Pictures of the inside.

Few people get right inside and up close, so I want to show what you'd see if it was displayed better.

Burl Roots

I've always been surprised at the amount of people that ask if the large burls were underground. It could be words like "unearthed" that has been written more than once that have caused this misconception. The large burls on the right hand side were actually sitting up on roots that were completely exposed. The left side was sitting right at the ground level, the roots were hidden under the ground on that side.

My guess is that the tree was nearly uprooted by a natural cause a couple hundred years ago when it was very young. It leaned over but after a few years of struggling to survive it straightened itself out. This 'wound' caused the tree to strengthen itself by twisting and curling into truss-like shapes which was the beginning of the gigantic burls. Nature is absolutely amazing at taking care of itself, and this piece of wood is one of the worlds wonders that shows that well.

This picture shows what the stump looked like after I had dug around the roots on the outside as well as the inside.

Letter to the National Gallery of Canada

This copy of a letter from Donna Rodway arrived in the mail last week. It is a huge honour for me to see such kind words so well written. Thank you to the Rodways for their support and I hope to hear from Mr. Mayer in the near future.

For those of you that would like to view 'Murfitt', email me at theburlshack@me.com or call 250-746-0075 to set up a time. Thanks,