In the wood and Stave Churches

I am always inspired artistically by the element of wood. I love it in art, in homes, in architecture, and in so many forms. I have grown up as a carpenters daughter so the sound of an axe splitting wood in the early morning hours is something that feels very visceral to me. I remember being woken up with the subtle vibration of the splitting maul hitting the wood (driven by my father) so hard that the ground shook up through the house, and underneath my pillow, to awake me to the sounds of the wood stove door creaking open and the freshly split logs getting loaded inside.

We live in an old re built cape, and the homes of New England feature wood as a primary structural element, with exposed beams, wood floors, old wide shingles and the ever present backyard barn. This exposure to the northern style homes, and living out in the sticks near a lot of woodland has made me a forest and tree's kind of lady, so in lieu of my interest in the uses, history and craft of using wood in human life, I'm going to be doing a series on this special and integral part of our lives.

First I'd like to take a look at the work of the Stave Churches of Norway. A medieval form of post and beam construction many were built in the 1500's and still stand to this day. Here are what I found to be some inspiring images.