Cecil Ross’ tables tell tales.

The island woodworker – whose custom furniture will be among the works featured at this weekend’s Studio Tour, and who also opens a show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts – believes the history of a tree informs the finished work. He tries to footnote the wood he uses to sustainable sources.

“The pieces I’ve made for the show and the tour have good local history,” Ross said.

“This coffee table was made from a big, old alder tree that came down in a storm six years ago,” he said, pointing out a low bench with clean, simple lines.

Ross has also made benches from a Chestnut tree removed during the building of Harbour Public House, and a console table with maple from a tree taken down on a property in Port Madison.

When Ross looks for wood off-island, he tries to pin down the provenance to make sure the source is a sustainable one.

“I am concerned about the impact we, consumers and artisans, have on our environment and how, as a builder and designer, I can influence this,” Ross said. “I use certified wood wherever possible, source wood locally, and always try to tread softly on this earth.”

Large boards of blond wood – one nearly 4 feet high and 9 feet long – leaning against the wood shop walls are African yellow wood milled from a 1,000-year-old dead and fallen tree from the Knysna Forest in South Africa.

According to Ross, the South African Parks board locates such trees and then sells them at public auction “so that no one can corner the market.”

Finding wood can take a while, Ross says, but so can a client’s commitment to commissioning a table.

“When you spend $10,000 on an item, you want to take your time,” Ross said.

A 13-foot piece of walnut on sawhorses hints at the table it will become, a piece that has been in the discussion stage for over two years.

“On the studio tour, I don’t expect people to buy much,” Ross said, “but they will ‘ooh’ and ‘ah.’ Wood is largely word of mouth. It’s networking to get the wood and the work.”

Ross created his workspace in the early 1990s, after he moved with his wife Cheryl and their three children to the island’s north end.

Born in Durban, South Africa in 1944, Ross been, in roughly chronological order: a professional soccer player, a draftsman-cum-graphic designer, a surfer and designer of surfboards, and a boat builder.

He says the decision to move to Bainbridge was also a move away from boat-building, a profession he calls “strenuous.”

He converted a garage to a compact but flexible wood studio, where all the tools and machinery are on wheels.

“I can get about twice the use of the space, that way,” he said. “And that’s good, because I have a lot of tables waiting to happen.”

Studio tour-goers who might be tempted to skip the few individual studios like Ross’, in favor of the “high-yield” venues, might consider this: One learns more about an individual artist, and the process of making art, from a visit to a work space.

Ross, who served several years on the Studio Tour steering committee, agrees.

“From my standpoint, I like the small venues,” he said. ‘It’s much more soulful to bring people into the work space. They get a glimpse of who we are in our own environment.”

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The 18th annual Bainbridge Island Winter Studio Tour features more than 50 artists display arts, crafts and edibles at four local halls and three studios.

Maps to the free self-guided tour can be found at the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce (Highway 305 and Winslow Way); at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, or online at www.bistudiotour.com. For more information call (360) 779-2097.