Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Laico.
Hi Michael, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Michael Laico, owner, designer, woodworker, woodturner and wood artist, it’s hard to believe I have been woodworking for over 40 years. Michael’s Woodcrafts is a small artisan wood studio nestled on Paris Mountain north of downtown Greenville, SC.
My journey started when I was 12 years old, my grandfather inspired my passion for woodworking while spending summers working with him in his woodshop and on his farm. Woodworking came naturally to me and when I was in my twenties I got serious about my woodworking.
I remember walking into my grandfather’s huge wood shop, I loved the scent of sawdust, seeing all of his equipment, the work in process, bins of scrap hardwood cut-offs, bins of plywood cut-offs, molding, stacks of hardwood, sheets of cabinet grade plywood stacked in the corner and hearing the machines. As a youngster he would pay me a couple dollars to pick-up scraps, put into the bins and to sweep the floor.
My grandfather was a farmer and a woodworker. His primary business was making fireplace mantels, but occasionally he made cabinets for builders. When I turned twelve he started teaching me how to use hand tools, air nailer, air stapler, the Porter Cable finish sander and a Max vertical oscillating spindle sander. I would fumble with some of the heavier hand tools. By the time I was thirteen I was reading his drawings, cutting the pieces for mantels and assembling mantels. I enjoyed working in his shop, spending every chance I could with him. Being by his side observing, learning and helping him, he was the best mentor.
I am a self-taught woodworker, woodturner, wood artist. I will tell you I was mentored for 3 weeks learning the basics of wood turning. Learning how to turn on the lathe was a skill I wanted to learn and in 2000, I was lucky to find a professional woodturner that was willing to mentor me. I spent 3 hours with him every Tuesday and Thursday for three weeks learning the basics from sharpening the tools, preparing the wood for turning, set-up the lathe and how to use each tool. The 18 hours I spent with him gave me the knowledge to learn more on my own. Since 2000 I have been wood turning and love it, and today I turn an average of 20 hours or more a week.
I built my shop myself in the fall of 1984 and begin to fill it with all of my hand tools, power tools and equipment. I initially started making unique end grain cutting boards, exotic wood stools, and furniture, bedroom suites, nightstands, tables, bookcases, coffee tables, end tables etc. Took on repairing antiques, making rocking chairs, and more as well as filling wholesale orders to various shops and galleries. In 1986 landed a contract to make benches and displays for grocery stores, making 100 benches a month. This contract lasted for two years. I also landed an opportunity to make sandblasted redwood signage for builders, entrance signs to large subdivisions, street signs and unique sandblasted mailboxes. Before I knew it, I was doing work for over 20 subdivisions that had over 2500 lots for homes, making 2500 mailboxes. Several builders reached out to me and gave me contracts for building cabinets. I was extremely lucky, my business kept growing and expanding. All of this business allowed me to acquire all the equipment I needed and to build a nice shop.
While making the furniture, signs, mailboxes, etc. I expanded my work to include an array of items that I could ship worldwide and market those on my website. All of these are unique, one-of-a-kind pieces with many niche pieces no other artist makes. These are the pieces I make today but I have developed may other pieces since then.
I started to experiment with conventional and non-conventional designs and media. Long before anyone was using resin with wood I stated combining resin and wood to make charcuterie boards and combining resin with wood for turning on the lathe. For charcuterie boards the resin had to be food grade, for turning on the lathe the resin had to be able to turn at high RPM withstand the heat from the tools, without melting or breaking apart. After months of testing many different brands, I found a solution for both the charcuterie boards and turning on the lathe.
Today I use a combination of wood and resin in many pieces of my work. With the resin I am able to add a mix of colors that highlight the beauty of the wood. A few of the most popular woods I use are highly figured maple burl, brown mallee burl, red mallee burl, ambrosia maple, cherry and walnut. I use more than 30 different species of wood.
Along my journey the woodworking community and wood artist have been inspiring. Learning from each other, sharing tips and techniques, in person, on forums, magazines, etc.
