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Two New Items Hit the Gallery! Published On 08-27-2010 , 12:17 PM I'm getting dizzy trying to keep up with production. I've got more pieces coming soon but for now I give you "Mulberry Swirl" and "Midnight Oak Blossom". I've mentioned the mulberry piece here before. It was the first piece turned on my new Stubby Lathe. It's been tossed around my shop for almost 2 years waiting for some inspiration. There was a large bark inclusion on the rim that popped out and I wasn't happy with the way it looked. A Symposium session with Sharon Doughtie gave me the idea I was looking for. I grabbed a cutting wheel and sliced a long spiral down the entire piece, reshaping the ugly void. The slice was further carved to give the illusion of one side slipping under the other. The inside had moved quite a bit, leaving ridges on the grown rings. I loved how it felt so I used a rough sanding mop on the outside to remove some of the softer growth rings, in effect "raising" the harder rings. I love turning endgrain! It feels very earthy and begs to be held. The piece has a bit of burl & birdseye here and there and the chatoyance makes it glow. The color reminded me of ancient gold. To emphasize this I put a tiny amount of gold micro-holographic dust in with the wipe-on poly. She stands a proud 7.25" tall. Now we move from a rich ancient gold find to a mysterious midnight surprise! This is another piece that got kicked around the workshop for almost 2 years waiting for me to finish it. Every year at the Long Island Woodworkers show we have a vendor come with a portable saw mill. I grabbed this piece of "scrap" from their cast off pile while no one was looking and turned it at the show, much to the delight of the onlookers. The inside or top of the bowl showcases the quarter sawn flecks coveted by furniture makers. It really gives life to the piece and denotes a swirling pattern. This led me to the swirling patten carved on the bottom. After finishing the swirls I scalloped the rim to carry the carving to the edge. The bottom has been ebonized with a torch, then airbrushed with blues, greens, violets, reds & magenta to give a dark opalescent appearance. A small amount of micro-holographic dust was added to give a mysterious luster to the piece. The icing on the cake is the spectacular 12mm Swarovski Crystal Volcano "Rivoli" (at left) set in a recess at the center of the "blossom". This dark mysterious piece is full of surprises! Hop over to the Gallery to see more photos on the above pieces. So, "what does 500 pounds of wood look like" you ask? My wonderful son collected all this for me! He was leaving an apt. complex and spotted this broken cherry tree that the county had already cut up. The tallest piece on the right is the cherry. It comes up to my chest. The rest of the larger wood is all walnut and a few crotches of pin oak that my son got from one of his customers. He had to leave a lot behind as his work van was full and the larger pieces were several hundred pounds each! I've already turned an endgrain walnut dish that is resting in a bag of wood chips and I have another slice of the trunk you see up on the saw horse to make a matching shallow bowl. It is supposed to be a great weekend so I should have more treasures to show you all next week. Comments
A Weekend of Regeneration! Published On 08-23-2010 , 1:38 PM Finally I can let the proverbial cat out of the bag! "Regeneration" started out as a $7 discount bin block of dried out spalted maple. It was meant to be a warm up piece to get me back in the grove after a 14 month recovery period from my last spinal surgery. I posted a few "in progress" shots to my twitter feed and my son said he loved it. His 30th birthday was approaching so I pressed on with the project. Silly boy forgets that he's not 100% Irish, but I gave him a woodburned Celtic ring on the bottom anyway! Around the rim I mounted 30 peridots in gold settings. I deliberately drilled all the way through the rim so there would be gold dots on the inside of the bowl. The title "Regeneration" eludes to my determination to get back into the woodshop and his progress through his own generation. I teased him throughout the process by posting 1" shots of different parts of the bowl. I delivered his gift to him on August 20th. Upon looking at another new piece of mine my darling boy commented "You never stop taking my breath away!". I have the greatest son on the planet! <3 I hope I can continue to earn that! Hop over to the Portfolio to check out the detail shots! We had a fabulous weekend but it was way too short! My boy presented me with several blocks of wood from a woodworkers store he discovered near his work route and roughly 500 pounds of fresh Cherry, Walnut & pin oak. Gave me great traction on the way home with all that dead weight in the back! How I'll find time to get to all of it I'll never know. The mass exodus of retirees from work is really making me bitter. I seem to be suffering from a "mid-life" crisis. I feel trapped in a job with no future, everyone is running either scared or for the hills. I'd give anything to be able to leave this place and do my artwork full time. I feel like I'm running out of time, the calendar is speeding up & my heart and soul is left trampled and dusty at the door to my job. The only time I'm blissfully happy is when I'm in my woodshop with the music cranked up and up to my head in woodchips. I dreamed a few weeks back that I moved to Florida to help my mom care for my dad and I rented a shop. I had a beautiful gallery in the front and my dad and I puttered in the woodshop happily all day. Even my son & grandson moved down with me. It was a perfect life, until I woke up... What a roller coaster, eh? Comments (1)
