There is something really special about Driftwood.
Maybe it’s because just holding a piece of driftwood feels silky smooth and magical in your hands. Kind of like you’re touching a real piece of history.
Nordic mythology preaches that the first man and woman (Ask and Embla) were formed by Olden with two pieces of driftwood, the Ash and Elm trees.
Driftwood, wood that has been worn by years of floating in lakes, rivers, oceans, or pretty much any type of moving water, has been cherished by many as just something cool that most anyone would like to have around.
Prices of driftwood continue to climb though out the world as demand increases, so much so that even the smallest pieces can cost over five U.S. dollars. And in some of the finer shops, sections of driftwood could cost as much as a hundred or more.
Aquarium lovers have helped drive up the prices of driftwood. But when you go out and actually find your own driftwood it can be much more personally gratifying.
Driftwood art is simply fascinating. Creators painstakingly arrange hundreds of pieces into classical forms of modern sculpture.
Whanganui, a city on the North Island of New Zealand is home to Jack Marsden Mayer, a superb driftwood artist.
In Tokeland, Washington, artist Jeffro Uitto works custom orders, commissions and personal projects. He finds most of his driftwood himself and has opened his own shop, appropriately named, “Knock on Wood”.
Winter is the best season, he says, to find driftwood on the beaches when huge storms move the wood around.
Have a look at some of his work:
Images by Jeffro Uitto
Perhaps the most famous piece of driftwood is over 450 years old and floats, even today, in Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park.
Commonly referred to as “The Old Man of the Lake” the tree has been floating upright for many generations. First discovered in 1896.
It’s believed that ancient sand dunes that run vast shorelines of the world were first formed with driftwood as a foundation.
So the next time you stroll a lonely shoreline, look down and pick up that insignificant piece of wood you’re about to stumble over, it just might be from a time when Vikings ruled the world?
And so it goes.
twistedsifter.com
wikipedia.org
google.com
Also contributed to this report.
