23 July 2023 – Well, not exactly. But a week in which wood brought magic into my life. Not once, but twice.

First, at the pivot point in a walk that takes me east to Sahalli Park, where I am greeted by a majestic burl-upon bole. Bole, the trunk, particularly the lower trunk, of a tree; burl, the knobbly protuberance so often found on a bole.

Elegant from a distance; magic up close, all the angles, all the textures, all the colours.

Then too, the magic of the pun that factually describes the later transformation by wood-workers: a burl, born of bole, becomes a burl bowl.

Second, more magic in yet more “later transformation by wood-workers,” when I visit the Museum of Vancouver for a show due to close August 7.

The first impact is not sight but smell: the rich, spicy aroma of a stack of vintage mahogany planks.

It leads me in.

The show is a partnership between the MOV and the city’s Propeller Studio, in which local artists & designers were invited to propose how they would transform some of this wood (all harvested 1950s-70s in Central America) into functional, durable, beautiful objects. Sixty-five artists & designers responded; 31 were chosen through a juried selection process.

In this project designed to be an example of a “circular economy,” the creators were immediately paid 1/3 of estimated market value of their pieces; the works are now on display at the MOV, with a price list; and the sales revenue will be split among the creators for their own future activities, the MOV for its public programming, and selected indigenous-led reforestation activities in Central America.

I don’t read much of this signage at the time; I take photos to study it later.

Right now, I just want to follow my nose, and my eyes, into this exhibit.

Look at the range. A surfboard, there on the left; something small and shapely beside it and, through the gap, ‘way at the back, a swirling play of light and shadows.

Very tall; very small; very porous.

“Very tall”…

Midi Long, the hybrid malibu/longboard surfboard by Stu Coleman (SCD Woodworks). “There is a story to tell. Reclaimed material has a wonderful patina that only comes from a past life…”

“Very small”…

Elevated, stacked shoes by Nina Rozin (Nina Rozin Footwear Studio). Inspired both by the elongated trunk of the mahogany tree and the platform chopines of medieval aristocratic women, says Rozin, who adds, “my creations showcase layers of reclaimed wood, honouring the material’s diversity.”

“Very porous”…

Odisea, by Angela S. Jang, Benny Kwok & Mira Yung (Plain Sight Creative and Smla Studio). The swirls of the pendant lamp, they explain, are “a tribute to the journey of the mahogany from its origins to Canada and evoke the narrative of immigrant communities…”

Everything I see is beautiful; everything has its story — from the original growth of these trees, to the harvesting of the wood, its journey to Vancouver and, beyond that, the sequence of events that landed it in the cache that eventually became the resource for this project. Still to come: the further stories when the exhibition closes, and individual pieces are sold, to move on to their later lives.

But meanwhile I am here, and now, and I explore what I see before me.

The wall hanging Micro Mahogany, for example…

where Devin Connell (Carbon Being Design) shows us a cross-section of mahogany at the microscopic, 2500:1 scale, and invites us to “celebrate the intrinsic beauty of its biology.”

The Deka Console table…

by Ryan Tam & Josiah Peters (Lock and Mortice), who honour the past life of this wood, meticulously preserve the flow of its grain across all those sections and, in so honouring it, demonstrate their belief that “the reclaimed mahogany brought its own story to the table.”

Another wall hanging, this one instantly evocative of its title, Coastal Drift…

by Brent Comber (Brent Comber Originals), who evokes something less marine, more philosophical, in his commentary. He compares the wanderings of the bent-wood contours, which eventually connect back on themselves, to our human life wanderings, where we do not know the destination yet “eventually find our way.”

Toward the back of the display, Modèle Encore…

by luthier Shelley D. Park (Shelley D. Park Guitars), who is “excited to incorporate reclaimed wood into my design” but goes on to talk about the depredations of the century-long tradition of making guitars from the finest tropical hardwood. There is a recent shift in philosophy among many luthiers, she says, regarding their materials and practices. “We have started looking toward local supplies, sustainable alternatives and new ways of processing wood to replace dwindling supplies.”

The MOV asks visitors for their suggestions for a circular economy — one based on the reuse and regeneration of materials and products across the entire life cycle of products and systems (as opposed to the current linear economy of take-make-waste).

Visitors stick their suggestions to the wall.

There are lots. Here are just three of them.

Simple suggestions, for a mighty trio of Rs! Recycle; Reuse; and, down at the bottom, my favourite… Refuse. (The latter not an option that industry encourages us to adopt. But a powerful option for all that. And entirely in our hands.)