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Meet Your Merchant | Wood sculptor lets nature speak for itself

Jenny Luna
Special to the Sun
Cline, owner of Roundwood Furniture, believes in letting the reclaimed wood he uses to “tell the story of their past.”
Courtesy Roundwood Furniture |

More Info

What: Roundwood Furniture

Online: http://roundwoodfurniture.com

Phone: 530-548-5112

TAHOE/TRUCKEE, Calif. — Behind a row of dilapidated motels, in the thick of the wilderness and just across from the sparkling blue of Tahoe, three men work away at turning wood into furniture.

Through storms of sawdust and the repetitive beats of house music, Cline, Devin and Tyler create and collaborate. The large wood shop is the workspace of the three men and the birthplace of many ideas.

“It’s nice to bounce ideas off each other and ask each other questions,” said Tyler Joersz, partner in Three Dot Studios.



Tyler, Devin Price and Roundwood Furniture owner Andy Cline work together under the umbrella name of Three Dot Studios. Each piece the men create can be identified by the three dot signature, a wood inlay of three small circles in a line on their products.

“We let nature tell the story and we’re just the vehicle that delivers that.”
Andy Cline
Roundwood Furniture

Roundwood is the furniture product and Tyde Music, the brainchild of Devin and Tyler, offers musical instruments such as cajon drums and what they call the “guitalele” — a hybrid instrument of guitar and ukulele.



All three artists use the ancient material of wood to create something modern with a twist of today.

“Something that I’ve really been working with time and time again is taking old materials and bringing them to modern design with a modern purpose,” said Cline. The wood used at Roundwood and Three Dot Studios is reclaimed, and the artists always want to honor the material’s past.

NATURE’S TATTOO

“That’s a huge hinge for me right now,” Cline said. “Taking materials that have had one full purpose and that are tattooed by nature’s weather, strain and strife and putting them into an extremely modern design.”

A current piece is the dining room table made out of wood reclaimed from a boathouse. The wood holds worn grooves from sand and discoloration from wind and rain — “alligator wood” Cline calls it.

Cline believes in letting the materials tell a story. His creations — bed frames or dining tables, chairs and barstools or custom desks — retain their look found in nature.

“All the wood is the natural voice of the wood,” he said. “We let nature tell the story and we’re just the vehicle that delivers that.”

ADIRONDACKS RUSTIC ARTISTRY

Cline first learned about wood from his father. Raised in Alaska, Cline brought his knowledge of log homes and building to Tahoe. The furniture style, dubbed “rustic artistry,” started in the Adirondacks.

Roundwood Furniture gets its name from the wood Cline uses to make mantels, twisting log staircase railings and table legs. On a construction site carpenters (who use what is referred to as “square wood”) started referring to Cline as “the roundwood guy,” and the business was born.

A PASSION FOR ART

“My favorite piece is always the one I’ve just finished,” Cline said. Using creativity and design sets the artist apart from other furniture makers. Cline said he is proud to create pieces that have artistic value and will be cherished for years to come.

“I wanted to make a statement against Ikea and the disposable industry revolution,” Cline said. “I’m all about doing something creative instead of something that looks nice but has no heritage value whatsoever.”

Cline offers custom furniture of all kinds and is available by appointment for consultations. Visit the website at http://roundwoodfurniture.com for more information.

Jenny Luna is a freelance reporter for the Sierra Sun and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspapers. She can be reached at jluna0928@gmail.com.


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