rian Hubel’s studio is teeming with power tools and carries the distinct scent of sawdust.

For nearly three decades, the self-taught craftsman has been fashioning original pieces here at the end of a gravel driveway in Colorado Springs. Wood is his medium, furniture is his art. But it’s the practicality of the works that he admires most.

“They are designed to be used,” Hubel says. “I want people to use them. They should be used, in my opinion. I want them to be passed down through generations and for multiple families to get value and use out of something that I built.”

Rusty handsaws hang on a wall of Hubel’s studio. Worn with dull teeth, they were from his grandparents’ farm in Nebraska. He credits much of his passion and drive to his grandfather, a handyman who had a small workshop.

“I was one of those kids that always would take things apart and try to fix them and put them back together,” he says. “We would go out there and play in the shop and just kind of tinker and play with scraps. And so I guess it’s just kind of my upbringing, and it stuck.”

On his 17th birthday, Hubel received a table saw from his mother. At the time, it seemed no more than a hobby. But that hobby quickly became a bigger part of his life.

It started as a way to pay the bills, working odd jobs in college and completing projects for the gymnastics facility where his wife worked. After earning degrees in chemistry, biology and criminal justice, Hubel found himself at a career crossroad.

“What if I continued doing this?” he thought.

Soon, he would open a workshop out of his parents’ garage. He would pursue the future he never expected.

“I actually never used any of my degrees,” Hubel says. “I went straight into building furniture and custom cabinets for a living, and I’ve been doing that ever since.”

Hubel’s furniture bears a subtle East Asian influence, with an emphasis on sleek lines and flowing limbs. That style has always been appealing to Hubel, but he struggles to understand why it sneaks into his pieces.

His process, after all, is fluid. He often revisits designs while actively crafting. It’s a push and pull to get to the final product. Before sending off a piece, he signs and dates it, marking it in black ink as an original.

Hubel is drawn to wood for a variety of reasons. He talks about its beauty. He talks about its uniqueness.

“I can cut it. I can carve it. I can burn it,” he says. “It still looks gorgeous.”

Hubel’s work has earned plenty of accolades, including first-place honors in the wood art category at the Scottsdale Arts Festival. He’s been featured in exhibitions at Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts and Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.

Yet he often struggles to see himself as an artist.

“Most people tend to group me into that category, which is fine. I’m not offended by it,” he says. “But the functionality side, from my perspective, is far more important. The art side of it is great — I love being creative and figuring out a design and the engineering behind it — but it really does have to be a functional piece.

“For me, that’s what gives it purpose.”