“Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?”
“And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?”
– Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) The Beatles
One day, driving home from a family cabin in Nordmarka, just north of Oslo, my best friend, visiting from the UK commented “There are a hell lot of trees in Norway ‘r kid (he’s from Yorkshire), how many do you think there are?” I didn’t think about it for very long and just replied “I don’t know… 50 million?” He thought about it for a bit longer and after some time guessed 500 million. “500 million?” I said, don’t be crazy! Then we did a google… turns out as of December 2014 there are almost 11 billion trees of 5 cm or more in diameter (and increasing every year)!
I wanted to have my photographs framed in “Norwegian wood”, but all of the framers I contacted use imported wood. It seems such a shame to me, that Norway, with so many trees, and such a rich heritage of forestry and craftsmanship with wood is facing a dying industry. So then I started on my journey to find locally sourced wood to be locally handcrafted into beautiful frames to show off my art and to be a piece of art in themselves.
Scandinavian countries have some of the highest tree densities in the world, supporting a large amount of flora and fauna. I want to give something back to the environment, so for every frame purchased we shall plant a tree in the drylands of Africa, to improve the environment and provide food for impoverished people through the TreeAid project.
“In total, Norway today has almost 11 billion trees of 5 cm or more in diameter” – Landbruks og matdepartementet (03/12/2014)