Woodworker adds Parker showroom | Parkerchronicle.net

Garrett Pickrel, a U.S. Navy sailor turned IT professional turned woodworker, is expanding his business’s presence in Colorado with a showroom in Parker. 

“I’m super stoked that I have a storefront,” Pickrel, owner of Blacksheep Woods, told Colorado Community Media. Located at the corner of Dransfeldt Road and Parkglenn Way, the 2,500-square-foot space — filled with hunks of fragrant wood and a handful of finished tables — opened to the public in January. 

Blacksheep Woods creates custom wood counters, bars, fireplace mantels and tables for its customers. Many of the projects incorporate the uncut or “live edge” of a tree and colored epoxy as part of the design. The company also sells slabs of hardwood like black walnut, white oak and sycamore to other woodworkers. 

“We pay attention to every aspect of our job, and we are very meticulous about picking out something that is going to last, something that’s beautiful,” the 35-year-old from Elizabeth said of the work Blacksheep Woods does. 

When it comes to procuring wood, Pickrel said he tries to be a good steward of the land. 

“A tree is an amazing thing to me. I love trees,” Pickrel said. “I don’t like it when dudes just go knock down trees because they think there’s money in it. A good live tree just kind of needs to be there.”

So Pickrel typically buys his slabs — long, lengthwise cuts from large tree trunks — from small businesses with sustainable practices. He said he looks for folks that are not clear cutting but are, instead, removing trees that are already dead.

Wood from these trees often have knots, holes or other irregularities that result in slabs with more character and beauty than average, run-of-the-mill lumber, according to Pickrel. 

“They’re a lot funner to work with,” he said. 

While someone in his family was always building something where he grew up in rural Colorado, Pickrel himself hasn’t always been in the woodworking business. He spent four years in the Navy before getting a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and pursuing a career in information technology. 

But, ultimately, IT wasn’t the right path for him, so he left the industry eight years ago and started “making more sawdust” at his father’s sawmill, Mountain Heart Woodworks, in Elbert. In time, Pickrel started his own business designing and constructing custom wood furniture alongside his father’s operation. 

“We work really closely together out there. … There’s a strong tie between us and Mountain Heart Woodworks,” he said. 

The showroom in Parker is an extension of the wood shop and sawmill in Elbert and gives Blacksheep Woods a presence in the Denver metro area. 

Already a part of the woodworking community, Pickrel looks forward to becoming a part of the Parker community as well. More than a location to sell his wares, Pickrel hopes the new storefront evolves into a place where people that love wood can come out and enjoy it and each other — whether they’re a woodworker, a builder, an interior designer or retail customer. 

“I want it to be a cool place to come to, not just a regular old business,” he said.