New Gallery A Forest Of Handcrafted Woodwork Finds

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Aaron Lau recently opened an all-wood art gallery and showroom, Simply Wood Studios, with his business partner and friend John Uyehara. The 1,000-square-foot storefront is directly across from Leonard’s Bakery on Kapahulu Avenue, and they plan a grand opening this month.

“I had this vision for a long time, and we’re now finally open,” said Lau, the president and CEO. “We built the gallery ourselves and all our sweat went into it. It’s exciting and gratifying to finally see everything put together. I can sit on the couch and see the whole gallery. It’s a nice feeling.”

Lau began working with wood six years ago and has a kiosk in Ward Warehouse called Lau Lau Woodworks. His love for wood began at a young age. “I have a passion for wood; I’ve always loved wood and I like working with my hands. My grandfather would let me hammer nails with him when I was young,” he explained.

Wood is a universal and beautiful work of art to him, and he hopes to share that with others through the various pieces in his gallery. Original hand-crafted wood sculptures, bowls, boxes, furniture, pens and jewelry boxes are on display and for sale, with prices ranging from $20 wood earrings to $10,000 tables.

“We want to feature artists from all over and hopefully expand our business to the Mainland. I want to be a distributor for wood artists.”

Currently 20 woodworkers, the majority of them local, contribute their talents and crafts to the company, including Tim Duffet (sculpting), Cathy Berenberg (fine furniture and lamps) and Lau himself. He specializes in wooden pens. Every piece in the gallery appreciates over time, he added, and each is one-of-a-kind and made out of solid wood.

“A pen can take about four days to make; some artists take months. There’s a bowl that we have that has 250 different pieces of wood that took over a month to make.

“I have never heard anyone say they don’t like wood. It’s a warm and inviting medium, and the gallery is warm and inviting as well. It really is universal.”

Lau envisions his gallery as a living room where customers are treated like family and are invited to relax, talk story and learn about the art of woodcraft.

“I do the majority of my work in the gallery, so we’re not just salespeople, we make our work here and we can explain to our customers how it’s made. We have a wood shop in the back and hope to have a meet-and-greet with featured artists at work sometime soon. As we grow, I want to keep it family-oriented, I want to keep it homey.”

Simply Wood Studios is open from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and some weekends. (It’s recommended to call beforehand). For more, call 271-8876 or visit www.simplywoodstudios.com.