Conifers of the South West
Tasmania is home to 11 different conifers and 8 of them are endemic to this island. Conifers are amonst the most ancient of plants, they appeared over 200 million years ago before the first flowering plants and shared the land with dinosaurs, such an ancient treasure. The conifers now grow in remanant protected places and are very vulnerable to fire.
I am on a pilgramage to mould them all to create a permanant record of them all and the full series will be exhibited at some stage in the future. These rings have moulded in the wilds of the South West and are available in different sizes and metals.
Pencil Pine (Athrotaxsis cupressoides) 6.8mm wide. Oxidised and plain sterling silver.
Moulded on a calm evening nestled by a tarn with Currawongs calling overhead.
Huon Pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) 6.3mm wide. Oxididised and plain sterling silver.
It was a hot summers day as I was wandering along a river so I thought i’d pause with my feet in the water and play with this ancient and majestic tree
Microcachrys tetragona Pine (creeping strawberry pine). 7mm wide. Oxidised and plain sterling silver.
This is such a special little pine and so unique its the only species in the world of the genus Microcachrys.
Huon Pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii). 10.8mm wide. Oxidised and plain sterling silver
This tree I found hiding in a sheltered rainforest gully between expanses of buttongrass plains. Whilst this mould was curing I was pondering the fact that the water that tumbled down the creek flowed past my home on the Huon River further down the watershed.
King Billy Pine (Athrotaxsis selaginoides). 6.5mm wide. Oxidised and plain sterling silver.
Id woken up early in the morning to race a huge front to the next refuge perched high upon the range. I borrowed a branch from the ground, crawled into my tent and moulded this whilst the storm raged around me.