WANAKA / NEW ZEALAND
Making your way from the West coast of the South island is an incredible drive, one of the most iconic roads takes you through the Haast pass, this pass splits between Mt. Aoraki and Mt. Tititea. The mountain ranges are breathtaking, every turn leads you to another spectacular setting.
A few years back while I was travelling I came across a tree that had fallen and hoped it was still there. I searched near by woods to see what I could find and explored new areas that I have not been before.
To my relief and joy the fallen tree was still there, although she had reduced in size with locals cutting fire wood from her from previous seasons.
I wasted no time and pulled all my tools out and got to work.
My saw was no match for the stump, shorter in length and with several knots of hard wood pushing through made the next few hours a give and take scenario. I had to learn to be patient and work with the tree, not to force my way through but to be guided along her subtle differences.
Cutting from one side and switching back and forth is less than desired, trying to get a smooth clean cut became impossible. the end result looked like a warped vinyl record, I spend the rest of the afternoon into the evening cutting back and trying to create a somewhat flat surface.
I have not felt more proud pulling this print, every step and every stump is a lesson, on refinement, on patience and on understanding my limits. While I was planing on my hands and knees a local pulled over and asked me what I was doing, I explained and showed some of my previous work. He asked me if I would like to know a bit about the history regarding this tree in particular, I replied with “of course”.
He proceeded to explain that a few years ago there was a huge storm that passed the area ravaging the township and surrounding areas, a local teacher was driving home and right before him this tree came crashing down, his car ran straight into the tree flipping his car sending him into the ditch on the side of the road.
He narrowly avoided death and came away with only broken bones. The light was leaving with every pressing, gradually getting darker and darker, pulling the last print around 5:30 pm. I packed the car and headed back to Wanaka to clean and pack the car once more.
This work relates back to our interwoven relationships we all have with trees, some positive, some negative, they are apart of our lives, we all have a childhood moment where we connect with trees, this connection to nature is vital for our health and mindset.
This work was created without the outer bark, leaving a smooth clean edge, I love the strength in the contours of this trees life.
