Big storms often fell one or more of Pelham’s old trees. Woodworker Eric Weber recycles the fallen giants from the town and around Westchester into pieces of art. 

Weber has a workshop, Weber Woodcraft, in Pelham where he creates bowls, vases and decorative pieces from the wood. With the unique qualities that woodworking requires, Weber described his work as “turning a piece of nature into art.”

“I like working with wood since it is a natural object, and I like the fact that I get to reclaim trees from the Westchester area, so every piece of wood is different,” Weber said. “It is so important to reclaim trees since otherwise they just go in the wood chipper. I never know how each piece will come out until I start working with it, so each piece is an individual, unique expression of creativity.”

This originality is something that woodworking guarantees, as no tree is identical, and his path to creating the finished work differs each time.

“You have to solve different problems in creating” every work, Weber said. “You have to figure out all the aspects of how you’re going to shape it and be able to reverse it, which is always a fun challenge. Also, a lot of the time I have to make my own tools for something that needs to be done when I do not have the tool to do it. There is something very intriguing about the fact that problem-solving is necessary to get the job done.”

“Like all art forms, you can not just copy people, so in the beginning, you have to learn the basics. The whole point is when you start to get better at it, you find your own style… but just as important to not just copy what others have made and find yourself in your art.”

Weber will show his works at the Pelham Market. In May and October, he will be part of the Westchester Craft Crawl, a free tour featuring more than 50 professional artists from Ossining to Croton. From June to August, Weber will be at Hops on Hudson in Cold Spring, and in the wintertime, he will show at the Manor Club and Pelham Country Club holiday markets.

“I enjoy bringing pleasure to other people, whether giving them art or showing them the shop and letting them see and touch my work,” he said. “It is really nice to see my art go to someone else and know it will be in their family for years to come.”

To see more of his work, visit the Weber Woodcraft website.