American beech (Fagus grandifolia)

The smooth thin bark of beech trees allows any variation to stand out in relief from the tree. The horizontal lines are lenticels which allow gas to exchange between the tree and the air. The small bumps are dormant buds called epicormic buds. All the texture in the bark belies the beech’s reputation as having a smooth, uninteresting trunk.

The Identitatum Arborum collection of knitting patterns was created in conjunction with an art installation made for the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts in summer 2016 for the Natural Threads exhibition. In that art installation I explored the idea of identity using trees as a metaphor.

This design and sample piece was shown in the Design Arts Utah 2016 exhibition in the fall 2016 in Salt Lake City, UT.