Competition Entry Black Walnut Floor

I was contacted by WeirdWood Reader Gary Horvath who is owner of  'Real Antique Wood'  based in Irvington New Jersey, and invited to browse through his Facebook page, when I saw this, I was hooked.

I Don't Like Mondays by Ben Turnbull

"Guns are Forbidden Fruit"  In 2009 at west London's Eleven gallery, artist Ben Turnbull from London UK put on an exhibition of seven pieces entitled  'I Don't Like Mondays'. Controversially these were images of a variety of guns carved into old school desks.

Lesson 1, 60 x 120 cm/24 x 47 in (carved desk), 2009

Matchstick Men by Wolfgang Stiller

In 2013 German artist Wolfgang Stiller had been experimenting with art materials leftover in his studio from a movie production in china while he was residing in beijing.  This is when he began his matchstick project with moulds of Chinese faces and bamboo.

Pirolette

Family business in Colorado Springs specialise in turning the profile image of you or your loved ones into unique wooden keepsakes.

Turn Your Head is a family run business based in Colorado Springs U.S. who cleverly use the  'Face versus Vase'  illusion to create a permanent profile portrait of your loved ones.

World Tree, Fly Agaric, Getting Pissed, Flying Reindeer, Santa Claus

Although most people see Christmas as a Christian holiday, most of the symbols and icons we associate with Christmas celebrations are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions of the tribal peoples of pre-Christian northern Europe.

The World Tree

Ancient peoples, including the Lapps of modern-day Finland, and the Koyak tribes of the central Russian steppes, believed in the idea of a World Tree. The World Tree was seen as a kind of cosmic axis onto which the planes of the universe are fixed. The roots of the World Tree stretch down into the underworld, its trunk is the "middle earth" of everyday existence, and its branches reach upwards into the heavenly realm.

The sacred mushroom of these people was the red and white Amanita muscaria, also known as "fly agaric." This mushroom commonly is seen in books of fairy tales and usually is associated with magic and fairies. It contains potent hallucinogenic compounds once used by ancient peoples for insight and transcendental experiences. Most of the major elements of the modern Christmas celebration, such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees, magical reindeer and the giving of gifts, are originally based upon the traditions surrounding the harvest and consumption of this most sacred mushroom.

Amanita muscaria grows only under certain types of trees, mostly firs and evergreens. The cap of the mushroom is the fruit of the larger mycelium beneath the soil which exists in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the tree. To ancient people, this mushroom was literally "the fruit of the tree."

The Wild Horses of Newbury

During the infamous anti road building protests at Newbury, England in 1996-1997, Mark Carroll made a short film called 'The Wild Horses of Newbury'

A very moving short film of the moment when two wild horses intervene in the chopping down of two ancient oak trees to build a bypass, poetry by Mark Carroll.

'The Wild Horses of Newbury' was shot very early on a single morning in February. The whole episode only lasted a few minutes.. nothing was staged. The bypass security guards and police had circled two very old Oak trees and were preparing to chop them down, when two scruffy, seemingly wild horses appeared and began to interfere with the felling.

'Helping Hand' and the 'Wonky Conker'

On Bideford Quay, Bideford, Devon, UK there is a tree known locally as the 'Wonky Conker' and this is the story of  it's ' Helping Hand' 

Some years before the construction of Bideford Quay it was decided to chop down the mature trees on the riverbank in order to facilitate the building of the new car park. Many trees were sawn down on a Sunday before an outraged public became aware of the destruction.  One brave fellow sat by the “Wonky Conker” to save it from the chainsaws.

A few years later, Torridge District Council got in contact with local artist  John Butler explaining that the “Wonky Conker” was in need of some physical support. Mr Butler designed what he called ‘The Helping Hand’ – a metal prop covered to look like a log wrist with oak used to carve the hand & fingers.