Don't you think these images would make a lovely coffee table book?
I have literally hundreds of them. It may not surprise you to read that.
So what is so alluring?
Colour and texture. The abstract nature of the images that frees the imagination. The wonder that all this is wood. The wonder that all this is all around you. There is a kind of gentleness in the earthy, natural, understated colours.
I like too the analogy of bark and skin... the protective layer and the layer too that the world most obviously touches. Where the impact of others can be clearly seen.
I like thinking too that this "surface" is not superficial... there is an authenticity... almost a profundity in the vulnerability and resilience of the surface.
I like how nothing is geometric. How everything is idiosyncratic. How parts may look the same but are not the same.
I like everything.
Your reasons for being bark-fascinated read like a poem. The bark photos are works of art.