Hi guys! It’s been since the article, “how spoons carving saved my life” in 2021, that I haven’t had an article populating the “wood adventures” category! Today, the right opportunity finally came! I met Serena and we chatted at length about her experience and how she has spent a fascinating life in carpentry!

One of my biggest dreams is to work with wood not only as a hobby but to turn it into a real job. When you are so fascinated by wood, being able to have a carpenter’s workshop is one of the things that is definitely appealing to everyone!

As luck would have it, I met Serena Bonuccelli, class of 1988, from Versilia, Tuscany, a new and fresh generation committed body and soul to her family business, “Arredamenti Bonuccelli“. Talking with her was really interesting to the point that I decided to do an article on it!

The history of the family business

In 1965 Serena’s grandfather, Danilo, decided to open a small carpentry business dragged by his artistic talents and love of raw materials. In a few years he became a well-known and appreciated craftsman and was forced to expand his business to have as many as 12 workers.

Among them, his two sons, Sandro and Mauro, start working with him and learn all the tricks of the trade. Over the years, growth is exponential and they find themselves opening up to the international market as well, until the years of the craft market crisis around 2000.

Sandro and Mauro then find themselves having to deal with the downsizing of the company, relying again on family strength alone. In 1988, a little girl is added to the family unit, taking her first steps in a dusty shed full of dangerous machinery, which captivates her to the core.

And here begins the story of Serena, who is in love with wood and her work, trying to make her way in what is a fulfilling but hard job, where every day there is something new to learn.

Life in carpentry

Living in a carpentry shop is not an easy life, Serena tells me. Hot in the summer when the Tuscan Riviera sun beats relentlessly on the shed roof and cold in the winter, despite the clement temperatures of a seaside town. Wood dust, heavy materials, machinery that takes a moment to take a finger off even the most experienced workers.

Yet she decided to stay connected to this activity, and although she could have chosen anything for her future, she decided to indulge in this world of wood and creation. You have to be a bit of a visionary to do this kind of work; it’s not enough to know how to put together stable furniture.

The importance of artisans

Being an artisan is a valuable asset for oneself and for humanity. Perhaps we don’t often realize that there are all around us these silent people who are capable of creating everything in their workshops. My mother is a seamstress. She has dedicated her whole life to sewing.

I never loved this art and was not able to follow her steps. But all the things I came up with over time, she created them for me. The thing that amazes me even today is that whatever I or her clients ask her, even the craziest, she is never worried: she knows she can do it.

In a standardized, branded, pre-packaged world where we never talk about artisans, we underestimate that these people can do anything. From rescuing a dress that no longer fits but you adore, or making a piece of furniture with your own idea, tailored to your space.

You don’t find this in stores, you don’t find this on the Internet: this is knowledge born out of passion, out of the experience of everyday work. In a disposable world that is being choked by the waste it produces, these people are the light at the end of the tunnel.

If we all made more conscious, greener choices, these people would no longer be invisible and their work would certainly be more understood and appreciated, and this earth would thank us.

I experienced it with my mother, who was mocked when she stated the price of her work with comments like, ‘What? I can buy a pair of pants from the Chinese store for 5 euros!.’ Serena confirms this, saying she often hears that her work isn’t difficult and just requires a bit of paint.

These sterile thoughts have led us to where we are now: a world made in the shape of no one. Have you ever wondered why grandma’s furniture, it may be moth-eaten but it’s still there, and why your new bookcase bent in 15 days?

I will have had something of the artisan in my DNA, like Serena: we will be the “different ones” in a world of all the same. Being here, writing this blog and talking to so many passionate people gives me hope. I hope that these “old” passions will take over again and that we will return to the pursuit of things that are lasting, personal, unique.

The challenge of being a woman in carpentry

Photo of Serena at work in her company – all rights reserved

Serena leaves the production of actual furniture to her family and devotes herself to conservative restoration, painting and has created her own line of simple structures for children. She dreams and creates Montessori toys, nursery decorations with great attention to eco-friendly materials and paints and of course non-toxicity.

She brings everything she learned from the teachings of her grandfather and then her father into her work, and her professionalism grows every day. Yet she suffers from another stigma, if being in the class of misunderstood artisans were not enough for her.

Carpentry is not for women

If living in a carpentry shop is not an easy life, as I said at the beginning, try being a woman in a carpentry shop! It seems impossible but in Italy, even today, more than 20 years past the 2000s, when 2001 was supposed to be a space odyssey, gender discrimination still exists.

It’s depressing and disappointing. If we are still at this point, unable to overcome such an unnatural barrier, I understand why the work of an artisan isn’t valued. If we can’t appreciate someone just because they do a ‘unusual’ job for their gender, how can we understand the value of entirely handmade work?

What determines what is normal and what is not? I believe and hope that it is just habit. Because women have always worked hard, in every sphere, even in the fields. Yet still today they have no credibility.

Being a carpenter means dealing with weights, it is true, but today we also have technology to help, and a carpenter does not just make giant pieces of furniture. Serena tells me about looks of disapproval, rather than being fascinated by how much passion is inside this woman to endure the toil and all that.

Instead of seeing her as a plus, they see her as a drawback. As if she automatically isn’t competent, wasn’t born in that carpentry shop, didn’t learn anything from her family, didn’t possess knowledge that many men without a similar background couldn’t even dream of having…

Don’t you think this is ignorant and backward? In a world that cries for inclusion, to still find ourselves discussing these things is crazy. This is an uncomfortable article, but one that had to come out sooner or later. I, as a woman, could not close my eyes and mouth again in the face of these conditions.

I’m glad Serena gave me the opportunity, through her story. And I am glad that I wrote the article: “how to carve wood“, where I cut out a small section regarding women’s carving. Through which she empowered herself to tell me her story and like her I hope many others will.

Conclusions

I don’t believe that there is necessarily a gender in jobs, there are only people. Active, dedicated, inspired, talented people who love what they do. Who spend their lives preserving ancient art, who don’t want traditions to die. That our identity, our history is not forgotten.

A history that is not in schoolbooks, a history that is passed down, like dialect. History that reminds us who we are and where we come from. I very much hope to contribute with my words, with my work to this.

Woodworking is an art that more than any other takes us back in time. And it reminds us of how interconnected we are with nature, how we must love and respect it. Of how toil is transformed into beauty and how this beauty, preserved, can move between the centuries.

Guys if you’re here on my blog it’s because you understand these things, because you too have had a hobbyist thrill to think about the coolness of being able to live a woodworking business. Talk about it with your friends, let everyone know how much you care about what you do. How great it is to be able to talk about wood, touch it, work with it, transform it! 🤩

And from respecting nature, wood, the environment, to respecting all the people around us is a snap. It is the evolution we really deserve! A hug to all of you, let’s all reflect together and see you, if you like, next month! Bye!!! 🤗😘

P.s. If you were intrigued by Serena’s story and want to get to know her better, almost “in person” we did an episode together of “Keep Calm and Woodcarve” my podcast that airs every 15 days on the Blog’s youtube channel! A chat where we talk about everything related to wood taking cues from the comments received! Looking forward to yours as well!!! 😉🤩 (all videos in the channel are asmr or Italian as audio but ALWAYS have manually edited English subtitles! Enjoy!)