Muhammad Ayesh, while actively working in his family’s construction business, has also ventured into a creative journey through his woodworking side hustle, Wood Flow. Ayesh crafts various wood pieces, including coffee tables, charcuterie boards, lazy Susans, and more, showcasing his passion for turning wood into art and utility.

Wood Flow is based at Milwaukee Makerspace, located at 2517 E Norwich Ave. St Francis, a community space where builders, creators, and inventors enjoy 24/7 access to state-of-the-art tools and training. Ayesh speaks fondly of his woodworking, stating, “It’s very therapeutic for me. Although it’s work that uses machines and tools, I don’t see it as work. It’s like my time to relax.”

What draws Ayesh to woodworking, especially tables, is their central role in living spaces. “They are centerpieces and a talking piece for your living room, and I love when someone has something specific they like that I can bring to life,” he says.

His current projects include a frame made from olive tree wood from his uncle’s home in Palestine, as well as a decorative tray embedded with coffee beans.

At Milwaukee Makerspace, collaboration is key. Ayesh uses the tools available to him, like a handmade wood mallet (left), to create his works. His collection includes tables of varying shapes and sizes, some with custom designs, while others feature wood "cookies" or even coffee beans embedded in epoxy. His range of completed works extends to desks, cabinets, doors, closets, coaster sets, and a coffee cart made for Chicago-based Nood Coffee.

Woodworking takes time, and Ayesh estimates, “From the time I buy a piece of wood until a table is finished and ready to go to its home, it usually takes probably two to three weeks, or roughly 20 hours of work.”

Ayesh’s love for working with wood goes back to his roots. After graduating from Marquette University in 2014 with an engineering degree, he worked as an engineer in both the public and private sectors. However, he also took woodshop classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College and enjoyed creating projects for friends and family. “I’ve always been good with working with my hands and fixing things myself,” Ayesh recalls.

Initially starting with small projects like serving trays and charcuterie boards, Ayesh built his skills before diving into tables. Reflecting on his first attempt, he shares, “I still have the first charcuterie board I ever made. Looking at it makes me reflect on how far I have come. It’s terrible, but when I made it I was so happy. It was the coolest and best I ever did.”

COVID-19 gave Ayesh the opportunity to practice his craft further. Soon, he moved his woodworking operations from his home garage to Milwaukee Makerspace, where he rents space for his business, Wood Flow. Ayesh notes, “I only had one kid at the time I started, and I was cranking maybe ten or twelve tables a year. I had three kids when I quit my job to start my own business, so something had to get dropped in the list of priorities, and the tablemaking went down quite a bit.”

Today, Ayesh continues to balance his full-time commercial construction and remodeling business, Firebird Construction, with his growing wood crafting venture. “Now that I have a business partner, Firebird has become more self-sufficient, so I have more time for Wood Flow again,” he adds.

Ayesh works primarily with cherry and black walnut wood, sourced from a local mill in West Bend, but has also added sentimental touches to his pieces. He recently began using olive wood from his family’s home in Palestine. Ayesh explains, “My uncle’s front yard had an olive tree that was kind of ruining the front patio and porch area. He had it removed, and the minute I found out, I called the guy who was removing the tree and told him to cut it into cookies for me.”

This olive tree, planted by his great-great grandfather, has become an important part of Ayesh’s work, and he shares, “It’s got some family benefit and is kind of nostalgic, but it’s also important for me to keep that memory going rather than letting that tree go to waste.”

Recently, Ayesh sourced more olive wood from a church in California, where olive trees gifted from Bethlehem had been burned in a wildfire. He reflects, “I made tables with those slabs and sold all of them. You could see that the wood almost had like a black border around it, and that’s from the burning, so it’s nice to see how it unintentionally gives the table character and depth.”

Ayesh continues to create unique pieces that blend his passion for construction and woodworking. He often lists some of his creations for sale on Etsy, giving others a chance to own a piece of his artistry.

Originally reported by Ben Slowey in Wisconsin Muslim Journal.