For each estate I visit around the country I am carving a ceremonial vessel, spoon-ish in nature.
The ash wood from the Howard Castle tree has a strongly discoloured heartwood. It is not spalting exactly, as large areas of heartwood is stained very dark by disease:
Splating occurs when a fungus penetrates and spreads through wood, causing discolouration in distinctive patterns:
The dark thin line is where the protective chemical barrier the fungus puts up meets the tree's chemical defences: tannins. Tannis are acids produced by plants to defend themselves from infection. Dark discolouration in wood (and the brown in your cup of tea) is often caused by high concentrations of tannic acids produced when the tree is under attack.
When we drink a cup of tea these acids act as antioxidants in our bodies - helping protect against cancers through anti-carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic properties.
My ash tree seems to be producing massive quantities of tannis to try to defend itself - likely a futile effort, as 80% of infected trees will die.
The ceremonial spoon that I carve from this wood will be beautifully coloured and tell the story of a battle between tree and fungus.
I wonder who will find the ceremony that will fit the spoon. Or what ceremony the spoon will inspire.
Once I have taken away all the wood that is not-spoon, what remains must be spoon-ish.
Not spoon, but beautiful:
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