Re-imagining the Discarded

Artisans: Bethany Formica & Conrad Bender

Shop Dog: Angus of the Storms, aka Gus

Sawdust Siren is a tiny company specializing in creating unique handcrafted treasures for your home made from repurposed & salvaged lumber, fallen trees, antique horns, found objects, beeswax, and anything else that inspires our curiosity.

We’re nostalgic, sentimental, and nerdy about wood. We love finding new ways to use antique and abandoned elements. We admire the simplicity of old technology and the discipline and longevity of historic craftsmanship, and we have a passion for incorporating both into our work. All of our products are handcrafted in our home in Swarthmore, PA.

Bethany has been a professional contemporary modern dancer, teacher, & choreographer for 30 years. Being a performing artist where nothing exists after the show, she loves making things that are tangible in the world. She started turning bowls and making benches in 2004 shortly after meeting Conrad. Turns out that sharing power tools in the shop can be pretty romantic.

Conrad never imagined he would be sharing the wood shop with his wife. But he’s happy to share. Really. His passion for carpentry and woodworking started in the 1970’s when his dad decided to take the roof off of their house and add a second floor. Through junior high and high school, Conrad spent more time in wood shop than in French class, which irritated his French teacher to no end, but resulted in several great pieces of furniture. In his spare time, Conrad is Director of Production for a corporate event production company.

Gus is our bearded collie. And to be truthful, he’s not really a shop dog. He’s not all that excited when we’re working, except he likes to come in and steal random pieces of wood when we’re not paying enough attention to him.

Our logo was created by Joshua Izzo.