I grew up in a part of Montana where the canyons were decorated with Juniper cedar trees as shown in the photo below. We used the dead wood in our cook stove and heater. It burned clean and produced good heat because of the oil it contained. The straight pieces, either dead wood or green poles were cut for fence posts. They lasted longer in the ground because they weren't attacked by the bugs. Here again the oil in the wood acted as a deterrent just as closets and chests lined with cedar wood are moth proof storage. I love the smell of this wood, either worked dry or the green cedars we used as our Christmas trees.
I have used cedar wood in many of my art pieces. One I just finished named "Foamed Cedar", is shown below. The top and bottom sections are made of Tennessee Red Cedar, a close relative to the Montana Juniper Cedar. The mid section and inlay on the top and inside of the lid are small segments of Montana Juniper Cedar. The colored and filled resin flows around these segments and provides the main shell of the vessel. This vessel, from my e/P series uses a plastic container as the inside core. The vessel is 5 3/4 inches tall and 5 1/4 inches at it's largest diameter. It has an oil finish with buffed wax final coats.
*More detail on my art can be found at my website <www.apatchablue.com>
Also, my autobiography, volume 1, has more detail on this period in my life. The link to my books on the publisher's web site is: http://www.wheatmark.com/catalog/entry/Which-Road-Should-I-Follow-Volume-I-Growing-up-in-the-Country
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