Strub's Woodcrib: Quality, precision, elegance
At Strub's Woodcrib, we only work with the finest of materials like premium grade Moso Bamboo, regarded as one of the hardest of the 14-1500 varieties of bamboo. Our staple product is our endgrain bamboo cutting boards, featuring non-marring, skid resistance silicone rubber feet and high grade stainless steel legs to accent today's modern kitchens. Our cutting boards and serving trays are assembled using only food safe glues and once sanded, they are dipped in a vat of butcher block oil, let to dry and then burnished with a combination of carnauba wax, food safe mineral oil, and bees wax. We believe that our cutting boards and serving trays are the best in the industry. The end grained bamboo cutting boards are super hard, making them one of the best surfaces designed to be cut on, while not tending to dull knives. Not only is Bamboo naturally antimicrobial, it's also environmentally sustainable, because once it is cut, it regrows from that very root base again and again. Young moso bamboo shoots and leaves are considered a culinary delicacy for humans, but Panda Bears don't care for them and therefore, this bamboo is not in their diet. Bamboo is harvested by hand and each culm is carried out of the forest on foot to maintain the delicate root systems of the forest floor. Bamboo has greater compressive strength than concrete and about the same strength-to-weight ratio as steel in tension. But it doesn't start out that way. Like all bamboo, each culm grows rapidly from a rhizome. Moso has been known to grow 47 inches in 24 hours, but it generally reaches its maximum height of 80 feet within just two months. After that, growth occurs within the stalk. The walls of the hollow culm thicken inward as chlorophyll, sugar and organic material are changed into dense, fibrous cellulose. It is these reinforced, but lightweight internodes, that provide tremendous strength with flexibility along the entire length of the bamboo culm. One-year-old culms are still soft and can be used to make fine calligraphy paper. At four years of age, fiber development in the culm is more appropriate for pulp and paper manufacturing than bamboo flooring. To achieve the characteristics valued in construction material, it must be harvested at the right time, between 5-1/2 and 6 years. As noted above, we purchase and use only premium grade Moso bamboo for all of my bamboo products. What is "premium grade" moso bamboo? It is the most dense part of that bamboo culm, and in this case, it happens to be the bottom 7 to 10 feet of that 80 ft. culm. The more dense, the more strength and hardness. Virtually all of the bamboo that is harvested, is either used in processing or in usable final products, leaving no carbon footprint. What is not used, is sold to other buyers, but nothing is discarded. Bamboo is excellent at capturing carbon from the atmosphere. It sequesters it within the stalk and root system, therefore; it is carbon-negative. Actually, bamboo’s leafy canopy sequesters more carbon and releases ~35 percent more oxygen than a comparable cluster of hardwood trees; in its growing process. Even after two months of being cut, the new canopy is more efficient at the CO2/O2 ratio than mature trees.
The cutting boards are the cornerstone of my business and they're all about MOSO Bamboo, however; Strub's Woodcrib is not just all about Bamboo, we're also about exotic woods (harvested from managed forests) and how one can integrate these into contemporary art. I've had over 25 years of experience in working with exotic woods and have come to fully appreciate the enormous variations, complexities and beauty that each has. Notably, over the years, I've also been able to explore other venues in which I can present the exotic woods in functional yet artistic craft. You'll see evidence of this in my wall art collection, serving trays, trivets, turnings, and an occasional mantel clock. A few years ago, I discovered liquid resins with mineral inlays and began creating a whole new look into some of my works of art. Throughtout the past several years, I have featured some of these resin inlays in my products, but particularly, with my wall art and charcuterie boards. They've been very well received. This has challenged my creativity as well as providing a new purpose and passion. This is an exciting era, in which technology has begun to embrace art, by providing new techniques and products for artistic expression. I hope you'll have a chance to visit me at one of the shows coming up and see some of these amazing collections. Thank you so much for your business and trust.
Upcoming festivals and events for 2022 that I'll be attending:
The annual Elkhart Lake Farmer's/Artisan Market has started and goes through early October. It's held every Saturday morning from 8:00am to 12:00pm and located near the historic downtown train depot. I'm located on the northeast section of the parking lot, with the white canopy. It's a great visible location. I look forward to meeting previous customers, many who've become good friends.
Art at the Park Festival will be held again in Appleton, WI., at the City Park on Sat., July 23rd and Sunday, July 24th sponsored by the Trout Museum. Show times are Sat. from 9 am to 6 pm and Sun. from 9 am to 4 pm. There are over 170 juried vendors from around the country at this festival. Considered to be one of the finest art festivals north of Milwaukee, it's generally very well attended, there's food and live musical entertainment as well. The park itself is canopied with mature trees and has wonderful recreation available for all ages. Be sure to stop by.
Mosaic Art Street in Green Bay will be held on the last weekend in August from Friday thru Sunday, August 26th thru August 28th. It's another juried art festival that actually starts on Friday from 3 pm to 7 pm and again on Sat. from 10 am to 6 pm and Sun. from 10 am to 5 pm and is sponsored by Mosaic Arts. This year the location has changed to Ashwaubomay Park, in Auswaubenon, a SW suburb of Green Bay. The park requires a little navigation getting there, but it's a beautiful park and located on the west bank of the Fox River. Over 150 juried artists representing a wide variety of art. There's food and live entertainment, plus the park is designed in a wide open space with ample parking available. Be sure to stop by.
The Fall Bayshore Art Festival, Bayshore, WI., is an annual event being held at the Bayshore Mall on Saturday, Sept 17th from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, Sept 18th from 11 am to 6 pm . It's a juried festival with approx. 70 artists. This will be my first time attending this event. It's being held in an upscale shopping center located on the northeast side of Milwaukee visable from the expressway, with a number of shops, boutiques, restaurants, including 'The Cheese Factory' and 'California Pizza Kitchen' also boasts an 'Apple store' and 'Trader Joe's'.
The Kohler Wine and Food Event in Kohler, WI., is an annual event usually held in mid-October of each year. This event was cancelled the last two years due to the pandemic. Hopefully, the tradition will come back this year. Usually a decision that is made near the end of August, beginning of Sept. I'll keep you posted whether this will take place again!
Every application to an art festival, requires high grade photos of one's work and a jurying process to select those vendors who best represent provide the quality of art for that event. This can be challenging at times and usually applications begin as early as December and typically go through February or March for the summer's art festivals. Notification of acceptance into these art festivals usually occurs in April and May. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
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