Plateau live oak sculpture, 21”L x 17”W x 11”H. No longer available.

I cut this unique plateau live oak burl from the side of a very large, long-dead tree standing on the south side of Highway 36 just east of Hamilton, Texas. I was particularly interested in this tree because my grandmother played under it as a young child, soon after her family moved to Hamilton in 1882. The burl was formed by reaction of the tree to the death of a large limb, which had long since rotted away. I used a small rotary tool to carve away the soft rotted material in the cracks and crevasses of the piece. I then used the tool with a variety of tips to polish the hard material beneath. I continue to be amazed by the intricate three-dimensional shapes of these large burls, reflecting both the compensatory growth of the wood around dead branches and the later effects of fungi, insect grubs, and wood ants that make their homes in the decaying body of the tree. I have not applied tung oil or another finish in order to retain the original color of the heart wood.

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