When a Large Wooden Bowl Makes Sense
When a Large Wooden Bowl Makes Sense (and How People Actually Use It) A large wooden bowl isn’t something you reach for without thinking. It comes out when the table starts to fill up. When one dish needs to serve more than a couple of people. When the bowl itself becomes part of what people […]
6 Ways a Small Wooden Bowl Fits Into Everyday Life
A small wooden bowl doesn’t take up much space. That is part of its appeal. It can sit on a table without crowding plates. It can live on a narrow shelf by the door. It can share a corner of the counter beside a cutting board and a knife. In our collection, a small bowl […]
From Fallen Trees to the Table
How We Think About Wood After a storm in Western Massachusetts, the woods look different. Branches that held their ground for years are suddenly leaning against each other. A tree that always stood in the same spot lies on its side with its roots open to the air. You see rings you’ve never seen before. […]
Our Story
Spencer Peterman is always on the lookout for fallen trees rotting in the woods. He gets excited about this kind of stuff. So do his customers. Hidden in those fallen trees — especially the ones covered by moss and dirt — is wood disfigured by the beginnings of decomposition. Turning that wood on a lathe […]
How Fallen Trees Become Functional Art: The Peterman’s Process
At Spencer Peterman, we don’t harvest trees—we rescue them. Our bowls and boards begin not in a factory, but in the woods of Western Massachusetts, where fallen trees become something extraordinary. Here’s how a discarded log becomes functional art, hand-turned with care and built to last for generations. Step 1: Salvaging Fallen Trees with Purpose […]