Carving Steamboat's Future
By Dagny McKinley
With dead standing lodgepole pines littering properties, recreation areas and parks, Steamboat residents are taking advantage of new ways to recycle beetle kill products by using the unique blue stain left by a fungus the beetles carry, as accents for furniture. Both Burly Brothers and Dovetail Designs are utilizing beetle kill wood to design custom home furnishings ranging from rocking chairs to mirror frames to lamp posts.
In Craig, Colorado, Micah Egan, owner, designer and builder of Burly Brothers Unique Log Furniture takes a rustic approach to building with beetle kill. Preserving the uniqueness of each log, Egan strips the trees of their bark and then carves, polishes and fashions the wood-leaving a stray limb here, a curvaceous line there-into furniture that is as much a work of art as it is practical.
From coat racks to lamps, tables and beds, there's not much Micah can't create from beetle kill. Another feature of his work is the way he blends aspen trees with beetle kill wood for furniture designs that emphasize the beauty and character of each tree by leaving in knots and various markings left from the beetles' habitation (when beetles burrow into the tree, they leave markings that look like highways or burnings on the wood). These distinctive etchings bring another dimension to the furniture.
"I don't give my customers a choice about using blue stain," says Egan. "I just use it." All of his materials are harvested within a fifty mile radius of Craig, with the majority of the beetle kill coming from Hahn's Peak and Steamboat Lake areas which have the biggest pines. Egan retains a sense of the living tree in each creation which is evident from the golden glow of the furniture and the feel that the forest has been brought inside. His tabletops are beetle kill and everything he uses is reclaimed or dead standing. Nothing live is downed which is important to his philosophy of being gentle to the earth. Egan works with homeowners who come in with a sketch or the dimensions of what they want, or he will go to their homes to create pieces that fit with an existing design. Egan has built single pieces for clients as well as furniture for the entire house. Egan's work brings out the best of Steamboat's natural surroundings.
Inspired by the Rocky Mountain landscape and lifestyle, Mike Roach and Craig Rench created Dovetail Designs six years ago to produce furniture with clean lines and a contemporary feel. “People want to buy products from where they live. Seeing the trees dying and figuring out how to make use of the material is something people are excited about,” says Roach who uses beetle kill trees from his father's property to build custom tables, rocking chairs, bookcases and more. Consciousness of the environment pervades Dovetail's designs. One technique they use is to incorporate eco-resin, which is forty percent recycled material, integrating rocks, grasses and branches into tables. A good example can be seen in the community table at the new Bud Werner Memorial Library.
Their eco-awareness stems from a desire to provide safe products for their customers, as well as a safe work environment for themselves. “It didn't make sense to eat organic and exercise, then poison myself with stains at work,” says Roach. They now use non-toxic materials to enhance the beauty of the wood instead of covering it up with stains. “Everything and everyone are heading in the eco-friendly direction,” says Roach. This includes his eight year old daughter, Eli, who suggested her dad build a shop at home because it would cut down on transportation costs. Dovetail Designs is also looking into solar and wind power to offset power usage.
"It's so in reach to do something great," says Roach. While Roach applies that philosophy to the bigger picture, it also applies perfectly to Dovetail's designs which feature handcrafted joinery including pegged mortis and tenon, breadboard ends and dovetail finishes. Using the butcher block style minimizes the movement of the wood and showcases the nature of the wood more than a flat board would do. Along with contemporary clean lines, Roach also integrates metal accents. Dovetail's work is generating a lot of interest in Steamboat and from visitors, such as the man from Aspen who raced directly to their shop after hearing they had furniture crafted from beetle kill wood. But it might be wise to call ahead if it's a powder day, as Roach and Rench are continually renewing their inspiration for their surroundings by getting out into back country as often as possible.
For anyone looking to furnish their homes with elements that are sensitive to the environment and utilize local resources, lodgepole pine is an obvious choice. The patterns created by the blue stain give freshness to traditional designs and are the perfect conversation piece, lasting for generations. As the outdoor landscape continues to change, the opportunity exists to change the landscape inside a home with hand crafted furniture that brings the essence of the Rocky Mountains indoors. 
Features
The Beetle Kill Issue
10 Years Strong
Building Green With Beetle Kill Wood
A Cut Above - Harvesting and Milling
Securing Safer Forests by Salvaging Snags
Stimulus Funding Hits the Ground
Departments
The Green Scene
Builder Perspectives
Decor & Style
Real Estate
Archive
Winter 2007
Archive
Summer 2008