Meet Adrian Stanciu | Woodturner/Woodworker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adrian Stanciu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrian, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

It was truly an incremental process. Woodworking started out as a hobby and grew into a passion. When my employment situation changed at the and of 2020, I took the opportunity to delve fully into the craft. It was also a critical change for our family as I had been working away from home for the previous 13 years. I now had the chance to work a flexible schedule from my own home, and make up for lost time with my daughters.

Finances were definitely the scariest part. Going from a good, steady paycheck (with benefits) to selling myself as a craftsman and artist was a major change. I am exceptionally grateful to have the support of my family (especially a financially supporting wife). It’s still a new experience every day. I’m not only improving my craft, but learning marketing, web building, social media, sales – the full scope of business management. From the very beginning, and to this day, I am constantly experimenting. That’s one of the things I love most. I have a great balance between creating new and unique pieces, while also doing a great deal of production work. Most might find the latter to be mundane but I embrace repetitiveness as an opportunity to refine my skills.

I truly love wood. The incredible variety and beauty that mother nature creates through trees is just unbelievable. I am so lucky to be able to bring that out and help others appreciate it through decorative or utilitarian objects. With every tree, mushroom, spatula or bowl that I make, when I apply the finish and the wood grain pops out, I feel like a giddy child on Christmas morning. I hope to never lose that feeling, no matter how many years I do this.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I create many different pieces that range drastically in price, size, complexity, etc. I’m proud of this because I can appeal to people of different financial abilities and allow anyone to enjoy a beautifully crafted item. Some of my creations are purely decorative and are a great way to appreciate the natural beauty of wood, brought out through a hand-crafted process. I also make many utilitarian objects, especially for the kitchen (bowls, spatulas, etc.). These present an opportunity to introduce natural elegance into objects that we interact with regularly and can give a greater sense of fulfillment than their mass-produced, inorganic counterparts.

One of my main focuses over recent years has been to give new life to old wood. Sometimes that means repurposing parts of old discarded furniture to create a new charcuterie board or honey dipper. I take dead Aspen and Rocky Mountain Maples from around my house and create trees or mushrooms that will decorate a mantel and remind someone of their trip to Colorado. I find people that are removing a diseased tree and salvage what I can before it makes its way to the dump or a fireplace. I can then create bowls that will fulfill the needs of salad or fruit in someone’s kitchen for a couple of generations more. And when creating bowls, I use a coring technique which allows me to get multiple bowls out of a single piece of wood, further enhancing my conservation goals. This past December, we had a major windstorm in Colorado Springs and many old trees were blown over, just north of downtown. I was able to haul away trailer loads of maple and ash that I have been turning into over a hundred bowls. I cleared the streets of debris and now those dead trees will live on for many years.

I work with a great deal of wood, but by making smart choices, I try to have an overall positive impact on the environment, rather than contributing to deforestation.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The Pikes Peak region has so much to offer – Olympic Training Center and museum, US Airforce Academy, and of course, Pikes Peak itself. For an easy, scenic walk, nothing beats Garden of the Gods. The vertical fins of red rock, with a snow-capped Pikes Peak in the background are truly spectacular. For a bit more of an athletic adventure, the Incline is a hell of a workout. On the west side of Manitou Springs, it climbs over 2,000 feet up the side of Pikes Peak in less than a mile, via 2,744 railroad tie steps.

To refuel, after either adventure, there are two great local options. Savelli’s is a casual Italian restaurant with incredible pizza (sometimes made by my youngest daughter, who works in their kitchen). For a Mexican flair, try the Crystal Park Cantina and wash it down with a margarita.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My wife, Brenda, has been my biggest supporter. I can’t see anyone starting a business, let alone one based on a craft, without the full support of close family and spouse. The financial implications, risk, time requirements, and in my case use of space around the house, would otherwise be unmanageable.

As far as direct support and refinement of my craft as a woodturner/woodworker, I really have to give a bit of credit to a whole lot of people. I’ve had a “creative” component since childhood with drawing and building models. I then enhanced upon that with a degree in architecture. Throughout all those years, my parents were supportive and I was lucky enough to have many teachers who encouraged and pushed me to progress. Woodworking started out from a need for utilitarian objects around the house as well as gifts for others when we really couldn’t afford to buy much. It also allowed me to express my creativity, which I really wasn’t doing in my career. Back before the days of YouTube, I learned from every magazine and book I could get my hands on at the library. Like a sponge, I soaked up what I could from each source. After I started focusing more on the lathe, I learned a great deal through local and state gatherings, as well as the American Association of Woodturners. Pretty much every woodturner I’ve met has been is excited to share their passion and whatever expertise they may possess. That has really stuck with me and as I have become more experienced, I try my best to carry on that tradition, helping those less knowledgeable than me and introducing new generations to the craft. One of my goals is to increase diversity. There are some great exceptions out there, but unfortunately, woodturning is still largely dominated by old (mainly very old) white men.

Website: http://adrianswoods.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrianswoods/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adrianswoods/

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/adrianswoods/