Loving locally-made products is an ethos plenty of people in Central Oregon can get behind—but when those products are made from materials cast off by other locally-made products, it’s like Local Love, squared.
Laura Nolan, also the artisan behind Tularoo Soaps, recently launched Branch + Barrel, a Bend-based jewelry company that uses wood sourced from reclaimed oak barrels from local wineries, distilleries and craft breweries. Many of the pieces still bear welcome stains from the barrels; a slightly red tint from a wine barrel, a dark char from a bourbon barrel. In addition, Nolan uses other local woods, such as juniper, to craft her pieces. With each piece wrapped in hand-forged metals, it should be obvious that each piece is truly unique.
Nolan says she’s had a strong response from the community—especially when her pieces are placed in distilleries or wineries.
“We’re definitely… tying it into the drinks industry, and the wine industry, because we’ve got not just the wine barrels, but grape vines that you can cut,” Nolan said. For the future, Nolan and her husband, Toby, who assists with marketing and logistics, hope to create lines for specific distilleries and wineries, with materials made from one location’s own barrels. Find Branch + Barrel at Cosa Cura, Junque in Bloom, the Crater Lake Spirits Tasting room and other locations.
This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2018.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
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