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P/SUNNY Temp: 65 °F Wind: WNW at 10 mph Monday, June 23, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 21, 2003 Mail Tribune / Satsuki Doi A local sculptor took the partially rotted stump and root ball from the fallen ginkgo tree in front of Ashland�s library and made this metamorphosis-themed sculpture of a book and butterfly. Reincarnated ginkgo tree lives on at Ashland library By MYLES MURPHY for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — The library’s ginkgo tree is long gone, cut down to make way for the recently completed expansion, but some say its spirit lives on inside the remodeled Carnegie building. Talent woodcarver Tom Hopkins sculpted a chunk of the old tree into a work of art now on display in the children’s section of the library. Hopkins reflected for some time before freeing his sculpture "Megamorphosis" from the heart of the long-buried root ball of the ginkgo tree. "A Hawaiian friend of mine showed me how to pray with the wood — and then you kind of let go," Hopkins said. "It’s a process of eliminating everything else in the block and (the sculpture) is what’s left." Advertisement Hopkins’ piece — a large butterfly hovering over a carved book missing the impression of a butterfly — was purchased by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library for the children’s’ section of the remodeled Carnegie building. The Friends have donated the piece to the library. "This is the first use of the wood from the tree," according to a Friends statement. "It will serve as part of a promise to the community that the ginkgo did not perish in vain." The tree, planted at the turn of the century, was the focus of debate when the library addition project was to begin. It was voted Ashland’s Tree of the Year in 2000, but efforts to move it rather than cut it down during construction were fruitless. Turns out the tree’s days were numbered anyway — Hopkins discovered the root ball was rotting away. A 54-year-old self-taught woodcarver, Hopkins followed the heated community debate and was inspired to do his part to immortalize the tree. After the tree was cut, Hopkins approached the contractor working on the project and asked if he could have the root ball — the tangled mass of trunk, roots and soil which had for so long supported the old tree. "They said it was headed for the landfill and that I could have it if I hauled it away," Hopkins said. At about the same time, Colin Swales and others had other plans for the stump. Ginkgo stumps will often regenerate, sprouting fresh shoots to grow into new trees, and a movement was afoot to replant the root ball at North Mountain Park. But Hopkins was unaware, and drove off with it literally under the nose of an upset Swales. "As I was hauling it off he was chasing me down, taking pictures," Hopkins said. "I didn’t know what he was up to." Councilwoman Cate Hartzell contacted Hopkins soon after to iron out the situation. He offered up the stump, but with no way to transport it, the wood was left in Hopkins’ care. She suggested a carving for the library. A year passed, and the issue died down. But then Hartzell got a call from Hopkins, saying he had something to show her. Both Hartzell and Swales were impressed. "It was this delightful, healing moment," Hartzell said. "People had value for those trees and whatever way we could bring a transformed piece from those trees back into the library, I felt it would be good for the community." Hopkins said he was aware of the importance of the ginkgo, and put a lot of thought into the piece, considering its resilience and ability to adapt over millions of years. "At first, I thought about the idea of transformations, and the inspiration came to me of a bookworm and a book," Hopkins said. "Then it became not just any book, but a book of the ginkgo — such great knowledge in the ginkgo, but the pages are kind of closed to humans." The worm became a butterfly bursting out of the "pages." "Within the ‘book’ is 200 million years of tenacious adaptiveness and ability to survive no matter what," Hopkins wrote about the carving. The job was not an easy one, according to the artist. The wood turned out to be brittle under his chisel. He was forced to do most of his work in a slow process using abrasives, like sandpaper. Also, finding enough good wood in the stump to carve was itself a challenge. "What I found was the ginkgo was a third rotten," Hopkins said. "All that controversy and the tree was pretty much dying anyway." The remainder of the tree is drying in a warehouse under the eye of Ashland Mayor Alan DeBoer, to be carved when cured and then transformed into furniture, shelves or other final touches in the library. Myles Murphy is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 482-3456. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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