Description - This American Sycamore tree was approximately 35 years old, 40 ft tall, fell in Deep East Texas in 2020 near Gary, TX. It was healthy and fast growing which is indicated by the thickness of it's rings. I love this species for it's shaggy white and grey bark, giant leaves which provide great shade and protection for the ecology surround it. My grandfather had one in his yard under which several watermelons were enjoyed as a family. The tree bark has traditionally been used by Indigenous people to make little dishes for gathering and eating from.
Each tree ring print is prepared and printed by hand in a small limited edition based on the number of growth rings/years, in this case approximately 35. The wood is prepared by first sanding, torching, dampening and repeating until the growth rings are raised enough to print. Tree growth rings are made of springwood and summerwood, hence the name. Springwood is softer than the summerwood, therefore when heated the differences in density creates ridges which are printable. Fun fact, the size gaps between the rings are also a direct correlation of how much rain was present that year.
I print each piece directly from the wood slab by hand, as you will sometimes see manual hand press marks on the back of the paper and some embossing.
Note: Each print is original and unique because of the subtle differences that hand printing creates.
Each print is signed, numbered, titled and include latitude/longitude coordinates of the tree’s origin.
