Don Blauvelt has made a flourishing woodworking business in retirement. Or, as he likes to call it, half-jokingly, “a hobby that got out of control.”   

Blauvelt spent his career in the corporate world, swinging deals for major companies. As a way to relax, he got into woodworking. Now a snowbird in Naples, he’s recently opened a gallery in the Naples Art District with his wife Valerie, an abstract artist. Gallerie B will showcase her paintings and his unique pieces, including charcuterie boards, serving platters and end tables.

His hobby stretches back decades to when he started making Adirondack chairs while living in upstate New York. He remembers the first time he actually sat in one; it “felt like a trip to the chiropractor.” He connected with an old friend who had imported high-quality lumber from overseas and he started making the chairs for his own use. Then he started making them for friends, and the hobby began to take on a life of its own. He figures there are maybe a few hundred of his Adirondack chairs in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

The Blauvelts have been coming to Naples for about a dozen years and his hobby has continued to grow. He’s shifted away from chairs, more recently catching on with the charcuterie craze and creating his own serving boards with a colorful mix of epoxy resin. He credits his wife for his latest ventures. She has an artistic touch that complements his practical sensibilities; he’s also color-blind, so he can’t really experience the vibrant colors in his work. He sees his work as a mix of practicality and creative expression, which is why he’s opening a gallery with his wife. “That’s really the beauty of it,” he says. “It’s functional art.”