Tiles in Figured Wood

I have put up this post with tiles in figured wood because I wanted to explain the creative process.

If you live in an urban area or city, then this is going to be a problem for you.  And that’s because your new friends for doing this are termites.

Yes, I know many people are terrified by the idea of termites, but in this case they’re your friends.

This particular example is stained but you don’t need to do that.  If you can, select a piece of timber with a colour that’s going to suit what you’re doing.  Then you need to go and find some termites.

Once you’ve got your site with a decent termite nest, just lay your board down next to it.  It does help to have a bit of moisture around but not absolutely necessary.  Then all that’s needed is to cover the board.  It doesn’t have to have a huge mound of dirt on it, even just some grass and leaves is fine.  Then just leave it for about 4-6 months.  The time depends on the softness of the wood.  Also, if you can, make sure the termites actually eat your species of wood, they don’t eat them all.

After that’s done all you need to do is clean it up, that does take a bit of time.

With these particular tiles in figured wood I have used alabaster tiles from Cambodia.  I bought them when I was there, definitely a different country to visit.  I’m not sure I’d recommend it to be honest, not unless you’re a seasoned traveler.