How a deadly tree disease is inspiring artists

But a deadly fungal disease sweeping across the nation means the species is on borrowed time: tens of millions are set to be lost, creating gaps in the landscape where much-loved trees once thrived.

As the four Stirlingshire trees crashed to the ground, their demise would not only represent the crisis facing Scotland’s ash trees, it would also herald the beginning of a journey intended to spark fresh appreciation for the species.

The trees felled at Killearn Farm in Stirlingshire went on to be seasoned at a Dunfermline wood yard before lengths of timber were distributed around the country to the workshops of 20 specially selected artists and makers.

In their hands, wood which was once dying is being reborn as traditional chairs, handcrafted cabinets and tables, mesmerising sculptures, a handmade kayak and even a guitar made of ash and concrete.

Morayshire based maker and sculptor Duke Christie holds one of his creations (Image: Jim Dunn)

Their labour of love is part of a major project which aims to highlight the tragedy of ash dieback, a disease which threatens to wipe out huge numbers of ash trees.

By using wood from the diseased trees, it’s hoped they can show the wide variety of uses it can be put to, and inspire fresh appreciation for its qualities.

The nationwide project, Ash Rise, also hopes to raise awareness of the human actions that have contributed to the fate of the nation’s ash trees.

The species is under attack from deadly fungus, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, which arrived in the UK from Europe in 2012, carried among ash saplings.

It spread rapidly across the country and has become particularly noticeable in Scotland over the past two years.

The disease destroys the tree’s leafy canopy and rots its branches, leaving them brittle and in danger of snapping and even exploding without warning.

As a result, huge numbers of ash trees have been felled while the cost of tackling the issue across the UK has been estimated at £15 billion.

Kevin Gauld, The Orkney Furniture Maker (Image: Euan Myles)

Eventually it’s expected that in Scotland up to 95 per cent of ash trees - roughly 75 million -  will be wiped out.

Concerned over the dramatic loss of a tree species used by makers for centuries, the Scottish Furniture Makers Association selected the four Stirlingshire trees and issued a call for artists and makers to submit ideas for new works that could showcase the versality and beauty of ash.

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In workshops the length and breadth of the country, ten furniture makers and ten artists and designers are now putting final touches to ambitious pieces, which will be unveiled at an exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh in September.

Their work will be accompanied by a film telling the story of the threat to the trees and highlighting their potential uses. One of its aims is to inspire consumers away from fast furniture in favour of investing in handmade heirloom wood products.

Helena Robson of HEFT Studio is part of the Ash Rise project (Image: Courtesy Helena Robson)

The Ash Rise project, which also involves Scottish Forestry and the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers, will include woodland events where young people can learn to work with wood. 

Ash has a long tradition of being favoured by makers for its ability to bend and hold its shape: Charles Rennie Mackintosh used it for his distinctive high-backed chairs, it is used for tennis racquets, cricket bats, hockey sticks, and car brand Morgan used ash for the frames of sports cars.

At her workshop near Braemar, Ash Rise artist Naomi McIntosh has taken ash strips and bent them using steam to create spherical sculptures inspired by the mesmerising spirals of the seeds as they glide to the ground.

“It is moving and powerful to be using the timber from a single tree alongside other makers to create and show the importance of both timber in art and design. It is a wonderful connection,” she says.

“It has invited me to reflect on the history of ash in design. From the handles of the tools that I use in the green house to the hockey stick that I had as a child.

“I have become more aware of the materials in the everyday wooden objects in my home.

Timber from the felled ash trees alongside one of the Ash Rise maker's designs (Image: Neil Hanna)

“I am interested and excited by the number of processes that the different artists and makers will use to tell a story and raise awareness of ash dieback and what can be done.”

At Taran Guitars workshop in the East Neuk of Fife, Rory Dowling usually builds unique instruments crafted for customers across the world.

He has used the Stirlingshire timber to create an innovative guitar which also incorporates concrete coloured using natural dyes sourced from the ash wood and its bark.

As part of his project, a Scottish composer is being invited to write a new piece of music inspired by the ash tree which can be performed on the instrument.

Timber from the Stirlingshire ash trees have been delivered across the country: in Orkney, furniture maker Kevin Gauld, has worked on a version of a traditional Orkney chair which aims to link the importance of ash trees for the birds, animals and insects that they provide protection and shelter for.

And in Forres, furniture and wood artist Duke Christie, whose works are often inspired by the natural flow of the mountains and rivers around his Morayshire home, has been working on two large sculptural pieces made from green ash logs harvested for the project.

On the outskirts of Edinburgh, Helena Robson, a contemporary furniture maker, has been using her piece of timber to create wooden tools that reflect the wood’s journey from the land, to work the land.

Ash Rise project designers and furniture makers, Rebecca Kaye, Nikita Wolfe Murray, Kate Owens, Kevin Gauld and Rory Dowling (Image: Neil Hanna)

And in Dalkeith, furniture maker Tom Cooper is using the Ash Rise project to showcase craftsmen’s skills. His cabinets, named “Emergence”, use steam bending, three-dimensional curved veneer laminations and traditional techniques such as hand cut dovetails and mortise and tenon joints.

“Though our beautiful trees have succumbed to this dreadful disease, the trees can still live on, and their beauty still enjoyed in the timber used to make beautiful bespoke pieces of furniture,” he says.

One of the project’s more unusual pieces is emerging in the Edinburgh workshop of conservation joiner Stephen Thompson.

He is making an ash frame boat which will then be skinned with natural flax fibres and linen.

It is said to represent both the historic skills of the curach builders of Iona and Ireland and the kayak builders of Greenland and symbolise a future that makes more use of traditional methods and materials close at hand.

Rebecca Kaye is working with tree ring data to create a series of prints (Image: Jim Marsden)

In her studio by the banks of the River Muick artist Stevi Benson has studied the tree rings and is working on delicate cut paper piece, while hundreds of miles away in the Borders, sculptor and artist Richard Goldsworthy is using up to 60 individual pieces of wood to highlight the intricate patterns and textures inherent in ash wood. 

The exhibition at Edinburgh’s botanic garden will be followed by events in Inverness and Dumfries.

Ash Rise creator Kate Owens design for a textile hanging naturally dyed using ash bark (Image: Kate Owens)

Project coordinator and furniture maker Tom Addy said: “Ash Rise started with the idea of highlighting how precious this resource is in Scotland whilst also showcasing the skills and creativity of the furniture making and design community. 

“We’re excited to share the amazing, beautiful things that can be made from ash.”