British Wood
Pic - Burr Chestnut; Sourced from a fallen tree in the Sherwood Forest, seasoned in Scotland, made into a table in Kent and delivered back to the Sherwood Forest to the client.
Here in the UK on our door steps we have some of the most beautiful hard woods in the world. Which is why we believe that the wood is the most important element of the piece. Epoxy is used as a tool to showcase the wood in its finest form.
Sustainability
Pic - One of Artistic Woodworks key partners 'Elephant Timber' sourcing a large oak log after having to be fell because of disease in the tree.
We use only the best UK based suppliers whom source their wood sustainably, most commonly sourcing the wood from already fell tree's or tree's that need to be fell because of disease, public danger etc.
Drying
Pic - One of Artistic Woodworks key partners 'Lanarkshire Hardwoods' air drying area, where the wood will remain for 2-3yrs before being kiln dried to perfect moisture content for furniture making.
The wood we source will have been through an extensive drying process of 2+ yrs of air drying and 6-10 weeks kiln drying. We ensure that it has reached a suitable moisture content for remaining stable at inside conditions in the UK.
The wood we work with
English Elm
Most of our English Elm will be sourced from East Sussex and the surrounding counties. Elm is a beautiful wood with swirling grain especially around the knots or where branches leave the trunk. Characterised by the stunning colours throughout, with a golden sapwood and often colours as dark as chocolate brown in the heart wood. This wood is best used for those who want an interesting flowing edge profile to the epoxy river. Often found in elm slabs is suitability to use two slabs as a book matched pair as seen above.
Burr Elm
More commonly found in Scotland, Burr Elm is a fabulous wood characterised by the rough burr edges caused by the burr growth from a deformation in the grain, commonly found in these areas of burr are 'pip' which is the clusters of tiny knots where shoots have grown out the burr, often accelerated from cattle nibbling. This natural process results in a spectacular piece of wood that will make a striking piece of furniture in your home.
English Oak
Characterised by it's hardness, strength and straighter grain with uneven textures, oak is quite a recognisable wood. Although as a species oak can come in a wide variety of colours the most likely colours we will find here in the UK are of a beige - light brown often with darker areas flowing through the grain, commonly referred to as tiger stripe, or tiger grain, this can seen in the far left corner of the table pictured.
Burr Oak
Oak renown for it's tendency to grow areas of burr can produce some fabulous slabs, especially if they are heavily burred like as seen in the picture above. Often in wood like this the sapwood dies and loses it's darker colour offering a creamy gold sapwood to contrast the darker heart wood. The clusters of 'pip' create a tighter more intense grain highlighting the stunning character in the wood, though with the pip come the tiny tunnels into the wood offering up the challenge to ensure they are all filled leaving a smooth finish.
Poplar
Poplar often known as Mappa Burl is a fabulous and striking wood perfect for river tables. The wood is incredibly light by comparison to other burred wood, yet extremely rigid. Characteristically this kind of wood has an interesting live edge, lot of knots in the grain that need to be filled, often a wide variety of colours throughout, ranging from a light cream up to a variety of browns flecked through the grain and even some green areas in the sapwood, the variation in colours creates a rippled effect that almost looks like the grain is jumping out at you.
European Walnut
European walnut contrasting to it's bigger cousin American black walnut comes from a much smaller tree. Yet the colours and the grain can be stunning, often seen with a much lighter sapwood grading up to a deep brown heart wood. The live edge is usually a lot straighter than other woods, so is suitable if you wanted to leave the outer edge of the table natural.
Yew
Yew is a very recognisable wood with it's striking orange colour, often purple flecks in the grain and commonly with a completely white sapwood this is certainly a wood that stands out. Ideal to be paired with a darker epoxy or a contrasting colour like a bright blue your table will certainly stand out in whatever room you put it in.
Sycamore
The sapwood and heartwood in Sycamore are almost indistinguishable meaning the grain will follow right to the rivers edge. Sycamore will mostly be a creamy golden colour with variations of colours in the grain and lots of small areas of knots causing the grain to ripple, this can often cause the optical illusion that the grain is jumping out of the wood. In certain areas a darker chocolate brown colour can be found adding a further dimension to the character in the wood.
Olive Ash
Ash is commonly a much lighter wood, olive ash is referred to as so because in some ash tree's a darker heartwood forms that resembles the wood from an olive tree. Although a much more classical straighter grain the contrast between the lighter and darker wood creates something quite beautiful along with the variations in colour and the ripple in the heartwood.
Horse Chestnut
Often mistaken for elm because of the similarities in the swirling grain and the similar edge profile Horse Chestnut differs with slightly more muted colours, often with some greys and tan colours and a little less of a contrast from sapwood to heartwood. The horse chestnut we use will be mostly from East Sussex and the surrounding counties, good slabs are not as readily available as elm and will be snapped up quick.