Spalted Beech Storywood

You can read a lot into the grain of a piece of wood. Layered on year by year, we are treated to a detailed record of when branches began to grow, how the sun shone and rain fell, what hardships the tree encountered, and how long it lived.

Storywood is a series of simple forms made from characterful pieces of wood from the Using Trees collection. Each has been meticulously prepared: cut to length, handplaned and sanded to a high grit. They are objects to touch, ogle and engage with over time. Each piece comes packaged up with a short note from Zac describing some of what can be seen in its grain.

The Storywood series comes out of Zac's 'Other Wood Pieces' exhibition presented at the Cooper Union (New York).

PIECE NOTES: This piece of beech wood comes from Ontario's Haliburton Forest. Its colouring is caused by spalting, a process initiated by the presence of fungi. Caught at the right moment, it can produce striking light and dark notes in the wood without compromising its quality. A significant difference in the density of growth rings between young and later life can be seen, possibly as a result of this tree living under the shelter of mature neighbours, before finally being freed up to full sun.

RING COUNT: est. 140

DIMENSIONS: 165 x 190 x 225 mm