Chinese Leaf Carvings

Meticulously Handcrafted Chinese Leaf Carvings

What you see below are custom crafted, hand-cut illustrations on dried and treated Chinar leaves. The process involves removing the thin layers of leaf while keeping the vein structure intact.

As the name suggests, leaf carving consists of literally carving an image on to a tree leaf, specifically the leaf of the Chinar tree, a tree native to India, Pakistan and China that bears a close resemblance to the leaf on the maple tree.

"This is a relatively new art form according to Dean Prator, a man in Los Angeles who sells customized carved leaves online. And that's amazing, considering art has been around since the dawn of humanity and trees have been around even longer. "As far as I can tell, it goes back to 1994, when an artist name Huang Tai Shang created this and got in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Creating leaf art is a long and complex process. Leaves are put through a 60 step process such as, manually cutting and removing the outer surface of the leaf while leaving the leafs veins intact which add detail into the subject matter of the carving. Pressing, curing and dying are also just a few of the steps needed to prepare the leaf. 

After special processing, the leaf blade forms a natural permanent pigment, so the colour is stable, and corrosion resistant. An anti-aging treatment helps the leaves exceed the durability of thick paper. The size of these leaves vary since no two leaves are exactly the same. Each leaf is approximately 8 to 10 inches in size. The finished product is strong, durable, natural and beautiful.

Source:

http://www.leafcarvingart.com

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   :-)

Large Knobbly Display Bowl

This large display bowl has been created by laminating together four identical plywoods, a fifth blond plywood to add contrast was laminated to the inside of the base then carved around by hand in a random design to add a quirky and unique eye catching pattern. 


This is probably the most difficult piece I have had to sand so far with most of the detail being sanded by hand.
The finished result was well worth the effort though, an incredibly tactile bowl that makes you want to roll a marble around the inside like one of those children's toys !

Item No. 3121     19" diameter x 3" deep     12.5" diameter base     1.8 kg 

The base design as you will see from the pictures is not only carved into the darker timber by approximately 6mm but also raised above the base in a contrasting blond timber by approximately 6mm giving a pattern relief of 12mm between peaks and valley's. 

There is also a slight recess running around the exterior of the bowl to create a shallow carrying lip.

At over 1.5ft diameter this would make an unmissable centre piece for a larger dining table or as a display bowl in a hotel / catering environment. 

Finished with four coats of Linseed / Tung oil mix giving a subtle satin effect. This fruit bowl is food safe and extremely heat resistant.

As with all WeirdWood art pieces each item is absolutely unique with its own identifying number stamped on the reverse.

Handmade at the WeirdWood workshop in Staffordshire using only renewable energy produced 'on site'.  

This item and many other original pieces can be viewed and purchased from:   http://weirdwood.mysupadupa.com/  

Flower patterned Fruit Bowl

A good example here of how the symmetrical lines of plywood can be distorted by carving into the flat surface, this just finished fruit bowl turned out with a flower pattern by happy accident.


15" x 2.25"     1.6 kg

The eight deep lines of fluting running from the rim to the centre of the bowl has the effect of distorting the otherwise perfectly circular lines of the plywood into a flower effect. 

The exterior sides of the bowl are gently convexed down to a substantial base of 7" in diameter giving this piece great stability. 

This item and many other original pieces can be viewed and purchased from:   http://weirdwood.mysupadupa.com/ 

Square Fluted Fruit Bowl

This square bowl really catches the eye due to the subtle fluting travelling down from each corner which gets deeper as it reaches the centre of the bowl, this has the effect of distorting the otherwise symmetrical lines of the plywood as though the bowl is being 'pinched' from underneath.


Square Fluted Fruit Bowl.
Item No. 1123.    13" x 13" x 2" (330mm x 330mm)    Base: 5.5" x 5.5" (140mm x 140mm)    1.3kg

Hand Crafted by laminating together three layers of plywood, with the top layer a subtly lighter wood to form the rim.

Finished with four coats of Linseed / Tung oil mix giving a subtle satin effect. This fruit bowl is food safe and extremely heat resistant.

As with all WeirdWood art pieces each item is absolutely unique with its own identifying number stamped on the reverse.
Handmade at the WeirdWood workshop in Staffordshire using only renewable energy produced 'on site'. 

This item and many other original pieces can be viewed and purchased from:   http://weirdwood.mysupadupa.com/

WeirdWood gone squiggly

I'm really pleased with the effect achieved with this large square fruit / display bowl, with a random pattern carved into the base and gentle fluting into the corners accentuated by the shine of the deep satin lustre.


Square Squiggly Fruit Bowl 

18" x 18" x 3" (457mm x 457mm) 

Base:   8.5" x 8.5" (215mm x 215mm) 

A large display bowl with a random squiggle design carved into the bottom. 
This bowl is hand crafted using four pieces of quality plywood laminated together with layers one and four being a subtly lighter shade of timber to highlight the rim and base design. A graduated fluting effect runs from each corner down into the base where it turns into a random pattern 8mm deep. 

At 1.5ft square this would make an unmissable centre piece for a larger dining table or as a display bowl in a hotel / catering environment. 

Finished with four coats of Linseed / Tung oil mix giving a subtle satin effect. This fruit bowl is food safe and extremely heat resistant. 

As with all WeirdWood art pieces each item is absolutely unique with its own identifying number stamped on the reverse. 

Handmade at the WeirdWood workshop in Staffordshire using only renewable energy produced 'on site'. 

This item plus many more functional art inspired pieces can be viewed and purchased at:  http://weirdwood.mysupadupa.com/    :)

The Bowl of Confusion

I had real fun making this one, although it was a bit time consuming. Using two types of plywood, one a blond soft wood the other dark hard woods, this bowl has been constructed with each of the four layers alternating in style and orientation.

Layer One has been left in it's normal flat alignment as an impressive blond rim to the bowl.

Layer Two, a darker wood has been cut into strips, turned 90 degrees then re-laminated to create an 'edge on' effect.

Layer Three was achieved by cutting the ply into short blocks and re-laminating them back into a 'herring bone' pattern.

Layer Four had the plywood cut into strips then laminated back together with every other strip set on edge.

The picture below depicts well the overall effect with layer three being my personal favourite as the herring bone construction gives the illusion of the timber bending as it turns the corner of the bowl.

13" x 9" x 3.25"


Finished with four coats of linseed / tung oil mix this fruit / salad bowl is food safe and extremely heat resistant.


This item is for sale along with many other WeirdWood creations and can be found at:  http://weirdwood.mysupadupa.com/   

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  :)

Tapio Wirkkala Creation

These bowls by Tapio Wirkkala makes you think about the whole issue of what an item is worth ! Valued at  $17,000 each !!!

I suppose being a famous designer in the first place helps and they are nice bowls, but hey, they are not even particularly large pieces !!!

If you have ever visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, or the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, or if you plan to in the near future, look out for Tapio Wirkkala's creations. The Finnish artist was revered for some of the most well crafted wooden bowls created between 1951 and 1954. One such experiment with birch plywood resulted in these beautiful tailor made bowls. What makes this bowl unique is the crafting technique. Just like handloom woven fabrics, these bowls are made by setting dark and light strips of the plywood to give out a dramatic effect.

The overall effect reminds you of a wooden leaf with its veins intact. Sporting a hole at one end, this beautiful bowl was a personal gift presented by the designer Tapio Wirkkala to Edward Wormley. The bowl is 13.75inches long and 7.5inches wide. Each piece is priced at $17,000.

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 .