Catching the Drift

When I first set eyes on a driftwood sculpture, dramatically perched in a family friend’s garden, I didn’t fully appreciate the incredible history behind drift wood. Curiosity led me have a bit of a search on the net, and I found a company called Natural Driftwood Sculptures www.driftwoodsculptures.co.uk. They source driftwood from British Columbia, Canada, and all the wood is Canadian western red cedar – the remnants of the early 20th century lumber industry which, amazingly, have been immersed in water for over 70 years.

The site explains that certain river valleys that had been logged were flooded to create reservoir lakes to produce hydro electricity. The western red cedar wood doesn’t rot as it contains the natural preservative plicatic acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plicatic_acid). It also contains phenolic resin, which prevents it being attacked by insects. Both these characteristics mean the wood is very well preserved.

The family which runs the company, has made a living out of collecting the driftwood, which is often difficult to access, via boats and mobile lifting equipment. The sculptures are sometimes bizarre, often outstandingly beautiful. Take a look.