Our Story
Creative Maple is a dream that started 25 years ago in my grandfather’s workshop.
My fondest childhood memories come from that workshop. It was a tiny space with just a few essential tools, a handmade workbench, and every screw he ever found tucked neatly into old baby food jars. In the center of the room stood a handmade table saw built around an old motor, an ever-present pile of sawdust underneath. The shop was modest, but he managed to cut and shape hundreds of pieces in it for his home and for his children’s homes.
His most prized machine, a Craftsman band saw, now sits prominently in the Creative Maple shop and is a proud reminder of those times working side-by-side with my grandfather. But it’s the lessons he shared with me (like the importance of simple, high-quality materials and the genuine gesture of love that comes from creating something from scratch) that set the foundation for my artisan shop.
This is my promise to you: tradition, simplicity, quality.
It’s in our DNA. This is a small version of the crucifix my biological grandfather carved at his kitchen table when my mother was just a baby. He was not a very nice man and I only met him once before he died of alcoholism, but he certainly had a artist’s mind. Sometimes our demons get the best of us. The story goes...the large crucifix was installed at St. John’s in Churchtown, OH until the priest, who was excommunicated, stole it upon leaving. One of the parishioners eventually retrieved the crucifix at gunpoint and it was installed at Ambrose Church in Little Hocking, OH. Small town drama. To be clear: this was not my step grandfather who taught me how to woodwork. He was a wonderful man who is loved and is missed dearly.
