Nature always amazes us. Wood is a natural material of different shapes, structures, colours and scents ... Its variety and mysticism has drawn me to start making hand-crafted items.
It all started with Peter Wohlleben's book The Hidden Life of Trees, which opened my mind to the forest. Crooked, gnarled trees that I had previously often judged as less valuable, have taken on a new dimension. Unique growth forms and structural damage that have occurred during growth, give the wood a special magic touch and beauty. Wood actually records the life story of trees. My interest and knowledge grows just from observing wood and I always learn something new. With better knowledge, my attitude and appreciation towards this material also increases. I try to connect and make friends with the trees. I noticed, that trees have many qualities which would be great to understand. Have you ever spotted, walking through the woods, a stump of fir, completely decayed inside, while the outer layers are still beautifully preserved? All gnarled but still alive. Obviously this tree was cut down years ago. How did these residues survived so long without its needles and thus photosynthesis? I found the answer to that question in the above mentioned book. Mutual assistance, kind of symbiosis, is the rule in the woods. Forest is a kind of a super organism. Trees tend more likely to grow in communities, because they are able to withstand natural phenomena such as droughts, winds, pests more easily. Only growing together as forests, they can survive and reach an old age.
But then, many trees also thrive in a very unpleasant environment, high in the mountains, defying harsh conditions. Neither age, nor harsh weather can wither these solitary defiers. All curved and twisted growing slowly but persistently. In fact, their stories serve as an example of perseverance. I admire these loners, their life force and their stories. They would tell us a lot if we could only understand them. These are pieces of wood that I cherish and love to handcraft the most because this way the tree tells me its story and, as a craftsman, I do my best to pass it further as a unique creation.
It is a pleasure to show the snippets of life of individual trees through product stories. Sincere thanks to my father, a dedicated forester, for his enormous knowledge of trees. I would like to be a tree, a single letter in a piece of their poetry.