They say it is a bowl if it can hold water. If it cannot hold water then it is art.
Of my earliest works of art, this is Allison’s (The Wood Guys Wife) favorite. I was very surprised at the time and my first involvement with an air space to turn. Also the slight flair of the lip was just one of those experimental moments that taught you a whole bunch.
This bowl was taken from a Beam End Cut. Normally this type of discarded wood is just burned. I was fortunate to obtain this wood as I had yet to establish good sources of local green wood. This was my first attempt to make a thin bowls with a very straight cone shaped body.
This series of Ambrosia Maple bowls were some of the “largest bowls” turned on the Jet 12/36. At the time I was just amazed at what there was to find inside wood.
This is another Ambrosia Maple Bowl. It is amazing all the art work of Mother Nature to be found in hidden places.
The Beetle that did this art work did a wonderful job on this bowl. I was fortunate to obtain this wood early on and it taught me allot about how to look at a log and how to cut and use the log to make better bowls.
Again a bowl from the neighborhood Mimosa Tree. This though is a slice through the wood. the center of the bowl is the pith of the tree. Most bowls are either the left or right half of a tree without including the Pith. I think this looks allot like a Kidney.
This is another bowl from the Mimosa tree near our community late. It now resides in the Suginamiku District of Tokyo. I made this as a gift to a wonderful man who taught me many things and always showed grace and kindness to those around him. Domo Arigato!
Orange Osage
During this time period I began experimenting with surface effects. In this case I used the chisel to create many horizontal lines in the wood while the bowl was on the lathe turning. I really liked how the grooves added to the natural grain. this was turned on the Jet 12/36 Lathe