I am always learning and sharing with others. I enjoy reading Woodshop News, Furniture and Cabinetmaking, plus two woodturning magazines, Woodturning from the UK and AAW American Association of Woodturners. All of these are great tools for woodworkers that help me get a sense of the new equipment and supplies that are available, woodworking techniques and tips, and what is trending with other woodworkers.
Every year I attend the IWF International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta. The IWF offers the largest showcase of woodworking equipment, materials, supplies and services in North American for woodworkers. The manufactures are demonstrating cutting edge equipment, tools and many other products live at the show. It is an opportunity to meet the exhibitors and build a relationship with them because they are the industry experts.
Early on in my journey I realized my work turned out to be more than just a hobby, it is a passion I have for wood, and it has shaped my identity in every piece I touch. Every step, every project, every challenge, perpetual learning, has contributed to my growth and success as a maker, wood artist. It has been an amazing journey, and I have loved every minute.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s definitely not easy but it’s been the most rewarding experience for me. However, I would tell you that you have to wear many hats to run a business.
One of the main challenges is keeping up with the product demand and having the right products in stock when customers place their order. I want to be in my studio and create all day, every day but that is not possible. Handling all the task involved with the business administration can be challenging. It is a lot for one person to handle, from brand strategy, sales manager, customer service, managing supplies, accounting, market research, shipping, photographer, making videos, and more.
Securing supplies, wood and resin during COVID was a huge challenge.
I think that social media is more time consuming but necessary to promote my work and communicating with potential customers.
Maintaining the website, updating and refreshing with new images, content and adding new pages is critical. Making sure all links and contents is accurate with links to other social medial platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, .pdf documents, etc..
Keeping Instagram updated and posting daily 5 days a week is critical to growing our audience. We currently have more than 18,300 followers. We earned each and every follower organically and have never purchased followers. From Instagram we get dozens of inquiries and orders weekly. Art galleries and shops find us on Instagram too that lead to large wholesale orders.
My strategy with Instagram is to post video reels 4-5 times a week minimum. I have determined the best time to post each day of the week that maximizes traffic and increase engagement. We have seen a 12% more reach per post on average. Writing the caption, tagging and using the correct hashtags is also critical. I like to collaborate with other Instagram creators, small businesses, tagging the small businesses, and my suppliers giving them credit when using their products. Tipically they will repost your post then the post are shown on both accounts, meaning followers of your collaborator partner will see the shared post.
I also work directly with customers who purchased my products to get pictures from them using the product for posting and acknowledging the customer in my post. Many often the customer will repost driving more customers to my Instagram.
We have experimented with different types of post and video reels. I have found that the educational videos reels where we show how we create our product we increased our engagement by 36% more than other type of post.
Responding and talking to your audience, followers in comments and stories you build a stronger sense of community and improve our brand reputation. Getting more Instagram followers isn’t just about adding new followers, it is also about maintaining your follower count, you don’t want to lose your existing followers because you are not responsive.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am dedicated in handcrafting luxury artistic homewares using locally reclaimed sustainably sourced woods. Our homewares are thoughtfully designed to be both practical and beautiful, with the natural colors and textures of every piece. I make high-end heirloom quality pieces, all handmade, many are mix-media, a combination of wood and resin that include cutting boards, charcuterie boards, stools, ice cream scoops, pizza cutters, recessed wine bottle stoppers, acorn wine stoppers, acorn door stopper wedges, acorn coat racks, cheese knifes, bar knifes, bread knives, wedding cake knives, pie/cake knives, hand whisk, bottle openers, honey sticks, catchall trays, antique and vintage design hand mirrors, unique turned bowls, resin and burl tree light bulb ornaments, mini birdhouse ornaments, unique one-of-kind snowmen and more. I am always developing new ideas and are always up for a challenge!
