Blackcreek Mercantile & Trading Co
Woodworkers
New York
It all began with a cutting board. Not just any cutting board, though.
“There was a quintessential form he had in mind,” Kelly Zaneto says, recalling her partner Josh Vogel’s original vision. The pair – who call themselves partners in business and life – started Black Creek Mercantile & Trading Co. in 2010. Since then, they’ve steadily built their collection of beautiful, sculptural and functional items for the kitchen and home.
“Designing and making are the same process,”Josh says. That’s a quality of the work that keeps him coming back. Using a lathe – a tool similar to a potter’s wheel but horizontal, and for wood – Josh chisels away until he finds the right form. “I can affect and change the design readily while I’m making it, and that connection is really important.”
That organic, intuitive process has informed the growth of the business as well. “There’s not always something new from us every year. It has to be on a par with the rest of the line,” Kelly explains.
“Everything we do here, we make with our hands. It might seem easy but it’s actually quite the opposite to make something durable, strong, and minimal.”
“I think it’s possible to transfer intent through craftwork like this. You put love into it, and that, that comes through on the other side…”Josh Vogel
