It usually takes just a shift of orientation, or your usual route to work or the store, to work some living trees into your day and heart. We like to keep in mind Yoko Ono’s instruction from her book Acorn:

Watch a hundred-year-old tree breathe.
Thank the tree in your mind for showing us how to grow and stay.

We love bringing trees INTO our home when possible.

You don’t have to be a fine craftsman to transform found tree parts into objects of wonder and illumination.

British designer and sculptor Max Lamb Max Lamb agrees. He created a powerful collection of 131 tree parts hewn from an 187-year-old ailing ash tree that was on his grandfather’s farm. Lamb cut, dried, sanded and oiled the parts, which are all beautiful and highly evocative.

The idea is to bring a little piece of this nature into the home, and leave as much to the voice of the material as possible.

Many of Lamb’s tree parts are utilitarian and can be used as…

stools/chairs…

 

…displays…

…tables…

…and of course, sculptures unto themselves…

…Each piece reveals its history in its rings.

We are always on the lookout for tree parts we can enjoy around the house. Here are some that have found their way in and bring pleasure daily.

 

Tree study via Fast Company; Max Lamb Installation via Dezeen; photos by Angus Mil courtesy of Gallery FUMI.