While every tree you see here is handmade in Oregon, the Big Trees stand out as having the greatest "detail - to - height" ratio.  That's because to take full advantage of the modeling opportunity, a big model really forces you to pack in the tiniest details .

    

Every Big Fir Tree features a custom shaped one-of-a-kind real wood trunk. This trunk is often both lathe-milled and hand-carved.  Lathe-milling yields a totally straight and perfectly round trunk, which is appropriate for modeling tall, straight trees.  The base will not be flared.Hand carving  results in more irregularities, and is the means by which we can make flared trunk bases, similar to how a cedar tree trunk base appears. I use exclusively Port Orford Cedar, which has a light color and takes on dyes well. It is also soft enough to take on the engraved "bark detail" very well, also performed by hand.

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From this point, trees can be made with either a "medium" level of detail, or a "maximum" level.

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Medium-detail trees have a robust build of green foliage, and I often add a few roots and hanging branch details. 

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Maximum-detail trees have the same foliage, but a good portion of it is placed upon real wood branches that are firmly mounted into the trunk. Building the green foliage upon the wooden branches is as real as it gets. Add to this a multitude of dead and hanging branches, mosses and lichen details, a tinge of singe (fire damage), and some fine rooty details, and you have the best representation of an old growth tree that I can provide.

 

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