Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Branch • Ideas Needed

My branch series started with a photo essay of trees that have inspired me. Now I have a tree that has me stumped. It was a beautiful little beech tree on our front hill with great potential of becoming the ideal climbing tree.


It has many, many branches growing close together and close to the ground. It is a very unusual tree for such a forested site. But alias, the October snowstorm hit and this great little tree lost its entire top.


It clearly has to come down. I have been studying this tree and its numerous branches since October and decided it was perfect for a solution to my mitten dilemma. The picture I have in my mind is for the tree to be cut and trimmed so that it will run from floor to ceiling, with a multitude of short branches off it. I would then debark it, dry it and sand it smooth. Onto these branches I would hang soft baskets to hold our endless collection of mittens, gloves, hats and scarves. In my mind I see something natural, kind of funky, and functional. 

Yesterday I started to make it a reality understanding that this was going to be a long term project. My husband David helped by doing the tree work.


We studied both the bottom half and the top half and decided that the top half has the better branch arrangement. So I trimmed the branches and brought it up to the house, leaned it up against the woodshed and studied it. And I studied it......


Now I am stymied. I can't see it working. It looks like a dead tree. It doesn't seem to have enough character as a branch to make it worth the huge number of hours it will take to bring the vision to reality. I am looking for thoughts and ideas. Anyone see anything at all in this branch?

Previous Posts of Interest • The Branch Series • 2012
©2012 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

2 comments:

  1. Well, you're closer to it, of course, but from my side of the computer it looks lovely and perfect for the job! Part of what makes a project like this successful is that the tree is an unexpected element in the house and I think this will do the job beautifully. What about leaving the bark on to emphasize the juxtaposition? I don't comment often, but I really enjoy your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting and it will inspire me to explore more. We have left the tree outside our door and both David and I have grown to like it more. I think I am going to bring out some baskets and buckets to hang from the branches. Then I'll be able to get a better read on what it will look like when we actually use it!

      Delete