Cruiser
Chumono
Carving and deadwood practice
Roadside noble fir
Collected spring 2023.
Did not survive.
Needles were removed to get a look at branch structure. Plucking was tedious, so most got burned off.
Pliers were used to pinch branches and parts of the trunk so that bark could be peeled. A dremel was used to strip the rest of the tree.

The straight chop line on the trunk had to go, so I started hollowing it out. First with a drill, then the dremel. An assortment of different bits were tested out. The most efficient was a little circular saw blade.
My idea is to create a tree whose upper trunk had snapped off in the wind or had been blown off by a lightning strike. Decay/fire and weathering then started hollowing it out.
A deep crack was made at the bottom of the hollow and extends to the base of the tree. Some finer branches were proportionally too long, so they were shortened or removed.
The bottom of the tree was leveled off. Wooden supports were nailed into the base to keep it upright and provide an anchor for wiring.

The snag was wired into a pot. Substrate is pumice with lava rock. It is meant to resemble Dolomite.
The intention is to portray an old weathered bristlecone. First its trunk snapped. Then it battled to regrow a leader over and over again until eventually succumbing to the elements.
The right side experienced harsher conditions. Branches appear to recoil at the thought of growing there.
The left side of the tree was less exposed. Branches on that side were permitted by nature to grow for longer and develop finer ramification. They have not weathered as much. The top spire branch represents a final Hail Mary push to be a big tree again.
.

Roadside noble fir
Collected spring 2023.
Did not survive.

Needles were removed to get a look at branch structure. Plucking was tedious, so most got burned off.

Pliers were used to pinch branches and parts of the trunk so that bark could be peeled. A dremel was used to strip the rest of the tree.

The straight chop line on the trunk had to go, so I started hollowing it out. First with a drill, then the dremel. An assortment of different bits were tested out. The most efficient was a little circular saw blade.
My idea is to create a tree whose upper trunk had snapped off in the wind or had been blown off by a lightning strike. Decay/fire and weathering then started hollowing it out.

A deep crack was made at the bottom of the hollow and extends to the base of the tree. Some finer branches were proportionally too long, so they were shortened or removed.

The bottom of the tree was leveled off. Wooden supports were nailed into the base to keep it upright and provide an anchor for wiring.


The snag was wired into a pot. Substrate is pumice with lava rock. It is meant to resemble Dolomite.

The intention is to portray an old weathered bristlecone. First its trunk snapped. Then it battled to regrow a leader over and over again until eventually succumbing to the elements.
The right side experienced harsher conditions. Branches appear to recoil at the thought of growing there.
The left side of the tree was less exposed. Branches on that side were permitted by nature to grow for longer and develop finer ramification. They have not weathered as much. The top spire branch represents a final Hail Mary push to be a big tree again.
.

