Pendle Hill has a rare opportunity for people who like to create with wood. If you’ve spent time at Pendle Hill, it’s likely that you know our grand American beech tree. “Mama beech” has stood for more than 14 generations – over 300 years. This venerable tree is still healthy and strong but was affected by storms late last year, losing a few large limbs.

In keeping with Pendle Hill’s love of re-use and making art inspired by nature, Grounds Manager Lloyd Guindon put together work crews to cut the limbs into lumber and ready them for creative use. We now invite artisans to turn these fallen beauties from our campus into furniture or art.

In addition to the beech, which has exquisite figuring, there’s also wood from a spectacular Kentucky Coffee tree as well as some specially selected walnut and cherry.

An invitation:

Volunteer woodworker Wright Horne describes the project:  “A group of us, led by Lloyd Guindon, have set ourselves the goal of making the best possible use of this lumber by using as much of it as we can to make wooden goods that could be sold to benefit Pendle Hill.” Hans Francke, who regularly leads woodworking sessions at Pendle Hill, adds, “We visualize wood art projects made from these limbs by local artists and crafts people to celebrate our values and sustainability.” Pendle Hill alum Samantha Smith (below), who worked with wood while she was a Pendle Hill resident student, is also part of the planning group.

The plan is to exhibit these wood art projects sometime in 2015 and auction them to raise funds for Pendle Hill. Are you interested in creating a unique piece from some special wood to benefit Pendle Hill? Wood art projects may include tables, chests, and other furniture, and both functional and decorative objects are welcome.

Please contact Lloyd Guindon at lguindon@pendlehill.org for further information and to learn how to obtain lumber for a project. Help us celebrate sustainability and honor the legacy of Pendle Hill’s remarkable trees.