Creating Birches: A Block Print Inspired by New Hampshire

Photo credit: Kyly B Clark

This pattern, Birches, began with a walk through my neighborhood and a conversation with a friend about ways to hide messages within a pattern.

As I looked closely at birch bark, I noticed the lenticels, or lenticel scars, that naturally appear as tiny dashes across the surface of the tree. They seemed like the perfect place to hide Morse code.

The next question was: What should the message say?

Each year, I try to create a print connected to New Hampshire. The white birch is New Hampshire’s state tree, and the landscape is full of these beautiful, distinctive trees. That led me to Robert Frost, another figure deeply connected to the state.

Frost lived in New Hampshire for twelve years, first in Derry and later in Franconia. His poem Birches, one of his best-known works, was written after his time in Derry. I decided to incorporate the poem into the design by hiding its opening line in Morse code.

The first line, “When I see birches bend to left and right”, runs down the center of four tree trunks. A second message is hidden in the branches, spelling ROBERT FROST in Morse code.

The result is a pattern that looks like a simple stand of birch trees at first glance, but reveals another layer when you take the time to look closely.

Decoding Birches

Trunks:
When I see birches bend to left and right

Branches:
Robert Frost

Because these patterns are hand-printed, you may notice lighter spots or small variations in the ink. I like to think those imperfections add to the experience; they make the process of discovering and deciphering the hidden message even more personal.

Birches is one of twenty patterns featured in my book, Not Just A Pretty Picture: The Art, Process, and Language Behind the Prints, from the studio of Kristen Dettoni.