Richard Reames

Richard C. Reames (born September 20, 1957) is an American arborsculptor, nurseryman, author of two self-published books, and public speaker. He lives and works in Williams, Oregon. He sometimes teaches at the John C. Campbell Folk School.[1] He coined the word "arborsculpture", as a substitute for the word "pleaching".[2][3]:24

Born (1957-09-20) September 20, 1957
OccupationArborsculptor, nursery owner, writer
LanguageEnglish
GenreHorticulture
SubjectArborsculpture
Notable worksHow to Grow a Chair: The Art of Tree Trunk Topiary with Barbara Delbol (1995)
Arborsculpture: Solutions for a Small Planet (2005)
Website
arborsmith.com
 Literature portal

Biography
An arborsculpture by Richard Reames entitled Peace in Cherry, depicting the CND logo
Birch window frame arborsculpture by Richard Reames

Richard Reames was born in 1957 and grew up near Santa Cruz, California. Which was within 10 miles of Axel Erlandson’s famed circus trees, known at that time as The Lost World.

Reames's mother showed him the value in having a vegetable garden and working with nature. This led to Reames wanting to study botany and horticulture in college, but he rejected the structure of the educational establishment. He traveled the country either by hitchhiking or in a 1969 Chevy van for over a decade. Throughout this time he worked as an itinerant landscaper. Reames states "I was 'volunteer homeless.' A real gypsy."[4]

He would meet a woman named Maya Many Moons in southwest Oregon at a community dance in 1991. They decide to settle down in Williams Oregon near the border of Klamath National Forest. They brought some land in cooperation with another couple. They had a daughter named Myray Reames and at the same time started building a home using dead standing logs and native stone for the foundation.[3][4][5]

In 1993, needing to look after his new family and wanting to work in an area he loved, Reames had an epiphany inspired by Axel Erlandson's Trees. He started Arborsmith Studios, his tree nursery and art studio.[3][4] He bends living trees using the arborsculpture process developed by himself. He also uses the horticultural and arboricultural techniques of ring barking, approach grafting, pruning, and framing, in various combinations, to craft functional items and artworks.[3][6]

In 1995 he published the first of his two books How to Grow a Chair: The Art of Tree Trunk Topiary with Barbara Delbol co-authoring. He details his process of shaping trees to create a chair, benches and fences, etc. He also coined the word arborsculpture [6][7] to identify and describe a craft without a generic name.

In 2000, with the people of the town of Jōkōji, Japan, he and John Gathright planted 1100 trees, which, combined with the existing trees created the "Laughing Happy Tree Park," with a living tree house with living furniture.[3] Most of the imported trees in this park were destroyed by insect damage, then a typhoon hit causing further damage.[3]

The few remaining trees were later moved to the Growing Village Pavilion at the World Expo 2005 in Nagakute, Aichi, Japan. This was organized by John Gathright who had since become the producer for the Growing Village Pavilion at the World Expo 2005 in Japan.[8] Reames participated as a team member of the Growing Village pavilion at the World Expo 2005 in Nagakute, Aichi, Japan.[5][9]

In 2005 Reames published his book Arborsculpture: Solutions for a Small Planet, which talks about the history, some of the different practitioners in the field of Tree shaping and Reames's method of shaping trees into a chair.[3][10]

Reames gives live demonstrations of bending and weaving a chair at garden shows, fairs and folk art festivals around America.[4] and has lectured internationally on his process of arborsculpture.[11][12][13]

Published works

Self-published books[11]
  • How to Grow a Chair: The Art of Tree Trunk Topiary, with Barbara Delbol, 1995, Arborsmith Studios[6]
  • Arborsculpture: Solutions for a Small Planet, 2005, Arborsmith Studios[3]

Periodical articles
  • Compass Magazine - March/April 2006[5]

See also
Myray Reames reclines on a living Red Alder arborsculpture bench.

References
  1. J.C.Campbell
  2. Reames, Richard (2005). Arborsculpture: Solutions for a Small Planet. Oregon: Arborsmith Studios. ISBN 0-9647280-8-7.
  3. Life and Limbs
  4. Arborsmith, Biography of Richard Reames Archived 2010-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Reames, Richard; Delbol, Barbara (1995). How to Grow a Chair: The Art of Tree Trunk Topiary. ISBN 0-9647280-0-1.
  6. Hicks, Ivan; Rosenfeld, Richard; Whitworth, Jo (2007), Tricks with Trees, Pavilion Books, p. 123, ISBN 978-1-86205-734-0
  7. Growing Village
  8. web site archive
  9. Foley, Caroline (Summer 2007). (PDF). European Boxwood & Topiary Society http://www.ebts.org/UK/Documents/Arborsculpture%20How%20to%20Grow%20Chair%20Book%20Rev%2007.pdf. Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help) and UK-Biblio2.htm
  10. Cabinet magazine, "How to Grow a Chair: An Interview with Richard Reames"
  11. "Arbor Sculpture: "If you like I'll grow you a mirror"" (PDF), The Cutting Edge; the Newsletter of the Victorian Woodworkers Association, Inc., p. 16, June 2006, archived from the original (PDF) on October 25, 2009, retrieved 2010-05-15
  12. Speaker announcement for Garden Symposium 2008 in Kansas City, MO
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