John Berthiaume Koa Box 3.75″H x 12″L x 8″W $550

Description

John Berthiaume Koa Box 3.75″H x 12″L x 8″W $550

 

About the Artist

John Berthiaume is a woodworker who moved to Hawai’i from his home state of Michigan in 1978. While taking advantage of the many beautiful types of wood available in Hawai’i, he has developed his passion and talent for woodworking. He specializes in designing and crafting jewelry boxes, bowls and furniture from locally sourced wood.

Koa

Ancient Hawaiians were using the koa trunks to build waʻa (dugout outrigger canoes) and papa heʻe nalu (surfboards).  The reddish wood is very similar in strength and weight to that of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). Koa is also a tonewood.  Ukuleles, acoustic guitars, and Weissenborn-style Hawaiian steel guitars are very often made of Koa. Koa also means brave, bold, fearless, or warrior.

The koa population has suffered, though from grazing and logging.  The largest koa grow in wet forest areas and many of those have been logged out. Koa now comes largely from dead or dying trees or farms on private lands. In areas where cattle are present, koa regeneration is almost completely suppressed. However, if the cattle are removed, koa are among the few native Hawaiian plants able to germinate in grassland, and can be instrumental in restoring native forest.

 

The dimensions listed in the ‘additional information’ table includes packing for shipment.

John Berthiaume Koa Box 3.75″H x 12″L x 8″W $550