Birch bark was used for day to day living wherever it grew in the world. In North America one of its simplest forms was a cone used for storing maple sugar. It was folded into baskets that were stitched together with root or inner tree bark. Some of these baskets were highly decorated with etching or with dyed porcupine quills. These baskets were used for storing food and other goods for day to day living. The bark was also used for covering houses or wigwams and of course in one of its most complex forms the canoe. In Scandinavian and Russian areas it was formed into oval boxed that were sometimes decorated with etching and stamped like leather. It was used for layered knife handles and used to make tar to preserve wood. It was also cut into strips and woven into many items such as baskets and backpacks and even shoes. Its uses are too many to list here but you can see by just a few examples that it was a very important resource. There are many stories relating to the tree its origins world wide.
Inspired by aboriginal uses of birch bark I create many of these ancient items. From North America, particularly around the great lakes region, where we happen to live, I make folded baskets that are sewn with split root. The rims of these baskets are mixed hardwood and are lashed with root or black ash splint. I sometimes create baskets that are decorated with etched “winter bark”. Winter bark is gathered at a specific time of the year and unlike “summer bark” which is harvested in the peak growing time, late June early July; it has a thin layer that turns a bark brown or rust color that can be scraped off in patterns. This reveals the yellow summer bark underneath and creates a contrast for the design.
Following my own Swedish and Norwegian heritage I also create boxes from birch bark that have a very clever locking notch(es) which joins one piece of bark in an interesting way…and allows for the box to be stretched slightly larger, using a jig and wedges. Once stretched, the box is fitted with the base which is then pegged into place. It is them fitted with a lid. These are decorated with stamped patterns and painted with natural Earth pigment paint or left in their natural state.
The wooden boxes I make are inspired by Scandinavian and Sámi designs. A thin veneer of wood is bent into an oval shape and sewn with root. A lid attached in a very interesting was that allows the lid to “snap” into place. An alterative method is to form another wooden stave and attach a lid to that with wooden pegs. This then slides onto the lower box. These do not have any glue or nails in them. They are held together with root and wooden pegs.
Please look at our photo galley for more pictures.