A tree does not grow in a straight line. It bends with the wind, reaches for the light and adds a new layer every season. Beneath the surface lies the evidence, in grain that waves, twists and never repeats itself. No two pieces of wood are alike, however close together they stood in the forest.

Botanists call it xylem, the tube-shaped cells that carry water from root to crown. These are the same cells that create the pattern we call grain when the tree is later sawn and planed. What we see as beauty is in reality a drawing of how the tree kept itself alive.

When we choose raw wood for a Venci piece, we choose to let that drawing remain. We do not paint the unevenness away, and we do not retouch nature to look more uniform. The surface is allowed to tell where the material comes from.

That makes every piece unique long before we have touched it. Nature drew it first.