Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian and Tracy Frerichs.
Hi Brian and Tracy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Brian and I met at a rock climbing gym in 2014, when he had just returned from a multi-month trip to Hawaii after quitting a soul-sucking job and I was playing hooky from grad school. Needless to say, we weren’t destined to both continue on any “normal” career paths.
The wheels for what would become our business started turning when we decided to build a bar and matching tables for our rustic wedding in 2016. Brian really enjoyed the project and he continued woodworking after the wedding, branching out into making frames for his own artwork out of recycled barn wood and then shelves and wall art. Both of us knew that in an ideal situation, we would transition to working for ourselves, so we started to think about how to make that happen.
The idea for Forested Way really took shape in 2017, when we invested in some basic festival gear and booked a couple of small, local events. We were both working full-time jobs and started participating in shows on weekends. We fell in love very quickly with working for ourselves, traveling up and down the east coast to shows, and selling our art. By the fall of that year, we were doing art festivals full-time! We have since really built our life around creating art and participating in events.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
When we decided to start our own art business, obviously, there was a pretty steep learning curve at the beginning. We had to learn how to run a business, how to use the tools we had (which at the time was not many) to create the art that we wanted to make, how to find the best festivals for us, what our demographic was and how/where they shopped, and we had to develop our own unique style to stand out from the crowd.
It took us a few solid years of trial and error until we really felt like we hit our stride! Then COVID hit and sent us back to the drawing board because we had to suddenly stay afloat without all of our art festivals. Previously, we depended on shows and events as our main source of income and most of our inventory sold before we were able to post it online. We’ve been able to pivot to selling online but we are very excited for festivals to start back up!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your art?
We’re a husband and wife team who use reclaimed wood to make unique pieces of wall art, geometric shelving, and furniture. The wood is recycled from pallets, barns, fencing, flooring, plaster lath, and anything else we can get our hands on! We are most known for our mountain pieces and they are also our bestsellers! We have worked really hard over the past few years to develop a style that is unique to us. It’s inspired by our love of nature, Brian’s eye for geometric design, and our desire to keep life fun, fresh, and interesting! I would say our style is a little rustic, minimalist, playful, sometimes funky fresh, and always cool (we hope!).
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We love our supporters and followers and nothing gives us more joy than seeing your faces at our shows or reading your comments and messages online! We have several shows coming up this year in the Raleigh area, which are listed on our website.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.forestedway.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/forestedway
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/forestedway
