Under the sign of a tree

Forms of nature

During such a dry summer as it is this year, one can hardly find any mushroom in the forest, but it’s high time to start looking for the rarities of different type - crooked branches, roots or excrescences of trees. You can sometimes find them on birch trees, pine trees or on some other kinds of trees. They are usually caused by some viruses. They grow fast and in no time the tree is not suitable neither for making boards nor as a building material. But a crooked trunk can decorate a shelter and the furniture made of such crooked trunks are pleasant to look at and to sit on. The wood excrescence is a wonderful material for creative woodcarving. The bowls, dishes, masks made from such materials or even furniture are attractive foe their unusual forms. When the inside of such a piece of wood is thoroughly polished the pattern of it is similar to some kind of, a cut into halves, mineral.

The artists were influenced by the sculptors Sergej Konenkov and Stepan Erzia. The sculptures made of stumps and excrescences perfectly fit the line of artist hand. The chisel only helps to see what was hidden in a strange tree trunk. In Lithuania such sculptures were created by Vladas Zuklys, Algimantas Sakalauskas and others. In Varena, impressive chairs and sculptures are done by Vytautas Baublys and a big collection of wooden masks done by Vincas Averka is kept at Romas Norkunas house. Unique things of wood are turned by Vytautas Baranauskas. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that such things are made of wood found in Varena region.

To use strange wood found in the forest is not very typical of Lithuanian folk art but ancient crooked sticks show that everything that looked weird was liked. That’s why even now it’s interesting to keep in hands a thing found in the forest and finished at home. It is unique: started by nature and finished by man. A man from Vilnius bought a wooden mask as a present to his friend and he said: “I have been looking for a present to a man who has got everything. But this thing is unique, only he will be the owner of it”.

In woodcarving club “Kadagys”, children also learn to carve from such stumps. It’s not easy as the wood is hard and it takes a lot of time to polish it afterwards. Good tools, skills are needed as well as ability to see what is hidden in such piece of wood. Good at it are Sigitas Markevicius and Donatas Juskevicius. For the annual Mushroom festival children made an artistic collection of bowls, spoons and masks.

Everybody who has preserved from the childhood the ability to see strange faces in the clouds in the sky is welcome to visit exposition of “Kadagys” in Mushroom festival. Strange forms expressed in the wood will attract their notice and maybe encourage to try to do such things themselves.