Touched by Lightning, Reclaimed Wood Continues to Grow

“The wood wants to grow.  Always.”

With this powerful statement by artisan Chris Beidel of Pernt, THIS Visits begins a video interview with the CustomMade artisan about his journey from architecture to furniture design.  In a recent blog post on live edge design, we’ve featured this cherry slab bench by Chris, made from a tree cut down by lightning.

Cherry Slab Bench by Pernt at CustomMade.com

Artists grow, just like trees. To do this, artists should follow their passions and essential natures.  The life force of wood is most apparent when it’s part of a tree, but its life and essential character doesn’t have to end when the tree is felled.  Well-built custom furniture is a transformation that allows the wood to continue to live, grow, and follow its nature.  That transformation is most apparent when artisans use reclaimed wood in projects that highlight the past life of the material while giving it a new purpose.

If you’ve seen the film, The Natural, you may remember the origin of the baseball bat, “Wonderboy.”  The scenes of the tree struck by lightning and the creation of the bat from its wood recall epics and myths of legendary heroes and swords.  The raw power of lightning seems transferred to the object it strikes, and a tree struck by lightning, especially one close to your home on your property, appears to have been selected and cut by the elemental hand of nature itself.

Would you have such a tree carried off as trash or would you embrace the opportunity to bring new life to the tree through custom furniture with some mystique?  Watch this video of Mitchell Dillman of Colorado Rock-n-Logs, Inc., creating custom log art furniture from a lightning strike log taken from a customer’s own yard.

The knotholes and lightning cracks in the wood for this black walnut writing desk by Ober Woodworking were filled with a colored epoxy “which when backlit give the impression of a fiery red lake on the surface of the desk.”

Black Walnut Writing Desk by Ober Woodworking at CustomMade.com

The blackened interior of this oak burl mirror by Rustic Wood Creations, and the burl itself, was likely caused by a lightning strike.

Naturally Burnt Oak Burl Mirror by Rustic Wood Creations at CustomMade.com

This walnut slab desk with shelving and drawers by GREENWOOD has roots in both the sky and the water.  The live edge walnut used for the desktop came from a tree struck by lightning at a local farm.  The maple shelving and drawers came from logs rescued from the bottom of Georgian Bay.  The steel legs add an industrial element to the piece and a contrast to the organic media.

Walnut Slab Desk with Shelving and Drawers by GREENWOOD at CustomMade.com

Could you just discard a tree that’s been a partner to a 150-year old home?  When the time came to cut down an old pine tree on a family’s property, they had Doucette and Wolfe Furniture Makers create three four-drawer dressers from the wood for their children.  Artisans Matthew Wolfe and Moriah Doucette write: “The pine has a very distinct look, believed to be from a lightning strike on the tree years earlier. The handmade dressers fit in perfectly with their 150-year old farmhouse.”  As an additional personal element, each dresser features a cherry inlay of an animal that belongs to the family: a water buffalo (!), a German shorthair pointer, and a donkey.

Kids' Pine Dressers by Doucette and Wolfe Furniture Makers at CustomMade.com

Furniture made from custom barnwood and other reclaimed woods will add a unique dimension to your home.  Rescuing and using lightning strike logs from your own yard will preserve the unique history of your house and your local environment.  Let part of your past continue to grow.  Find a CustomMade artisan near you and discuss using your lighting felled trees in your next custom furniture project.