Following the 1908 earthquake in San Francisco and the ensuing fire, thousands of houses were burnt to the ground. In the haste to rebuild these homes, timber from the old growth Redwood forests were cut down and harvested for the rebuild. Many more were taken down and burnt in the kilns to make cement. Trees as old as 2000 years old were taken. Today the old growth forests are all but gone.
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After 45 years of working in the residential construction industry in Canada and California and having watched so much of the old lumber being torn out of these old homes and thrown into the land fill I was called to create Reclaimed Branches. By combining prayer, meditation and repurposing materials, I can help ease the strain on the forest, the environment, our communities
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The reclaimed redwood I use can be anywhere from 200 to 1,000 years old...possibly even older. I've used wood from an 1890 turn of the century Victorian, Santa Cruz and Sonoma County water tanks from the 1920’s, felled trees from Felton & Boulder Creek in the San Lorenzo Valley in Santa Cruz County and other places around the SF Bay Area where I have worked.
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Years ago my girlfriend at the time, said she wanted an altar for her birthday.
I did some research and while sitting in a Thai restaurant, I had a vision of what to make. It would be simple in design, using hand tools and made from reclaimed Redwood I'd salvaged from a home in Santa Cruz.
The original altars you see here are exact replicas of that first altar.
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