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By Alaina Mencinger / Journal Staff Writer Published: Friday, September 2nd, 2022 at 3:31PM Updated: Friday, September 2nd, 2022 at 3:55PM

Woodworker Danny Hart says he has the best smelling workplace.

Since March 2022, Hart has been working alongside Albuquerque candlemaker Ashley Fathergill, owner of Upside Goods Co., in a shared studio space. The smell of fresh-cut wood and candles scented with herbs, flowers and spices fills the space at 3700 Osuna NE.

“Can’t beat the scent of candles and sawdust,” Hart said.

The studio is open for stop-and-sniff appointments and woodworking consultations. Fathergill and Hart will debut their shared retail space in the coming months.

This month, Fathergill will host her first candle making class, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 28. She plans to host classes every month from now on.

Hart got his bachelor’s in architecture but quickly became “jaded” with the industry and decided to move into carpentry. He started designing wooden jewelry after his wife’s jewelry was stolen in a break-in several years ago. Once her new Hart-designed jewelry started getting compliments, Danny Hart Design Co. was born.

“I would have never expected to have made jewelry,” Hart said. “It was terribly exciting, because it was different, because every new piece was fresh.”

Hart, a fifth-generation New Mexican, “injects” color into his work, inspired by the desert after a rainstorm.

“I think there’s an understated amount of color here in the Southwest,” Hart said. “I think people are always surprised when it’s just dry, dry, dry, brown, brown, brown, beige, beige, beige – and then it rains. And every possible color available is everywhere.”

During the pandemic, Hart started experimenting with making home goods as a Christmas present for his wife. Because people were spending so much time in the kitchen, Hart said, his wooden measuring spoons became popular.

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“It was just like this light bulb pivot moment, you know,” Hart said. “…It was just people investing in their homes, and saying, ‘I want amazing stuff to look at every day, even if it’s just a set of measuring spoons.'”

Around that same time, Hart got his first big dining table order.

Since then, he’s designed a light fixture made of wooden skis for a restaurant in Angel Fire, cocktail spoons for Los Poblanos and hot air balloon earrings for the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum.

“Because of my architecture background, like, I’m a good carpenter, but I don’t think I’m a great carpenter,” Hart said. “I’m a designer first.”

Both Hart and Fathergill have vended at markets around Albuquerque. The two artisans both bought from each other’s businesses before they met and partnered up earlier this year.

“The best part of Albuquerque is that there’s, there’s really like one degree of separation, so it’s very close-knit,” Fathergill said. “…As a business owner, it’s really fruitful.”

Fathergill isn’t new to business in Albuquerque. She owned two other companies, Mint Marketing and YogaZo, before opening Upside Goods Co. in December 2020. Fathergill describes her businesses as a “string of lights” – separate entities, joined by a common thread.

Fathergill got into candle making during the pandemic. COVID-19 dried up her marketing business; she lost 13 clients in a week.

The only thing Fathergill looked forward to was the reopening of Homegoods so she could smell her way through the candle section. One day, she decided to make her own candles.

“After a pretty low low, I decided to tinker with making candles just for my own interest and burning capabilities,” Fathergill said. “I decided to just learn what goes into making a candle and then from there my type A personality just took it over.”

Candles have since taken over her house. The name, Upside Goods Co., was inspired by finding the silver lining during her depression.

“I just kind of took my marketing background and my severe mental health like ups and downs and just mashed it together. And it truly was like finding the upside,” Fathergill said.

Part of the proceeds of Upside Goods Co. goes to funding mental health initiatives

Fathergill said it takes about three months to perfect her candles’ scents. Each scent needs to be mixed in at a different temperature, Fathergill said. She melts the coconut soy wax for her candles in a boiler – generally used for home-brewery – then measures and pours the wax into glass vessels. The cherry on top is a wooden wick.

Her favorite scent is tobacco-saffron.

“It’s the one that sells the worst online – but I sell out of it first in person,” Fathergill said.

Customers can come watch Fathergill and Hart work in their respective crafts.

“The connection is massive,” Hart said. “And you know, as you know, a lot of times when people buy products, they’re buying you just as much … When they hear your story, and they understand why you do what you do, and see what you do, they’re like, ‘oh, sign me up.'”