Grünholzgestaltung

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GREENWOODWORK
Trees are the largest and oldest living beings with which we share the planet. As well as oxygen, they give us wood, which, when fresh and green, can easily be worked with simple traditional hand tools.
The techniques of working wood when green are older than those of the cabinet maker and other woodworkers. They are more direct and make use of the fact that wood is a living material. Although these techniques were in common use a hundred years or so ago, they have almost completely died out due to the increasing mechanisation of wood working.
Green woodwork has enjoyed a big revival in England recently and is now becoming more popular here in Germany.
For me, working wood green means that rather than buying some anonymous material in a shop and using powerful machines to force it into whatever design I have already decided upon I can find my own material locally and discover what best to make out of it with my own strength and simple hand tools.
I work with all the local hardwoods. I fell part of it myself but mostly use trunks which would otherwise end up as firewood. In contrast to other types of woodworker I often use sapwood and branches. Almost always, the first step is to split the material along the grain.
For me, this first step, splitting the wood with froe and wedges gives me a sense of the particular piece of wood and the tree from which it came. The annual rings and the wood fibres tell me a bit about the history of the wood and help me to realise what might lie within the piece.
I continue by shaving the piece with different edge tools and so my work is like a continuing conversation with my material. Whether the end product is decorative or functional it is always an individual piece which retains part of the spirit of the original tree.
I can develop and make individual furniture and designs for large and small indoor or outdoor spaces, so if you would like to commission a particular piece, please get in touch with me.
GEHÖLZ UND GESTALT Atelier für Grünholzgestaltung Michail Schütte Nieperfitz 7 21369 Nahrendorf Ph 05855/978499 email: gruenholz@gruenholz.info