Tom Freeman wanted to bring his skill with technology, his passion for woodworking and his love of wine together and came up with a Web site that lets customers design logos carved on wine barrel tops.

“I wanted to help people create their own visions in wood, so I targeted a niche market, starting with wine barrels because we are in the heart of wine country,” Freeman said.

After retiring from more than 30 years as a computer software engineer, Freeman and his wife, Marie, launched their Internet-based company eWoodArt.com and started creating.

“We started experimenting for ourselves and for friends, and it just expanded from there,” Freeman said. “Now we have orders coming in from the East Coast and, hopefully, we’ll go international someday.”

How the company works is that someone logs onto the Web site and creates designs using Freeman’s simple examples, expanding off them or submitting their own designs.

Once a design is complete, Freeman downloads it to his computer in his barn studio, and a computer-aided design, or CAD, machine completes the work.

The machine can cut out the piece of wood where the sign or logo belongs, moving back-and-forth to etch out the design.

Advertisement

“We cut off the barrel tops and people can use (them) for wall mounts or signs. We also make lazy susans, tables and stands,” Freeman said.

To keep the barrel top from cracking or being too flimsy, Freeman glues in a backing to make it strong and durable for transport.

“The wineries like the easels so they can show off their label on the road, or they use the tops for tasting room tables,” Freeman said.

Freeman said technology is changing all the time, and he hopes three-dimensional carvings can be added soon.

“With the tools we have now, there is always new ways of carving,” Freeman said.

Some Santa Ynez Valley businesses have bought the wood carvings from the Freemans, with some displayed either as signs or on the road at events.

“We have had great remarks on the barrel top we purchased in October,” said Julia Dunstan, manager of Epiphany Cellars in Los Olivos. “It looks unique and adds as a great piece of art to the tasting room. It’s nice to incorporate the wine barrel top as art and it has something to do with winemaking.”

Marie said it is great having Freeman around the house all the time and that the business is something they can share.

“I handle the paperwork and help out in the shop sometimes with shipping,” she said. “It’s exciting to reinvent yourself and see the fruits of our labor. People seem pleased with them, and that’s what we want.”

Lew Eisaguirre, president of Terravant Wine Co. in Buellton, said people are impressed with the detail of the carvings, and his company uses its barrel top as a promotional tool.

For the time being, Freeman will continue to work in his barn studio. However, his dream is to someday have a separate workplace from his home and to sell internationally.

“I know in these tough economic times it probably wasn’t a good idea to start a business, but it seems to have fared well and we are continuing to grow,” he said. “I look forward to what the future holds in technology and, hopefully, I can apply it to what I’m doing.”

December 21, 2008