Spirit Nests - Jayson Fann

Have you ever wanted to experience the life of a baby bird? How about curling up in a cosy nest perched high in the air? California-based artist Jayson Fann is giving humans that chance, building gigantic nests out of locally harvested tree branches.

The Big Sur Spirit Garden, founded by Jayson Fann, is an International Arts and Cultural Centre located in the beautiful Big Sur valley between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. 

The nests are made from tree branches that are harvested from local forests. Jayson does this with great respect and care for the trees choosing the branches and carefully cutting them so that the tree is not damaged. He uses mostly Eucalyptus wood, a non-native tree which can often be invasive and crowd out native plants The best branches he gathers from the top of the tree as they are more mature, strong, and have unique spiralling shapes sculpted by wind and time.

After sorting his cuttings by size, he then assembles them in a spiral pattern using the natural flexibility of the wood to lock together the pieces like a basket. He also uses hidden screws for extra strength. Once the nest has reached a certain size, he transports it to its final location, sometimes employing trucks and cranes for his larger pieces. Once on location, he does the final assembly, including weaving it onto a robust base.

This nest required a large quantity of wood and a lot of weaving. It's extremely strong as a result of using thicker branches. You can rent out this nest by the night at the Treebones resort in Big Sur,California.

Source:    http://bigsurspiritgarden.com/Spirit_Garden_/Big_Sur_Spirit_garden.html ht:bigsurspiritg

6,000 Year Old Oak Carving

A 6,000-year-old oak timber carved with a concentric oval pattern and zig-zag lines, recently discovered in the Rhondda Valley, Mid Wales, is thought to be among the oldest decorative wood carvings known from Europe.

Found by Heritage Recording Services Wales during the construction of a wind farm near Maerdy, the 1.7m long timber had been preserved in a waterlogged peat deposit, together with 11 other unmarked pieces of wood.

With one end apparently deliberately rounded and the other tapering slightly, the timber has been interpreted as a post, possibly marking a locally significant site or a tribal boundary, or representing a votive offering. Radiocarbon dating has placed it in c.4270-4000 BC, in the late Mesolithic or early Neolithic period.

‘Most finds from this period consist of stone tools, so to have a decorative carving, on wood no less, is very exciting,’ said lead archaeologist Richard Scott Jones. ‘We all put bets on its age, and people suggested Dark Age, Iron Age – but no one imagined it would come back as Mesolithic. We have since shown it to a number of Neolithic and Mesolithic experts, and they say it is a unique discovery.’

He added: ‘This period marks the transition between mobile hunter-gatherer groups and sedentary settlements. The timber was found by a stream edge on a small flat plateau, and if it is a post, it was probably marking something; maybe a sacred site, or a pool, or a nearby hunting ground – there is an ancient lake bed, which could have attracted animals, just a stone’s throw away – or some kind of boundary.’

Similar abstract patterns are known from Neolithic pottery, and from standing stones such as those at the Gavrinis passage grave in Brittany, or, closer to home, at Barclodiad y Gawres, Anglesey, Richard said.

Due to the rarity of such decorations surviving on ancient timbers, however, the team sent the oak timber to experts from the University of Wales Trinity St David, and Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, to confirm that the markings were manmade.

‘We wondered if the lines could have been created by the larvae of oak bark beetles, but after consultation with palaeoentomologists, we are happy that these are not burrowing channels,’ said Richard.

He added: ‘As the timber is about 100 years older than the deposit in which it was found, this may suggest that the oak timber had been brought to the spot deliberately, and perhaps carved on site. If so, then that is a lot of energy to expend, which may indicate that the markings have a special purpose, rather than casual whittling.’

The oak timber is currently undergoing conservation with York Archaeological Trust, where it is expected to remain until 2014.

Source:  http://www.archaeology.co.uk

Shed of the Year 2013

Fighting fierce competition from over 1,900 creative garden dens, the Boat Roofed shed, owned by Sheddie Alex Holland from Machynlleth in mid Wales, has been crowned the winner of the 2013 Shed of the Year competition sponsored by Cuprinol.

Alex Holland comments: “I am absolutely delighted to have won the 2013 Shed of the Year competition sponsored by Cuprinol. The standard and creativity shown by the other entrants has been incredible so I am genuinely surprised to have reached the top spot! With the £1,000 prize from the sponsors Cuprinol I intend to buy a second hand 400w 12v wind turbine to augment the solar panel to give me enough electricity to make ice in the fridge for gin and tonics, and to ensure the cider and beers are always chilled. I’ll then be able to have a proper party to celebrate with those who have supported me in getting so far.”

The 14ft (4m) by 7ft (2m) structure is already solar powered with a gas cooker, fridge, sink and sound system used for parties. He charted the development of his project on Facebook

Mr Holland acquired the boat from his work at a boatyard and built the shed out of a need for more space.He has said it is full of "nautical nonsense befitting a boat turned upside down" in the Cambrian Mountains.

This year’s winner was selected by a high profile judging panel including Channel 4 property presenter Sarah Beeny, British designer, writer and television presenter Kevin McCloud, Shed of the Year founder Uncle Wilco and 2012 winner John Plumridge.

