Ash Rise: Exhibition at Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden to celebrate threatened trees

Work by Naomi Mcintosh at Ash Rise | Ben Addy

The first handled axes found in the archaeological record date from the Mesolithic period – around 6,000 years BC.  The addition of a handle offered significant mechanical advantage over a hand axe, offering its user accuracy and efficiency. This leap of imagination was probably the most important technological advancement in the development of human kind for a million years – since the first knapped edge stone hand axes were made. The basic form of an axe hasn’t changed since the Mesolithic, and although the chosen material for the head has changed through the ages (stone to bronze, bronze to iron and then to steel), the handle has stayed more or less the same shape and wherever ash grew it has remained the material of choice.  This is because wherever ash grew, people had an understanding of the properties of the material – its usefulness.  

In the past, we had a much deeper connection with nature and the usefulness of natural things in our environment. Before it was used for handles, ash would have been used for spears, for poles to stretch skins and to make shelters. But it was the development of the handle – the invention of the compound tool - that transformed the way we were able to make things, to improve working methods and to allow our imagination to take off.  

Stephen Thomson with Kayak (Iqyax) | Neil Hanna

About a million years passed between the first use of a sharpened stone as a hand axe and the first use of a handled axe – a relatively slow period in terms of human development. The 8,000 years of history since the handled axe was introduced have been far more productive, and have seen human kind rely on ash for countless uses across much of the world.  

Ash has always been a popular material for making furniture. It is light in colour with beautiful grain and offers the furniture maker great opportunities to create strong lightweight and often elegant designs – it is a maker’s material. 

However, this material which was once found in every home is now under threat. As a fungal disease affecting ash progresses north, up to 75 per cent of our native ash trees are expected to perish within the next 20 years. Ash dieback will leave gaps in our woodland, hedgerows and parklands. The long term hope for ash developing a genetic resistance will take generations, and in the meantime many ash will be felled.

Duke Christie with Fire Vessels: Amphora III | Jim Dunn

As furniture makers we’re aware of the importance of these great trees, and we wanted to find a way to create a better, more lasting legacy for them. We knew that if we showcased the creative potential of this precious resource, people would be able to appreciate first hand the beauty of these trees, re-establish that sense of connection with them and appreciate the provenance of furniture and artworks made from locally sourced materials.  

That’s where the idea for Ash Rise was born. There’s something magical that happens when makers and artists engage with such a multifaceted and generous raw material. Scottish Furniture Makers Association (SFMA) members, along with artists, designers and craft practitioners were invited to submit proposals to use material from four selected ash trees at Killearn, Stirlingshire, already earmarked for felling due to dieback.

Now, two years since that call out and almost a year since makers and artists collected the seasoned ash, a new exhibition is set to tour Scotland, starting at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Makers and artists from Orkney, the Caringorms, the Moray coast, the Borders and everywhere in between have been sawing, planing, bending and jointing to create a showcase of contemporary craft.  

Established makers like Aberfeldy-based Angus Ross and the Orkney furniture maker Kevin Gauld have taken the opportunity to develop their workshop practices in exciting new ways – leaning on tradition but adapting and expanding to suit new designs. There have been experiments and innovative collaborations – the “Killearn side tables” by Steven and Ffion Blench with David Buchanan-Dunlop are part ash wood and part scagliola (a technique developed in the 16th century using gypsum plaster to imitate marble, in this case coloured using earth pigments gathered from the site where our ash trees grew). Another collaboration titled Concentric Harmony sees Nicholas Denney, a furniture maker working in concrete, teaming up with master luthiers at Taran Guitars to make an elegant and sculptural guitar – itself used to record a special composition by Andrew Blair and performed by Chris Amer.

Detail from Concentric Harmony, part of Ash Rise | Caelin Harrington

Most makers have created works that show off the ash as a material, and the ways in which it can be worked – its beautiful grain manipulated by steam or planed smooth with super-sharp handtools – and all have reflected in some way on the history and future of the ash. Rebecca Kaye has taken weather data from a Met Office observatory near to the site where the trees grew, using the environmental conditions faced by the trees over many years of their life to recreate woodgrain through 125,905 individually plotted lines.  

Stevi Benson’s intricate hand-cut paper pieces use no ash timber but invite reflection on the time the tree was alive – what it experienced and the wildlife it supported – and the space that is left now it has been felled – a poignant reminder of the gaps that will appear throughout the landscape as ash dieback progresses across the country.  

Artist and choreographer Kate Owens has created a block print using both ash timber as blocks and ash bark to create a dye printed on fabric inspired by the work of artist Phyllis Barron.  

There is not enough space to mention all of the incredible artists and makers featured, and their work will be complemented by specially commissioned feature length documentary. With Ash Rise, the SFMA hope to demonstrate that a positive legacy is possible for ash, and also that dieback can provide an opportunity to develop relationships between land owners, local authorities and public bodies on the one hand and sawmillers, designers, furniture makers and consumers on the other.  

In time, the ash should recover and take back its rightful place in our landscape, but in the meantime let’s make the most of the trees that will be lost and give them the respect they rightly deserve by showing the vital contribution they make to art and craft. 

Tom Addy is a furniture maker at Tor Workshop, Braemar, an SFMA member and creative director of Ash Rise.

Ash Rise is at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh until 13 January 2025, then at Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, from 18 January to 22 March 2025 and Inverness Museum and Art Gallery from 29 March to 17 May. It is and is supported by Scottish Forestry, the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers and Creative Scotland.