel containing scraps of koa, milo, ohia, mango, wenge etc. etc. Turning them into picture frames, pendants, and boxes. The wood was to beautiful to just let go of, I felt as if I was saving it. I built a guitar as one of my 1st personal projects, and soon had big plans for my next creation The path was now clear, I returned to Ogden that spring with a plan. I started buying tools when ever I could. Still working construction, I found trees coming down all over the place. I could not turn away a tree, again I felt as if I was saving them from an awful fate, soon there was a huge pile of logs in my back yard. More than I could just carve and I invested into my own sawmill. I had made some choices in my life that put me on a path of refining my consciousness and actions. I made the decision to only use reclaimed woods and discarded trees in my work. I have been milling local discarded trees since the spring of 2000. Maple, Cherry, Ash, Black and English Walnut, American and Siberian Elm, and Oak to name a few. The sad thing is that I take less the 1% of trees coming down in my community. Blessed with the support from my family, my wife Shauna, and my children. I am now heading into my forth year since Ive said goodbye to construction, and I still lay in bed at night excited and consumed by my next creation.

David Wolfgram is a wood artist in Utah. The wood used in making his one of a kind tables and custom orders is all recycled. Trees cut down in our neighborhoods are saved from the landfill. The trees are milled and then dried for 2-3years. Only wood that has been discarded is reused in the creation of these functional art forms. Picture frames to cabinets, custom orders are welcome.

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