Bertha was born from an experiment. Power-carved out of red oak, this piece uses an uncommon finishing technique. The deep black finish comes from burning the wood in the spirit of the Japanese shou-sugi-ban practice that is traditionally used for exterior products for water and insect resistance. In the traditional practice, the wood is given further protection with oil. Berta is instead sealed with wax, which mixed with the wood ash before setting into a thick natural finish. The net effect is that the finer grain patterns are masked leaving only the major details to show through. A curiosity literally from start to finish.
