Serving Board in Walnut (Natural Edge)

Hand wash only. Wipe dry immediately.
Never place in dishwasher or submerge in water.

To prevent warping, re-oil monthly or when dry, and apply conditioner regularly.

Howard Cutting Board Oil
Howard Butcher Block Conditioner

Winter in the Pacific Northwest. I drove up the coast, finding old friends and new inspiration. An unexpected stop: Edensaw, a Port Townsend lumberyard. I showed up late on a Friday, the crew already eyeing the door.

But the stacks called me in. Most come for perfect, wide dining table slabs. I went straight for the discard pile - thin boards, full of knots and wild feathering, streaked with blue where sapwood meets heartwood. Discard material to almost everyone else. But not to me.

This one caught me. Electric blues, soft feathering on the face, flaws everywhere. Too many cracks for most, but I saw possibility. I cut out a rectangle and glued it back together—claiming what mattered, letting go of what didn’t.

For days, I stared at the surface, wondering if it needed anything else. The grain almost felt like enough. But I kept seeing the silhouette of a Frank Gehry house that was never built - folds inspired by vases. I drew, erased, waited. For a while, it seemed to need three lines. Two turned out to be right. Not obvious, but honest. I wasn't sure if I liked it but then, just as I sat down to write this, I wanted to keep it. And I almost did.

Sometimes, it takes letting go to see what should stay.