Nature’s treasures

Kirk Jefferson would be content spending the rest of his retirement working in his backyard wood shop. He’s already jokingly told his wife, Kay, to sell their RV. “We like to travel, but I’m just as happy home in the garage,” he said during a recent interview in his Chico home, shoting Kay a mischievous grin. After working 43 years for PG&E, Jefferson, 63, rekindled his passion for woodworking, which he started in his high school days. He sells his works under the moniker Oleander Sawdust, creating “useful art” from recycled wood and wine barrel staves. You can find Jefferson’s recycled walnut charcuterie boards and magnetic knife racks at Zucchini & Vine in Chico as well as at Dave & Ruth’s woodwork arts and crafts shop in Los Molinos. You can also contact Jefferson personally at kirkjefferson@gmail.com.

How did you get into woodworking?

When I was young, I always liked woodworking. When I started [at] PG&E … my career picked up and wood got pushed aside. I didn’t have time, had kids, had a family, did all that. And then, when I was getting ready to retire, my lovely wife—I was telling her, “I kinda want to get back into doing woodworking” … She goes, “Why don’t we fix up your garage for a wood shop?” I’m like, That’s an open checkbook right there from the wife saying fix up the shop! So I gutted it, poured a new foundation in there, put in a 100-amp service and rewired the whole thing to handle a bunch of power tools, and slowly started buying tools.

Why recyclable materials?

About a year ago, I went to a garage sale and bought some wood tools. And this guy was moving and he had to get his yard clean, and he goes, “Y’know, I’ve got a bunch of scraps of walnut.” It was weathered and, I mean, [I thought], You can’t use this. He gave me a truckload. I didn’t want to be ungrateful, and I thought, Well, [I’ll] at least take it and see what I can do. I had to mill it and then, all of the sudden, god, there’s this gorgeous piece of wood out of that literal crap pile. So, I started making a bunch of stuff [i.e., decorative and serving trays, key chains, candle holders, wine gift boxes, signs and cellphone holders]. I fell in love with the grain on the wood. I go, It looks gorgeous! I’ve got to make something out of that.

What do you enjoy most about it?

To me, I find that the challenge and the art of woodworking is coming up with something useful out of really crappy, recycled wood. [I enjoy] being creative. I brought a truckload and a half of this firewood from [Wineland Walnut] I’m going to make something out of. To me, that is so satisfying, to have something useful that was going to be in a fireplace ’cause it was no good. Maybe I see something in other people’s trash, so to speak.