BELFAST — If you’re looking for a piece of beautiful wood product crafted in Maine, look no further than Out of the Woods, a retail store born from a desire to help members of the Maine Wood Products Association sell their products.

The selection in the store varies widely, from carefully crafted furniture to character ornaments fashioned from lobster claws. The store only has one set criteria for products: They must be made in Maine, according to manager Colleen Marsh.

The store, which opened in 2002 at a Front Street location, moved to its current Main Street address due to both size and location.

Owner, Bob MacGregor was the executive director of the Maine Wood Products Association and thought opening a store to exclusively sell Maine-made wood products would be a great way to help members.

“It didn’t take long for us to realize that the store would require more diversity,” said Marsh.

“What we discovered is that wood by itself isn’t very eye-catching,” she said. “We knew we needed more variety, which is when we chose to have [the business be] made in Maine.

The shop is bursting with unique and eye-catching pieces, many brought to the store by the artists.

“Now that people know we’re here artists will come by to see if we think their product will fit in [at the store],” said Marsh.

They also travel to the New England Gift Show every March to see if any new wares catch their eyes.

Finding items for the store is actually one of the hardest things about running it, according to Marsh.

“Sometimes the stuff I like sits on the shelves and the stuff I dislike sells fast, so I know I can’t go on my tastes alone,” she said.

Marsh’s favorite part of the business is talking to the artists about their lives and the items they bring in.

Dan Maxham, whose wife Janice Maxham owns Sugarwood Gallery, an art and furniture store in Farmington, just happened to be dropping off some new furniture to Out of the Woods during this interview. Maxham has owned W.A. Mitchell, Inc., which he describes as “mostly an outlet,” for Maine made furniture for 13 years. Out of the Woods carries a catalog of furniture offered by Maxham’s company.

“I’ve been [bringing furniture to Out of the Woods] since around 2002,” Maxham said.

Marsh, who enjoys talking to artists, said she’s rarely disappointed and was hard pressed to come up with a single answer when asked if there were any especially interesting “characters” she works with, but owner Bob MacGregor had a ready explanation: “They’re all interesting characters,” he called from a backroom, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Out of the Woods itself is bursting with character.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com