Wooplaw
Trees, for Tim, were not just material. They were collaborators, markers of time, and moral reference points.
Rejecting the conventions of his time, Stead made furniture that was at once sculptural, functional and deeply rooted in native wood. He championed woods others overlooked, and his work ranges from beautifully crafted chairs and interiors to public commissions such as the furniture for Café Gandolfi in Glasgow and the Millennium Clock in Edinburgh.
Having discovered the wonderful, yet less obviously available, resource of home grown timber, Tim was aware that he needed to replenish the supply of woodland for future generations.
LOREM IPSUM DOLOR
Axes for trees
From January 9th 1986 I have been making one wooden axe head for each day of the year. Each one is made from a native homegrown wood, signed and dated. The money exchanged for these wooden axes will be used to plant broad leafed trees. This will be done in several ways-the propagation of seeds to distribute, finding local areas where trees could be planted through farms and local authorities, and to buy land and to begin to create a forest.
The axe head should be seen as a symbol rather than an ornament, whose beginning is ancient and is found in every culture. It lacks the speed and noise of the chainsaw, but the beauty of its shape combines weight and cutting edge with rhythm and balance.
I derive great pleasure from the wood I use. It is a wonderful and mysterious material to work with. I feel that I should at least put back what I have used as a debt to the people long dead who planted or allowed to grow the trees which I now use.
Our debt to trees goes back to the beginning of time and our futures are linked to the end of time.
Tim Stead
Through the Axes for Trees project, Tim met like-minded people who believed in establishing community owned woodlands….
LOREM IPSUM DOLOR
A woodland for a community
Wooplaw Woods was purchased by and for the community in 1988 and has been managed and enjoyed by members of the public ever since.
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