The wood that I use comes from fallen or storm-damaged trees that I source from local sawmills, giving each piece a unique story. I enjoy sorting through logs, live edge slabs, lumber and cut offs that is often used for firewood but have unique character. Wood not available at local sawmills, I source from certified suppliers to guarantee the domestic and exotic wood is always procured ethically and sustainably. I spend a great deal of time selecting wood with beautiful natural colors and figured grain that adds to the uniqueness of each piece.
In a mass produced world, I focus on design, and craftsmanship creating high quality pieces allowing the natural character of the wood and resin to speak on its own preserving wood art. Every day I pour my heart and soul into every piece, ensuring excellence at every step of the process. No two pieces are ever exactly alike, even when I create a series of similar items. There are always slight variations in the wood grain, texture or shape making each piece one of a kind. Each piece begins with raw or seasoned wood which is hand shaped. The surface is meticulously refined and finished. I offer engraving on many pieces, customers like to have engraving for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, retirement gifts, etc. We are able to do that in the shop.
I sell direct to consumers as well as business to business. Collaborating with realtors, doctor offices, travel agents, interior designers, architects, galleries, etc. working closely with the client to ensure each piece resonates with their vision. We begin with a conversation, whether in person, email or by phone to understand their vision. Following our discussions, we provide an outline of the design concept, materials, finishes and materials, timeline and pricing.
What sets my work apart from other wood artist is the quality of my work, the beauty and uniqueness of my pieces. I have many niche pieces that no other wood artist makes.
I’ve spent 40 years perfecting my techniques and skill transforming a rough piece of raw wood, shaping and finishing into a beautiful handmade piece of wood art. I am most proud of the legacy my work creates a blend of artistic identity, design and uniqueness and the ability to turn raw wood into something that endures time. I consistently produce heirloom quality pieces that stand the test of time. It’s with pride, and decades of work, I’ve developed a style that is unmistakably my own. I just follow the passion; I encourage anyone to follow a passion. Very few people find it.
Creating wood art is a form of therapy, I spend hours and hours in my shop lost in thought as I carefully work shaping each piece. The finished pieces are not just an object to me, but a reflection of me and my craft. I believe handmade wood art is cherished for its unique craftsmanship and the personal connection to the artist.
The workshop has become a place of solitude, working in complete silence allows me space for self-reflection and the power of bringing a project to completion from raw natural materials — believing there is great satisfaction to be found in work that engages one so deeply you’re able to forget yourself making handmade items.
When I am not in my studio you can find me hiking in the mountains of western North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. I enjoy hiking and camping, summit hikes 5000 feet elevation and higher are my favorite but also love waterfall hikes. I recently hiked 101 miles in 6 days on the Appalachian Trail.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success to me is based on many things, consistent demand of my work, happy customers, repeat customers, getting custom orders and word of mouth referrals. A growing social media presence because they enjoy the process, the designs, the finish of my work.
Success is when someone can look at a piece and say, “I know who made that.”
That is a sense of success that they immediately know who made the piece based on design and quality. I receive hundreds or emails from customers praising my work, hundreds of repeat customers and many customers repeatedly buying gifts throughout the year.
Each year I attend in person, juried, invitational Art shows and Art Festivals in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. The art festivals help me increase my sales and customer awareness driving more business to my website, Instagram and for custom orders. The art festivals also allow me to promote and advertise my work and the chance to network and engage with other artist that often leads to collaborating with them on projects.
During these shows I have won ribbons for my turned figured maple burl bowls and vessels. It’s always a moment of pride, the recognition of hard work and dedication that went into the design, shaping with my tools and applying the finish. It gives me a sense of accomplishment, success and dedication to continue to create. The ribbons are a symbol of excellence, recognition for hard work and encourages me to continue to do what I love. The last ribbon I won was at the Highlands NC Art Festival in August of 2025.
Michaels Woodcraft products are currently available on their website and Instagram. They also offer custom services and are available for commissions. www.MichaelsWoodcrafts@yahoo.com www.instagram.com/michaelswoodcraft/
MichaelsWoodcraft@yahoo.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelswoodcraft/
- Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/michaellaico/
