After graduating from college, I entered the family business as assistant winemaker and Director of Sales for Hawley Winery. Each season after bottling our new vintages, we would often have unused wine barrels that would usually end up as planters or my Mom, artist Dana Hawley, would paint series of vineyard scenes on the staves.
In the winter of 2009 we opened the Hawley Tasting Room in downtown Healdsburg,which gave me the opportunity to find uses for our used barrels. Thus, resulting in the creation of our tasting bar made entirely of woven French barrel staves. I was later introduced to the wine barrel adirondack chair by my friend Bob Tinsley. We used them at our tasting room for lounging. Soon after I finished my first chair I had a great deal of interest for more.
By popular demand, I have now begun my own business of crafting custom barrel furniture. When I’m not at the tasting room or on the road selling wine, I enjoy spending time in my backyard workshop creating furniture from our used barrels. The products are made almost entirely from recycled materials. They provide a strong and sturdy chair for use indoors or covered outdoor areas. I continue to experiment with my wood-working abilities and have come to appreciate the challenge of how difficult the material is to work with and at the same time the potential for making beautiful, durable and recycled furniture.
