Click here to see a preview from the PBS special.

Brad Sells’ normal medium are beautiful North American burled and spalted hardwoods; his signature is the fine rim of bark he leaves on each piece. But over years his imagination had been taken by the intense beauty of fine African hardwoods he had seen; Brad Sells became determined to seek out these exotic species for a unique collection of carvings.

There was just one problem. Importing the green, un-barked timbers central to his art would not be possible—these qualities would be rejected by lumber wholesalers and/or South Africa’s export restrictions on “unrefined” logs. Sells would have to go to Africa himself.

The benefits were obvious. Beyond a great learning adventure, Sells could select each log personally. Plus, beginning each sculpture in Africa reduced shipping weight, as much of the wood eventually becomes sawdust (Sells once took a two-ton tree trunk down to a delicate 23 lb. sculpture).

With financial support from fine art collectors across the country and a production team from WCTE-TV (PBS) to document the adventure, Sells and assistant Steven Flatt packed their custom pneumatic tools in February 2004 to spend three weeks on “Tree Safari” in South Africa.

Based out of a wood products factory in Johannesburg known as R.S.B. (sister company to Carmark International in Ashville, NC), the group sortied into the bushveld in search of exotic woods. Only trees that were dead or dying were considered for cutting.

A friend met on the trans-Atlantic flight helped to locate White Cats’ Whiskers wood. Boer farmer and former big game hunter Chris Basson introduced pink ivory, acacia and wild olive wood. Here were red ivory, blackwood and leadwood selections—all too dense to float in water.

Seeking knowledge of the importance to Zulu culture, the group sought out ethnobotanists from Witwatersrand University and traditional healers known as sangomas—even the renown sanusi Credo Baba Mutwa.

Through red tape tangles, super-casual “African time” and feverishly long days the raw logs were gathered, blocked out, and crated. The shipment arrived at Sells’ Bark Studios with close to 80 pieces waiting to be finished.

The first collection pieces went on display during Chicago’s 2004 SOFA (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art) Gallery Show. The journey was the subject of the WCTE public television documentary Red Ivory: An African Tree Safari premiering November 2005.

Click here to see a preview from the PBS special.