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Sometimes I acquire logs that were taken down because of illness, and in one case I got 200 logs from a development in Wheaton, MD, all of which would have been chipped if I had not taken them. Virtually all of my lumber is from Montgomery County, Md.
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Second, I honor the trees by having them cut through and through. This leaves the natural bark skin of the tree on the edge of each board, rather than 'straightening' the edge. I use these natural edges in my designs. Since I have all of the boards from each log, I often use bookmatched parts in a furniture piece.
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I leave the wood intact as much as possible for as long as possible, because every piece of wood is filled with beauty and history. A black streak in the wood could indicate the presence of iron from an imbedded barbed wire fence. Or a wound from a broken branch may have gradually grown over and be hidden within the log. These 'pages' of the 'tree-story' can be revealed by the saw, and then high-lighted in the design process, allowing the wood to tell it's own story.
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I honor my clients by going through an extensive design process with them, finding their exact needs and designing the piece to meet them. The pieces are partly designed on paper, but the design grows and changes as I begin working with a specific piece of wood. I allow and trust the creativity that emerges from this co-creative process.
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