Caldwell County furniture maker enjoys a challenge, the ability to do "a lot of crazy stuff"

Eric Landrum stands out among many furniture makers in the Catawba Valley.

Landrum is the owner of Catawba Artisan, a Caldwell County-based custom furniture-making business he started after working with epoxy resin. At his business, he enjoys getting creative and experimenting when making furniture and fulfilling customer orders.

He started working with epoxy in 2009. Landrum said he worked with chemists to develop a line of epoxies that he uses and sells.

Landrum said his line of epoxies, which he sells under the name PoxyTop, is easier to use and will not turn yellow as fast as other epoxies.

Working with epoxies led him into gaining more of an interest in the furniture business. He started working with furniture in 2014.

"We got drawn into that (furniture), and then we thought, why not create our own identity for some of the cooler projects we want to work on?" Landrum said.

Catawba Artisan makes furniture for some local customers and designs furniture for out-of-state customers. Landrum said he enjoys getting creative with furniture designs and trying "off-the-wall" ideas. He uses 3-D printing to help make the designs in tables and other furniture unique.

One project Landrum is working on is a D-Day-inspired table for a golf course in Abilene, Kansas. President Dwight Eisenhower's presidential library is located in Abilene.

"A member of the 82nd Airborne reached out to us two years ago about this project," Landrum said. "I spent two years testing many different things to get the right look for what we're going after."

For the table, Landrum created a design of boats, soldiers and other details landing at Normandy Beach. He poured epoxy resin over the scene to capture it in the table.

Landrum said he was also working on creating a desk as a tribute to Captain Nemo, the fictional captain of the Nautilus in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." For the table, Landrum planned to wrap the squid's tentacles around the Nautilus and use some tentacles for the legs of the table. The squid's head will support the table at one end.

They also made a custom bar for a commercial pilot, complete with flight maps and 3-D-printed planes.

"With the tools we have and the people that we work with, we have more of a broad skill set that gives us the ability to do a lot of crazy stuff," Landrum said.

Landrum said he has two people who work with him, but he contracts with other local furniture industry professionals to fulfill orders.

They have also made custom bars for customers, like the recently opened Reverb Lounge and Mariscos El Vallartazo. Landrum said he tries to incorporate natural, artistic elements into tables and furniture when customers request special pieces.

Landrum said he strives to accommodate customer requests to perfection in every piece of furniture.

"If we can get all the elements of what a customer wants together, it makes us and them really happy," Landrum said.

Some Catawba Artisan designs can be found at the Hickory Furniture Mart.

Landrum said he hopes to continue growing his businesses and someday have a showroom in Hickory.

To learn more about Catawba Artisan, visit catawba-artisan.com. To see videos of Landrum making furniture and using epoxy, visit his YouTube page, youtube.com/@PoxyTop.

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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 5:38 AM.