Going with the Grain

The magic is in the wood, says Koli Fisher. “It’s just a matter of discovering it.” Photo by Jen CK Jacobs
The magic is in the wood, says Koli Fisher. “It’s just a matter of discovering it.” Photo by Jen CK Jacobs

Some artisans are considered “wood whisperers” because they seem to be able to talk to wood and have it submit to their will. Koli Fisher of Odyssey Woodshop in Hendersonville isn’t one of those, nor does he aspire to be.

“I don’t make a board into what I want,” Fisher says. “I listen and make it whatever it is saying to me. I trust what I see, and trust my instincts in order to give each piece a voice. I don’t need to force anything. The magic is already there, and it’s just a matter of discovering it.”

With that approach in mind, Fisher established Odyssey Woodshop as more of a creative outlet, versus an entrepreneurial enterprise geared toward the dynamics of supply and demand. He attentively handcrafts raw slabs of locally sourced woods like black walnut, Osage orange, spalted maple, hickory, and cherry into cutting and serving boards and spreader utensils.

“I love this so much I don’t want to drive it to be an all-consuming thing in my life,” Fisher explains. Toward that end, he keeps it simple: his doesn’t use machines, templates, jigs, or anything mechanical, calculated, or preconceived. Rather than chasing high-volume sales, Fisher takes up his hand-held carving and finishing tools and pursues a passion.

“It actually started because I didn’t have a chess board,” he recalls. “I looked at the pieces of the hickory flooring I was installing during a project for a client in my construction business, and thought that I could make a chess board out of that during lunch break.”

Koli Fisher’s handcrafted boards and cutlery are safe from imitation. Photo by Jen CK Jacobs
Koli Fisher’s handcrafted boards and cutlery are safe from imitation. Photo by Jen CK Jacobs

Each of his kitchen cutting boards is exquisitely finished with a braided leather strap and copper clamp, then branded with Odyssey’s infinity mark to convey the notion that whatever comes from this wood shop lives on, and on, and on. But the designs never repeat themselves. Fisher says that because every species, tree, and grain is unique, so are the pieces he makes. He adds that it isn’t possible to picture the finished object in one’s mind and then just go out into the forest and find it.

Instead, he observes, it’s important to let whatever is discovered be the guide. When he holds a piece of wood in his hands, he knows that something attractive and artistic is already there. His goal is to try to interpret what that is, bring it more into view by emphasizing it, and then share it with the world.

Odyssey Woodshop products are available through Koli Fisher’s online store (odysseywoodshop.com), and at two Asheville merchants: Villagers (278 Haywood Road, 828-215-9569) and The Screen Door (115 Fairview Road, 828-277-3667).

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