One Ash project

October 12, 2020

ONE ASH

‘One Ash’ is a ‘6 Trees & 6 Flowers’ project with a focus on sustainable forestry.

In three parts – meet the tree, be there for its felling, follow the tree’s gift of timber as it passes into the hands of the people who will process it – ‘One Ash’ will give 130 pupils and students from 4 Andover schools a greater understanding of the role of trees in our lives. We hope it will inspire them to see trees in a new light and bring a greater connection to this precious natural resource.

Through meetings with craftsmen, artists and wood processors and, where feasible, visits to workshops, the young people involved will be introduced to the world of wood and the people who work it. They will have the chance to follow the journey of the timber from one felled ash and chart the many forms that we hope it will take over the next two and a half years.

Schools involved:

Andover C of E Primary

Appleshaw St Peters C of E Primary

Vernham Dean Gillums C of E Primary

Harrow Way Community

I am delighted to be part of this project and have been given 3 rounds from the Ash Tree. The large round is from near the base and I am looking forward to taming and printing this piece of wood. Also 2 smaller but perfectly formed rounds one of which I have now worked on and printed.

Now that I have the rounds and can see their potential, I will return one of the smaller rounds to the project schools once I have made it into a printable surface. I will create a printing package which will include ink, roller, paper, bone folder so that the children will be able to create quality prints for themselves. I will create an instruction leaflet and also film the process of printing so that the teachers know exactly how to do it.

Here is the process of sanding, burning, wire brushing, and shellacking the surface of the wood which makes it into a relief printable surface.

I use a hand held blow torch which lightly burns the surface of the wood burning away softer wood and creating a raised surface.

The next step is to progressively wire brush all of the burned wood away so none of the precious detail is obscured.

Once it is as clean as possible I seal the surface with shellac. I use traditional linseed oil printing inks and clean off from the wood with turps so a sealed surface is a good plan.

Now the wood is ready to ink which is applied with a quality roller.

I use heritage rag paper and apply pressure with a bone folder which is a hand held bookbinders tool. With a small tool and great paper I can apply enough pressure to create a finely detailed print.