The Many Ways of Wood

Furniture maker takes his turn at clean, modern design

Timothy Gastrock lives in his Weaverville home with hard proof of his evolution as an artist. “I have some of the first things I made,” he says. “It’s cool to see the changes over the years.”

What hasn’t changed in the six years since he entered Haywood Community College is his medium — wood — and his love for modern architecture and design. The chairs, tables, benches, and even candlesticks he crafts in his workshop — branded under the name Sweet Leaf Woodworks — are sleek and simple, crisp and clean, influenced by Mid Century Modern, minimalism, and Danish design. 

Raised in Fairfax, Virginia, Gastrock worked as a landscaper in the area and did the same when he moved to Asheville in 2003. When he decided to take off the gardening gloves and pursue his artistic inclinations, he looked at Haywood’s Professional Crafts Program and found his purpose.

Gastrock didn’t touch a piece of wood, or even a tool associated with it, until he enrolled in HCC for the furniture-making program. “The first thing I learned there was how to use a table saw,” he remembers. “Then I began to learn about wood itself.”

The college provided the workspace, tools, and instruction, but students sourced their own materials for the pieces they wanted to make, becoming familiar with lumber businesses in the region. Gastrock’s first pieces were small end tables and coffee tables, which he showed at the juried crafts shows students were encouraged to enter. “I sold a couple pieces at my first one,” he says, “and it was really fulfilling.”

While Gastrock makes conventional four-corner-legged side tables, his most unique tables are constructions shaped like inverted Ls, where one leg slants from the center of the table to the floor on the other side. “I don’t know where that design came from,” he admits. “For me, it just goes back to there are so many ways to do things. I pay attention to modern design, and those tables have that element.”

Gastrock works with a lot of walnut, cherry, and curly maple, and then a 3-2-1 finish: three parts mineral spirits, two parts polyurethane, and one part boiled linseed oil. He likes a technique called ebonizing — a chemical reaction that begins with soaking and dissolving steel wool in white vinegar — to create a deep, dark hue evocative of ebony. For a subtle color on candlestick holders, he uses milk paint.

Though coffee tables and hallway benches are his most requested furnishings, and centerpieces, candlesticks and cutting boards the most popular smalls, Gastrock’s personal passion is chairs. “I really love making them. There are so many ways to do it, so many designs.”

The striking chair he made for his grad show in 2018 is from one board of sapele, with a carved seat and back; the armrests extend in one direction around the back of the chair, and in another, slant back to the floor to form the two back legs.

That particular chair can be seen — and sat upon — at Grovewood Gallery, one of three in Asheville where Gastrock is represented. “I love knowing that locals and tourists can see my work,” he says.

Timothy Gastrock, Sweet Leaf Woodworks, Weaverville. For more information, check out sweetleafwoodworks.com and @sweetleafwoodworks on Instagram. Gastrock is participating in the Weaverville Art Safari happening Saturday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6, 10am-5pm (see weavervilleartsafari.com for a list of studio stops with addresses). His work is also sold at Grovewood Gallery next to the Grove Park Inn (grovewood.com), Foundation Woodworks in the River Arts District (foundationwoodworks.com), and K2 Studio in downtown Asheville (k2furniture.com).