The Voices have spoken Published On 08-16-2010 , 8:02 AM The third and, sadly, last piece of wood from the Voice of a Beloved Tree project are done. The Potter's Voice is 5"W x 5"H and the walls are 1/8" thick. I was shooting for a sphere but Mother Nature said "No". So far she hasn't steered me wrong. As this shape emerged I recalled seeing an ancient piece of pottery in the same shape. As with the others in this series, I felt as though I was listening to the tree recall memories and those memories helped shape the final pieces. I had a lot of fun with this series and am sorry to see it end. I had a very productive weekend in the shop, working on 3 projects. The first being the final Voice piece and on two pieces that had been sitting in my shop for quite a while waiting for inspiration. The first one is from this post on my blog about the first piece I turned on my Stubby lathe. This mulberry vase had a large bark inclusion at the top that flew out while turning. I just didn't like the void it left behind so I put it aside until I had a plan. After the AAW Symposium this past June I had the inspiration to grab a cutting wheel and slice a large spiral down the piece. I had left the vase pretty thick so I had enough wood to make it look like one side of the vase would slip under the other side. This piece was turned on end grain so I used a very aggressive sanding mop to create a sand-blasted surface. Sand blasting digs out the softer summer growth in effect raising the harder winter growth rings. I'm in the process of finishing this piece so look for it soon in the gallery. The third piece I worked on this weekend is another piece that has been languishing waiting for an idea. It is a natural edge shallow bowl made from a scrap of white oak. I turned it during a live demo at the 2008 Long Island Woodworkers show. We have a crew that brings a portable saw mill and trees. I grabbed this piece off the scrap heap. I left this piece thick as well thinking I'd play with a bit of carving. I'll be using a dramatic finish for this and am eager to see how it turns out. Several other little pieces are waiting for finishing. I'm hoping to have a dozen or more pieces in this year's show. Look for more pieces to hit the web soon! Comments (2)
New Pieces hit the Gallery! Published On 08-13-2010 , 2:21 PM Dear Gentle Readers: Finally, what you've all be waiting for! Two new pieces just hit the gallery. I've completed 3 pieces in 2 weeks and have more to come. These are two of a three piece series called Voices. The wood came from friends, John & Vicki Jordan. John is a master woodturner himself so he holds stately trees in high regard as do most woodturners. The Jordan's had just restored their home, which has been home to the family for seven generations; some 200 years. There was a majestic maple tree standing at the front door for all this time. After recently restoring their home several tree experts told them that it would be wise to take the now sickly tree down before it crashed through the house. With reverence and care, John had the tree cut down with turning in mind. Nothing was wasted and over 150 woodturning artists world-wide are now using the wood to make tributes to the source or our art. You can read more about the project on their Facebook page. I wasn't sure how "Voice of the Modern Age" would turn out. it was the smallest of the three. After turning & sanding I got daring and grabbed a bottle of alcohol dye. Above is the results. "Voice of the Ancients" is the second piece and one I've had tons of interest in. A true "diamond in the rough" this one is. This baby is a delicate jewel; the walls are a minute 1/32" thick at the top and grade up to 1/8" thick at the bottom of the bowl. She weighed a feathery 34grams, just a shade over 1 ounce. There is a large bark inclusion and a void. It took a lot of patience and super glue to turn this piece. This has to be the most delicate piece I've created so far and I really like the challenge and reactions from people. The final piece from the Voices series is drying from its 3rd coat of poly. It will need several coats of lacquer after that but will be done soon. It is the largest of all 3. The third piece finished in those 2 weeks is a secret. It is a gift for my son, Patrick. He turned 30 on July 17 and I wanted to make him something really special. I'm spending next weekend with him so when I get home I can post the images here. I have several pieces that have been stacked up and waiting for inspiration. I have a show in November so I'll be cranking things out in rapid succession. Look for these new pieces in the coming weeks. I had been so depressed these last 14 months. I guess my body doesn't heal as quick as it used to. Turning 50 really sucks. Turning wood really doesn't! Until next time, I'm yours in woodchips... Truffuls Comments
Wobbowls series Published On 11-24-2008 , 12:47 PM I spent 3 glorious days with David Ellsworth last weekend. I was so revved up when I got home, but it was so cold in my shop I didn't get a chance to hit the lathe. This Sunday we had a heater installed in the shop so I can now work without freezing all winter long! I am writing an article about my experience with David. We'll see if any of the woodturning magazines accept it. I got 4 more Coffee Bean Business Card holders turned last night. I'll carve and texturize them tonight and start finishing them. Only 3 will be available from this batch as I plan to give one to the friend who gave me the wonderful walnut wood I'm using. The first in my new series called "Wobbowls" (as in "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down") is up. These are round bottom bowls that gently rock (wobble) when put down. This first one is a glorious piece of white birch. It was among the items I turned during my two days of live turning demos at the recent Long Island Woodworkers show. The wood is slightly spalted and is sporting a few worm holes. The chatoyance is amazing and it is delightful to hold. It was turned green (wet) and the show attendees were amazed at just how wet "wet wood" can be. I have several more items still to add to the site. I just need to photograph them. After seeing the photo station that David uses I'll be making my own soon so the turn around time from finishing a piece to adding it to the site should be greatly reduced. That's all for now folks. Comments