Beau said he started off ….

Beau said he started off with very traditional pieces, figuring out how chairs, tables and benches fit together, but he eventually began adding a sense of tension and imbalance to make his work more unique.

“I want a piece of furniture to not look like a standard piece of furniture,” he said. “I can, it’s just more fun to screw it up.”

At the same, the wood he chooses to work with is not always what you would call conventional. In addition to salvaged barn beams, he also gets odd tree scraps from Kara’s brother, a forester who works up north. He once took a tree burl — like a wooden blister — and transformed it into a collection of pedestal tables.

When it comes to re-imagining scavenged wood, Beau said his objective is to find the beauty in something that others may consider grotesque or unsightly.

“The uglier the board, the better it makes a piece of furniture because I try to accentuate all the defects — the knotholes, the nail holes and worm holes,” he said.

When asked if they see themselves as “collaborators,” Beau says they often feed off each other’s opinions and ideas.

“I’d say we collaborate on our own independent projects,” he said.

Kara says the house they live in is “our biggest art project to date” — something they designed together and built all the interior finishings and furnishings for. It was constructed on what was once a cow lane, and still overlooks fields rented out to farmers.

Beau and Kara first joined the Clark County tour art tour as guest artists at Munson Bridge Winery, but this year, they look forward to showing people where they create their work.

Beau & Kara Studios is located at N290 CTH C, Stetsonville. For more information on the art tour, go to www.clarkcountywi.org.