The Burl Shack Memoir and Media
Welcome to the hub of Murfitt’s incredible journey — from a massive dying Bigleaf Maple burl in Duncan, Vancouver Island, to the cherished natural artwork it is today. This page offers a chance to dive into the memoir, explore media coverage across television, newspaper, and radio, and stay connected with ongoing updates.
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Preface: Why Trees Make Burls
A burl is one of nature’s mysteries. Not everyone has seen one, and even fewer understand what it is. To the casual eye, it looks like a strange swelling or knot on the side of a tree, but inside it holds a secret: grain that twists, swirls, and folds over itself in ways no straight trunk ever could.
Burls form when a tree is under stress. A wound, an infection, a fungus, or even some genetic quirk triggers the tree to grow in a way that defies order. The wood cells multiply wildly, curling back and forth as if trying to heal something unseen. What looks like a deformity on the outside becomes, on the inside, a vault of beauty—bird’s-eye, flame, ripple, tiger stripes, and swirl locked away in solid form.
Woodworkers and artists prize them for that very reason. A small burl might become a bowl, a clock, or a keepsake box.
A larger one could be turned into a table or a sculpture. Each burl is unique, and once it’s cut, there will never be another quite like it. Most burls are the size of a basketball, maybe a beach ball if you’re lucky—the kind you can roll into the back of a pickup. But every so often, nature does something different. A tree, in the right place at the right time, under just the right mix of hardship and determination, produces a burl so massive it seems impossible.
I think my tree was possibly one of those. Where I live was once an old riverbed, so perhaps it had been washed out long ago. Or maybe it had been blown over by wind. The whole thing grew on an angle, as if the roots on the right side had been pulled partly out of the ground. Then, just above the burls, it straightened itself and grew tall and true.
This memoir is the story of that tree—and the burl it carried. The kind you don’t just cut up for bowls or tables. The kind you rescue.
Connecting Communities Through Murfitt’s Story
Thank you for supporting Murfitt’s story. Though rooted on Vancouver Island, BC, Murfitt’s appeal extends across Canada and around the world, drawing interest from art lovers, woodworking enthusiasts, historians, and collectors, as well as museums, galleries, and public venues.