Environmentally Friendly Solstice Tree

This year we are having a Solstice Tree in order to save a tree !!!

I know that sounds like a bit of a contradiction but it isn't. This festive beauty is a heavy section of English Ivy I chopped away from a Sycamore tree on the banks of the Shropshire Union canal. The stuff is rampant in the area and has already felled many trees through strangulation. Blasted clean with a high powered pressure washer then interwoven with a string of warm white LED bulbs it looks far more stunning than these pictures can depict.

The way ivy climbs a tree has always fascinated me, the patterns formed conjures up images of an alien in the film 'Alien' clamped to Sigourney Weavers face.

So perhaps we could start a trend here and save many trees in the process !   :-)

Happy Solstice one and all   :-)

Driftwood Delirium

There is something truly magical about driftwood as a material, totally unique and crafted by nature, the action of time, tide, sun and wind doing the work equivalent to many man hours of labour with sandpaper and tools which mother nature considerately delivers to your local beach as an art form in itself.

What happens now to this amazing material leaves many a coastal artist imbued in a fresh deluge of creative juices upon each new find.

Boys Day Out

The life sized Horses from sculptor Heather Jansch.

Interesting sculpture at Saint-Anne-des Monts Driftwood Festival Quebec

There is so much driftwood at Saint-Anne-des Monts that they have a driftwood festival every year where many carved pieces can be found around the town.

Three Men

Piano 2

Rikki Carette is a sculptor who gathers his materials from the Devon & Cornwall coast England. This Eco minded fellow cleverly combines two businesses, operating as Cleancoast Services keeping our shore lines tidy and using much of the collected wood for his quirky and comical sculptures available at Cleancoast Sculptures.

Surfer

Lobster

Also in England is Julia Horberry from Cornwall operating as Julia's Driftwood Furniture, her style of art being functional, she works from her workshop perched at the top of her garden and describes herself as 'one very happy girl'   :)

Driftwood Candle Holder

Driftwood Chair

Driftwood Mirror

Paul A. Baliker from Palm Coast Florida is a very talented sculptor sometimes working on a huge scale who endeavours to capture a moment in wood that expresses potential for a symbiotic relationship with nature.

A Matter of Time

Oceans 11th Hour

Just a tiny selection of the amazing art out there using driftwood, so next time you are walking along the beach and spot some driftwood let your imagination run wild and think of the potential in this 'junk of the ocean'   :)

Stuff I Like ~~~ Chairs

Time for another post in the 'Stuff I Like' series, this one dedicated to chairs which I find Weird enough and wonderful enough to pique my interest and hopefully yours. :)

I just have to start with these amazing storytelling chairs from Free Range Designs. I have admired this company for a long time for their sustainable approach to woodworking, like myself, working 'off grid' and using reclaimed materials.

freerangedesigns.co.uk

This eco-friendly yet modern lounger from Istanbul based Gursan Ergil Design Studio I love for the ergonomic design I would love to try it out for comfort. I'm not so sure about the contemporary looking legs though !

http://www.gursanergil.com/

Here's a good use of recycled cardboard, would work with plywood as well of course and very novel, I'm just wondering how many other letters of the alphabet this would work with !

The a-chair was realised at the Royal College of Art. Inspired by a Alvar Aalto’s ply-wood furniture experiments, Frank Gehry’s cardboard furniture, typographic forms and sustainable materials. The a-chair was hand crafted from over 250 sheets of recycled cardboard and a lot of love.

I couldn't finish this post without including a plywood chair, a material I am particularly fond of working with. The chunkiness and curving lines of this stack laminated chair makes it look as though it has been carved from one solid block. Created by Brazil based designer Julia Krantz.

http://www.juliakrantz.com.br

Just a small selection of the many wacky bottom holders out there, I would have loved to list them all  :)

Stuff I Like ~~~ Beds

Just thought I would post a few pictures of other peoples Eco-Friendly Weird Wooden stuff I like. This is the sort of thing that inspires me in my own work. This post I shall dedicate to beds.

These amazing beds are made from juniper a wood I have never had the chance to use myself but the two tone colouring and twisted nature of the stuff I find fascinating, these three pics are just a taster of the amazing pieces which can be found at:

http://www.woodlandcreekfurniture.com

Juniper Bed with Burl Redwood Slabs

These three pictures are beds made by Paul from Free Range Designs, a designer and woodworker living in Wales, making beautiful original furniture from eco-friendly materials while spreading a positive environmental message.

http://www.freerangedesigns.co.uk/

This clever four poster utilizes different thickness's of timber to very good effect, one of the many unique ideas found at:

http://www.captivatist.com

Two more interesting numbers using unconventional wood with a more conventional style of construction to be found at:

http://archdeco.net/decorate/bedroom/how-to-make-amazing-log-beds/

I hope you enjoyed my selection, just some of the many Weird beds I have found. With one third of our lives spent in bed I think it's only right that we should choose an aesthetically pleasing bed to sleep in .