Remember being in 5th grade, and really into dinosaurs and fossils?
Apparently, a few designers, collectors, and decorators have returned to the prehistoric aesthetic for cutting edge furnishings. Having been used in nearly every other form for furniture, wood has taken on a new life (so to speak) in its petrified state, as chairs, tables, desks, and other objects. Petrified wood is essentially stone, having absorbed silica for millions of years and eventually fossilizing. It is undeniable that the material has an innate beauty ? resembling marble or gemstones, while retaining the grain of wood.
But as with most things that are millions of years old, much of its beauty comes from its age. It is awesome that anything can be as tenacious as to put up with a harsh environment (volcanic eruption, catastrophic floods, and the like) for so long. That being said, should petrified wood really be excavated, milled, and carved up?
Admittedly, I would love to have petrified kitchen counters. That said, there just can’t be enough petrified wood out there in the wild to satisfy the voracious appetite for building materials. What’s your guess? Ten years before the total stock is depleted? All just to be pulverized when some new material comes along?
Naah. Leave it where it is. Let children marvel at it 100 generations from now.
They’ve really found out how to make petrified wood in a laboratory? Wow! I’d like to know!
But I think a replica would be much better, isn’t that a simple thing to do?
My friends entire house exterior is petrified wood, and it looks friggin’ AWESOME! There was so much lying around that they decided (back in the early 1900′s when the house was built) to just use it for building materials. There’s ever some on the interior around the fireplace as well, and there’s a huge stock pile of it in the backyard.