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Description This Award Winning Colored Pencil Vase features several techniques to achieve the bone color surface. The process includes wood turning, carving, painting and bleaching. It was awarded Second Place Award from the North Eastern Woodworking Symposium 2017 in Saratoga New York. This is an annual regional event for wood art makers. Process The process began with wood turning the wooden vase. Next I insert color pencils around the body and carve the stipple texture ar

Description Groovy Wood Bowl is a wood turned bowl featuring multiple concentric lines in the body. The lines are recesses with food safe milk paint. These lines and paint create a texture and a sculptural depth on the bowl. Milk Paint is a very interesting product. It is food safe and it is very durable and easy to to use. I use a powder form that I mix with warm water. Usually, I will apply several coats of different colors on top of each other in layers. Next, I sand

Description This Optical Illusion Bowl is a large Beech Wood Bowl. It features carved grooves and a painted surface. The wood was rather bland and needed something extra. So I cut deep concentric grooves into the surface and painted the recesses blue. The lines appear to vibrate playing a trick on the eyes as what happens with a moire effect. Many wood turners are happy making bowls and showing off the wood. For me wood is a canvas and sometimes it requires different fini

Hollow Form Style Dragonfly Hollow Form Vase is a wood turning style. It is where the opening is significantly smaller than the diameter of the vase. The process to make a hollow form takes a lot of practice in order to develop the skills to make this shape. The artist is removing wood from the inside of the piece with little or no visual assistance. Special hook shape tools assist in peeling away layers of wood. This requires constant measuring to maintain a uniform wal

Wood with a History This Underground Railroad Bowl is wood from a storm damaged Mulberry tree on the Underground Railroad Trail in Nyack NY. Just think about the history this tree borne witness to. This historic wood makes this Underground Railroad Bowl a one of a kind with tons of character. It rare to find wood with such gorgeous patterns of beautiful grain and colorful age ring markings. This bowl is perfect as a centerpiece for your table. The size is 8 inch diameter b

My Favorite Wood Manzanita root burl is one of the most beautiful woods I work with. I love the organic nature of this material. It is the most difficult wood I fabricate as it contains rocks, sand, dirt, voids and sometimes bugs which quickly dulls cutting tools. It is a battle to tame a Manzanita Bowl, but the final results are well worth it. Wood doesn’t get much prettier than this. Each piece is a struggle and I swear I will not work with this wood again. But, when c

River Runs Through Vase is spalting Cherry Wood with tons of character from insect and water damage. I filled the voids with blue resin to create the effect of a flowing river. I have a theory that the ugliest wood a woodturner can get his hands on will yield the most beautiful pieces. One would think that a clean straight log will yield the best wood. Well that is probably true for lumber and furniture grade wood. No knots, the grain is straight, no spalting no bugs. For

Day of the Dead Vase is a vase for a group exhibition. The event was in Traverse City, Michigan celebrating Dia de los Muertos. This is a wonderful Mexican and Latin American Festival welcoming returning souls. Coco is a terrific Disney animation movie about this holiday. The vase is Red Cedar wood with a top rim with skulls in resin. The side walls feature butterflies which represent the departed souls. This is the first theme exhibition that I participated in. It is

Workshop in Philadelphia I was invited to teach a workshop at The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia in the Fall of 2018. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce students to techniques to add color to their art. This Wooden Place Setting highlights several methods that I use to enhance my art. These three items show different methods to explore a variety of techniques. The students were given time to experiment on their own pieces. The beauty of the creative pro

Woodturning and Maple Burl Tons of character in this Maple Burl Bowl between the hard wood and the new yellow sapwood. It does not get better than this. My artist signature is on base. What is Burl? When you see a round bump on a tree that is a burl. It is not a tumor or tree cancer. This is a defensive action the tree uses to protect itself after insect invasion or storm damage. Burl is highly sought after by wood workers because of the grain patterns that are exhibi

