Yes, I do occasionally make things

It seems as though I blog, tweet and update Facebook a lot about all of this timber I am working with or on and yet, I cannot remember the last time I posted some new, completed work. Well fear not my faithful readers, this woodturner is going to deliver the goods. It's salad bowl time!!!

But first, a small thing... I know I have mentioned how I love my new iPad. It is so much more portable than a laptop and generates no heat so it is more comfortable to use as well. Recently I bought an application called Photo Wizard. It is a photo-editing app and so far, I really like it. I'm still learning to navigate it so bear with me. I think these pictures look really good here but please let me know how they look on your screen. You can leave comments below. Thanks. And now for your viewing pleasure...




I wrote about a pile of elm logs which I reclaimed from a local arborist (I LOVE reclaimed wood). I roughed out this wood before my 2nd carpal tunnel surgery back in April. They are all dry now and here is what this fabulous wood looks like. This salad bowl measures 12" x 4" and is finished with Mahoney's Walnut Oil. I really wanted this wood to do the talking so I did not embellish it with any beads, grooves or texturing techniques. Simple is good.




Most of the bowls I make are turned on the lathe two times. The first time is the rough out, then that gets dried and finally it gets re-turned to its nice round shape. On this piece of reclaimed Norway maple, I only turned it once, from start to finish in one long session. I did this for two reasons... #1, wood warps and twists when it dries and I was afraid this would warp beyond the physical capacity of my lathe or crack. #2, the grain patterns were simple so I had an idea of what it would look like as it twisted and bent, just not the final size. The bead was added in order to accentuate the undulating rim. This bowl measures approximately 13.5" x 6".




Another piece of the same Norway maple. A friend of mine, named Bill Neddow, turns some of the finest bowls the world has ever seen. Among his most striking pieces are ones where the opening of the bowl is considerably larger than the base. His bowls have such great lift to them. I like to think I was channeling Bill when I was making this bowl. Again, it was turned in one session and allowed to twist. The textured band was added before the twisting so it follows the rim very nicely. 13.5" x 5.5"




Oh yeah, now we're talking! Manitoba maple doing what it does best. The colour is naturally occurring. I had nothing to do with it. Several theories exist to explain the colouring including fungal or insect attack, trauma such as disease or lightning strikes and even excessive wind during the life of the tree have all been thrown out there. All I know is that it is lovely and a real treat to see the image of the bowl change as I shape the wood. In time, especially with exposure to sunlight, this red colour will fade to a yummy chocolate brown. No matter because even then, it is still gorgeous. This bowl measures 10.75" x 3.25".

So there you have it, some fresh work. I swear to you there are others as well. Some of them sold before I could get pictures so you will have to trust me on their existence. Others will have to wait for another day. These will soon be featured on a new merchant website I am currently setting up. Details to follow.

In other news, on July 16th, Green Leaf Wood Studio will be welcoming a new addition to the stable. Yes, I finally got the proverbial "green light" on a new lathe, the more intelligent brother to my current Nova 1624, the DVR XP. I will get into details of that once I have it and have been able to test-drive it.

I hope this lays to rest the ongoing rumors that I never complete anything. In many cases those rumors are blatantly true but every now and then, I do manage to make some things.

Thanks for stopping by.



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