A Jeweler’s Journey of Craftsmanship and Creativity
February 15, 2025
JC Saben runs a one-man woodworking shop, but he shares the credit.
“Mother Nature plays a huge role,” said the Parisian in his delightful French accent.
A peek inside his booth, Woodpecker Creations, reveals stunning hues and tones of various woods crafted into eye-catching designs.
JC started his hobby-turned-business 10 years ago after retiring from the restaurant industry.
“I needed something to do to keep myself busy,” he said. “I wanted to be active. I wasn’t the type of guy to move to Florida.”
Woodworking had been a passion he shared with his children, often making birdhouses and other small objects with them. He started making charcuterie boards, reminding friends that in addition to cheese and crackers, they were versatile enough to serve steak, chocolate, even cupcakes.
“The sky is the limit,” he said. “There are so many things you can do with them.”
JC went from giving a few boards to friends to selling them at flea markets. That morphed into bigger events and several years ago, he became a regular vendor at Rose Squared Art Shows.
Each charcuterie board is made with a distinctly shaped handle; no two are alike. He’s expanded into making shelves, tables, benches, serving trays, clocks and dry flower vases. He carved a giant whale for a couple in Mystic, Connecticut.
“Anything I can do with wood, I’m doing it,” JC said. “Sometimes the wood tells me what to do.”
He relies on New England wood only of the highest quality. Each piece of wood, whether black walnut, spalted maple or beech, hard pine, red cedar or cherry, tells its own story by its unique pattern, texture and grain.
“The wood inspires me to do what’s right,” JC said.
After the exacting process of selecting the wood from a local mill, he returns to his shop in Stratford, Connecticut, to sort it, deciding what he will carve with the individual pieces. Everything is sized and cut using a jigsaw or another power tool. He dedicates significant time to sanding until the finished piece is soft to the touch. It’s important to him when making the charcutier handles that they feel good in the fingers.
“If something isn’t right, I work at it until it feels right. It’s got be perfect,” he said. “The worst thing that could happen to me is taking a piece to a show and have someone point out a crack. I don’t let that happen.”
Woodpecker Creations doesn’t mass produce. JC chuckles at the recent memory of a business woman contacting him after viewing his Instagram feed and asking to start with a purchase of 250 of his charcuterie boards.
“I told her I was very humbled that she liked my work that much, but I could not do that,” he said.
JC loves nothing better than being at an art show and chatting with the customers who take a piece of his work home with them.
“It’s not like I’m delivering 50 pieces to a store and I don’t know who is buying,” he said. “Part of my work is talking to people. They’re going to put my clock in their living room or serve food on what I’ve made. The satisfaction I get from that is enormous. It’s an experience in itself.”
JC embraces each part of the journey of his craft, from finding the right wood to making the final sale.
“I don’t plan to stop anytime soon,” he said.
Woodpecker Creations will be at several Rose Squared Art Shows in 2025, including Spring Brookdale Park (June 21-22), Anderson Park (Sept. 20-21) and Fall Brookdale Park (Oct 18-19).
