Bowls 2004, Part 2
01 / 20
The second half of 2004 turned out to be another milestone period. More of that later. I made two of these during the summer. They are about 4" in diameter. The bowl and finial is Babinga while the cover is Satinwood.
02 / 20
I like the pieces for their simplicity and usefulness. You can actually use them for stuff. I gave one of them away for Christmas.
03 / 20
I also made two of these. Both in Swiss Pear. This one had a lot of core wood in it while the other one is all light. I spent quite an amount of time designing it. It was basically an exercise in geometry. Boats, arrows, sun rays. The piece is 12" in diameter.
04 / 20
This is neat. After I made the pieces in the previous frame I created another design. As I was cutting the back, pieces started to fall off. Oh happy day, I made a "Snowflake." As you can see it is made from the same piece of Swiss Pear as the previous piece. It ended up at 11" diameter.
05 / 20
If you look closely at the photo you can see that there are only enough rims on the back to hold it together. Being only 11" from tip to tip, it lacks presence. It needs to be bigger.
06 / 20
In previous folders there are swirl bowls. This one has a swirl rim. Its main distinction is that it is the first one that I made and probably the only one. It is made from English Yew and is about 8" in diameter.
07 / 20
This is the most difficult piece that I have ever made. It took me hours figuring out the dimensions before I started cutting. It is 3" in diameter.
08 / 20
It is made from cocobolo, ebony and silver. The wood is beautiful and the finished piece is not too bad either. If I get a piece of dry cocobolo I will probably try it again now that I have the math down.
09 / 20
At the 04' SOFA show in Chicago the curator of the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) liked the square bowl that is on the wall.
10 / 20
It was too small for his purpose, about 10" square. He commissioned me to make a larger piece. This design is actually a derivative of the "Snowflake" five frames back, that is the corner pieces fall off. I made the piece above from the same teak that the original was made from, only it is about 13" square. I was concerned that the idea wouldn't scale, up but it came out great.
11 / 20
While I really hadn't intended to follow this path after SOFA, the commission gave me the opportunity to explore the idea. I actually made two "burners" (see last picture) working out the proportions.
12 / 20
The result was the teak piece and two more. The one above is made from English yew. If you see similarities in some of the woods it is because I had that board as one of about three to choose from. The dimensions are all the same in that the diagonal is 14 3/4". This is the largest swing I can presently manage on my lathe with the cutting jig. I hope to increase that to 18" in March.
13 / 20
I had this piece of madrone burl that i was saving for a special piece. It happened to be 15" in diameter, perfect. The result is stunning. I cut it thicker to add weight to go with the roughness of the wood. Nothing more to say... See Video on how it is made.
14 / 20
Nothing can't be improved upon. Using the same square form I dropped a circle into the center. The piece has to be held to be appreciated. Again, the technical difficulties took hours to work out and I had one shot at it.
15 / 20
Nothing can't be changed. I have always wanted to do something other than straight lines. The square form was the perfect vehicle. Another trip to the machine shop, another check, and there it is. "Wiggly Square 1" which is…
16 / 20
…made from the same teak as the other square piece. Shifting lines, changing wood, gave me "Wiggly Square 2." This is mahogany. At this point I was getting used to working big. Up until this series I was under 12". Going to 15" made a big…
17 / 20
…difference. At the risk of sounding redundant, this piece and the next one are also "MAGNIFICENT" This piece has a slight ogee to the swirl and it is rough finished, except for the center. Madrone Burl, 14 1/2" diameter
18 / 20
This is beyond words. They say you shouldn't fall in love with your work but I love this piece. It is maple, not quite curly, not quite burl. The shape is the same as the teak piece sitting on a plastic tube in the 2004-1 although it doesn't look like it. There is going to be an exhibit at the AAW convention in Kansas City in July with the theme "Return to Oz." I am going to have one of the spokes gold leafed and call it "??????".
19 / 20
20 / 20
I previously referred to making "burners", well this is where the burners end up.