Bog Wood

Blarney Castle
Blarney
County Cork, Ireland

Blarney Castle has a fabulous curator.  There is art work spread out throughout the grounds, and it is all so beautiful chosen for its particular site.  This piece is by artist Pieter Koning.

The pice is actually a 7000 year old piece of bog oak and is titled Organic Growth. Pieter has done many pieces out of bog wood and according to his website: Bog Wood is found in the Irish bogs where it has been preserved for 5,000 years or more. There are three types of Bog Wood: Oak, Yew and Pine. The wood was part of the great forests which covered the central plains of Ireland. The fluidity and impression of movement are very endearing features of these bog wood sculptures.

Koning was born in Holland in 1948. He turned to sculpture after three years studying sociology and then subsequently worked with qualified stone sculptors for two years.  Koning now lives in Ireland in Teeraha, Caherciveen, County Kerry where he also has his studio.

I was curious about working with bog wood and this is what I found. Bog-wood, is also known as abonos or morta, especially in the world of the pipe smokers.  Which means to me, it must be somewhat easy to carve.  The wood is usually stained brown by tannins dissolved in the acidic water. Bog-wood represents the early stages in the fossilisation of wood, with further stages ultimately forming lignite and coal over a period of many millions of years.

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