This stunning food-safe Colored Pencil Bowl features an inlay of colored pencils around the top rim and the body of the bowl. I cut a recess into the top rim and glue in the color pencils. I then do the same process around the body of the bowl. The pencils are sealed in food-safe clear epoxy. Colored Pencil Signature Piece The colored pencils add so much character and truly make this a one of a kind wood bowl. This style is a signature piece. They are in high demand with t

Oak Burl Bowl with Bark Edge This beautiful Natural Edge Oak Bowl features a natural edge rim with the bark intact. This Natural Edge Oak Bowl has tons of character with the texture and the colors of oak burl and the bark edge. It does not get better than this for a natural edge bowl. My signature is on base. What is Burl Want to know more about burl? When you see a round bump on a tree that is a burl. It is most likely a place where the tree suffered insert damage or en

Handmade Ambrosia Bowl This Ambrosia Display Bowl is of the Maple species. It is handmade on a wood lathe. The Ambrosia Beetles enter the wood and create these wonderful markings. Each bowl has different markings. I see a crab crawling on the beach. The markings are from insect damage as the beetles infest the tree. As they eat the tree fibers they leave behind these brown markings. The dots in the markings are holes where the insects enter and exit the wood. Eventually

Cherry Tree Wood Becomes Family Heirlooms Natural Edge Family Commission is a set of four natural edge bowls that I made for family honoring their dad. A Cherry Tree grew at the grave site. Eventually, the tree became too large and began to cause damage in the area. The son spoke with the cemetery officials into allowing him to secure logs from the tree. He understands that meaningful family heirlooms can be created from the wood. Natural Edge Wood Bowls I received a phone c

Vintage American Furniture Technique Wood Bowl with Milk Paint is first painted with a solid coat of orange pant, then I cover it with a solid coat of blue paint. When dry I use sandpaper to expose the orange color. Makers use this technique often to restore or duplicate vintage American furniture. As the paint wears away the previous layers of color begin to appear. This becomes obvious on high spots where there is wear from rubbing. Milk paint is organic and made from na

Milk Paint Wood Bowl is a painting technique that goes back hundreds of years. The interior of the bowl is first painted orange and then blue on top. Then I sand the blue paint to reveal the orange layer. The exterior is orange and reveals the natural wood. Maker’s use this technique to restore or duplicate vintage American furniture. Where the paint wears away the lower colors begin to appear. This becomes obvious on high spots where there is wear from rubbing. Milk pai

Oak Burl Texture has very distinct patterns of swirling threads and tangled string like images. I apply a stain to the wood and the patterns pop. I thought it was worthwhile to show you these patterns on the bottom of this Oak Burl bowl enhanced with blue dye. A Burl is the bump that you may see growing on a tree. It is rather ugly from the outside, but the inside offers amazing opportunities for the artist. Some people think that the tree has a tumor or cancer. This is not

Milk Paint Green Fruit Wood Bowl is decorated with milk paint to present a vintage look.  I paint the entire bowl with green milk paint. When dry I use sandpaper to expose the natural cherry wood. Maker’s use milk paint to restore or duplicate vintage furniture.  As the the paint rubs away from the high spots previous layers of color begin the appear.  Milk paints are non toxic, food safe and made from natural products.  I may use this painting technique when a finished bowl

We the People Platter features an engraving inspired by the Declaration of Independence. This is perhaps one of the most important and powerful documents of all time.  Laser cut on a wood platter with a small cavity to hold your rings on a nightstand.  The size is approximately 7 inches by 7 inches by 2 inches high. This is a laser-cut historic document burned into a platter that is turned on a wood lathe.  The process is to turn a square block on a lathe. This creates the sl

Maple Burl Wood Bowl features the character of Burl Wood. A Burl is that ugly bump that appears on tree trunks. Burl is in great demand because the patterns are beautiful and always exhibit unique textures and colors. I have a theory that the uglier the exterior of the wood the more beautiful will be the interior of the wood. The grain in a Burl grows in different directions as is evident in this bowl. The grain in a tree trunk or branch grows is a straight line. Burl is