Terence Boyarsky says he isn’t sure what made him want to go into woodworking, but for the past three years, it has been a passion he has poured himself into.

Boyarsky, who grew up in South Africa before moving to Kentucky for a career in equine retail, said he had very little training in woodworking and is still teaching himself about the craft. That hasn’t stopped him from beginning Wood If We Could, a one-man operation where he makes artistic pieces using what he refers to as “rescued wood” found in Clark County, Fayette County and other places in the region.

“I see a tree service cutting down a something along the road and I’ll stop and ask them if I can take it or what it would take for them to bring it here,” Boyarsky said.

Over the course of several years, Boyarsky has collected enough wood to fill his large workshop in the Bloodline building on Hud Road. He has a wide collection of various woods, including Birch, Cherry, Oak, Walnut and more.

“We need to appreciate the woods that we have locally and stop buying exotic woods,” Boyarsky said. “Exotic woods is just another term for some rainforest being cut down somewhere.”

Boyarsky said he enjoys making practical art pieces, like live edge benches and tables, chess boards and religious symbols.

However, he said often a piece of wood will inspire him to make something different based on its shape, coloring or grain.

Boyarsky’s workshop is made up of a small collection of tools, including a band saw, some mitre saws, sanders, hand tools and his favorite, a lathe.

He said he prides himself on not having any computerized tools, with each individual piece being made by hand. As a result, no two chess pieces Boyarsky makes are exactly alike, an element he says adds character to each one.

After years of collecting wood and making pieces from it, Boyarsky began to run into a problem, he has less and less room to store his creations.

To rectify the problem, Boyarsky said he has contacted the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce to plan a grand opening for Wood If We Could. Coinciding with the opening, Boyarsky will be selling his creations in addition to a wide variety of African art he has collected over his lifetime. He said he will be selling most pieces at a discount.

A ribbon-cutting for the business will take place August 26. After that, Boyarsky said he will be available anytime by appointment and will have regular business hours on the weekends when he is not working in his shop.

The goal is to create more room for additional pieces to be created. Boyarsky said he wants people to help create with him, encouraging clients with ideas for custom furniture or other pieces to contact him so they can plan out a project.

But Boyarsky’s passion is still about the work itself. He said in the course of custom jobs, the client will only be charged if they want the piece he produces and take it home with them.

“If I make something and I don’t like it, you’ll never see it,” he said. “If I make it and I like it but you don’t, you don’t have to pay for it and it will get a spot in my shop.”

To learn more about Wood If We Could, visit woodifwecould.com or call (859)-595-8138.