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I refer to this piece as an Offering Bowl. The exterior is organic and irregular while the interior is smooth and welcoming.  Working with Manzanita is a journey with so much to discover. This why I love developing Manzanita pieces. The bark intrusions, insect damage, root and branch connections add character to each Manzanita piece.  I spend a lot of time looking at each root ball to determine the form I can unlock from the raw material.  I believe  Michelangelo said it is t

Fragile X Bowl Donation to the 2014 Conference for the Mind Institute and Fragile X Foundation. Notice the X markings around the body band representing the X chromosome. Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a genetic cause for developmental disabilities.  It is also a known genetic cause of autism. Fragile X is a genetic disorder and the cause of inherited mental impairment.  This group is a leading in research for treating Autism.  This bowl is Ambrosia Maple and the size is 12 inch

Raspberry Glaze Wood Donut is a Hollow Form style of woodturning. It requires skill and experience to remove the interior wood through a small opening. The maker does this with hook shape tools. Unable to see into the opening he relies on calipers and sound to remove the interior wood and not break through the sidewall. Raspberry Glaze Wood Donut is maple burl with a red stain over black with a lacquer finish. You can see where the insects took their share of bites. The

Description Maple Wood Burl Bowl is one of the largest bowls I have made, certainly from exotic wood. You need a big home, a big table and a lot of salad salad to fill this bowl. It sold in a Long Island, New York Gallery to an architect.  The size is 22 inch diameter by 7.5 inches high. Art Sales The selling of art fascinates me.  The buyer is spending discretionary income that can be used to purchase many other necessities and yet the art speaks to them.  They not only brin

Cyclopes Wood Bowl is a Curly Maple hollow form that reminds me of a cat’s eye due to the grain patterns in the wood.. The size is 4 inches in diameter by 4 inches high. The bowl is in the Hollow Form style of wood turning.  It requires practice and skill to remove the interior wood through the small opening.  Since the maker is unable to see into the opening he relies on constant measuring with calipers and the cutting sound to remove the interior wood while maintaining an e

This Madrone Bowl Stack is a group of 4 turnings.  Madrone is a wood that changes shape when it dries.  The objective is to understand if the deforming of four small wood vessels would be consistent if they come from the same wood block. If so, they should all be similarly asymmetrical.  By stacking them and twisting them slightly the orientation should allow them to stack vertically or nest into each other.  The sizes range from  2.5 inch diameters to 1.5 inches. The wood is

Wooden Maple Donut Hollow Form Style Bowl with an undercut rim in the shape of a donut. Approximate size is 7 inches in diameter by 3.5 inches high.  It is Maple wood with a lacquer finish. Hollow Form is a style of wood turning.  It requires patience and skill to remove the interior wood through a small opening.  The maker achieves this with hook shape tools.  Unable to see into the opening he relies on measuring calipers and the cutting sound to remove interior wood and not

Description This is a Large Walnut Bowl featuring a decorative rim. It is no surprise that Walnut is so much in demand.  The colors are always rich and the wood cuts beautifully. Handmade on a wood lathe this bowl features beautiful grain and colorful brown markings. The rich brown earth tone colors and age rings make this a special bowl with tons of character. It is not often I find walnut wood this large with these gorgeous patterns. This bowl is perfect centerpiece for a t

Sedona Sunset reminds me of my visits to Sedona.  Looking out to the hills and desert with their incredible colors and the texture of the desert.  This is the natural color of Manzanita wood.  See the similarities between the desert and Manzanita? Process Nothing beats the organic nature of the art pieces that I am able to produce with Manzanita Burl. The Manzanita burl is the most beautiful wood I work with. Each burl has its own unique character with variations in color. In

Description Genesis Wooden Bowl came about as a what I often refer to as a design opportunity.  This is when things do not go as planed and the maker has to find an alternative solution.  In the case of this bowl I had a large wood bowl blank from a willow tree.  I was excited to be turning willow for the first time.  The experience was a let down.  The wood was soft and there was a lot of tear out which leaves an uneven finish.  Then the color was an ugly beige.  The solutio

Description Natural Edge Brain Bowl came about because I was unhappy with the bland nature of this Poplar wood.  In order to fix it and make it more interesting I carved groove patterns on both the interior and exterior and then stained it with black leather dye. The size is approximately 11 x 9 x 7 inches.  There are many turners who will never paint wood.  They are known as “Wood Purists” and I do get grief from them for altering wood.  This is a little ridiculous on their

Faux Tortoise Shell Bowl is from the Norfolk Island Pine species.  This is an unusual tree in that the branches grow out like spokes on a bike wheel in concentric layers.  Other trees grow  branches randomly. The tree is native to Hawaii and Florida. When the branch is cut at the tree trunk the knot appears as a red dot. This wood will absorb Linseed oil and becomes translucent as the cells absorb the oils and the oil hardens. This piece looks like tortoise shell. The process

Natural Edge Style Trend This Flight Natural Edge Bowl has tons of character with the texture and colors of Cherry wood.  The form features a small diameter pedestal style foot which gives the piece the appearance of lift. I gave this piece the name Flight because it reminds me of an Egret waiting for food to pass in the bay, but always ready to take off in flight. The top irregular shape edge is where the bark was located.  This item was made in a workshop at the David Ellsw

Copper Finish Wood Bowl is an Elm bowl featuring a decorative rim band.  The finish is copper with an oxidizing agent to provide an antique effect. The size is approximately 11 inch diameter by 3 high.  My signature is on the bottom. Alchemy One of my favorite decorative themes is being able to change the appearance of wood to look like metal.  t is a theme that I often pursue to make a piece of wood no longer identifiable as wood. The viewer will pick it up believing it is m

Beach Erosion Bowl is a Maple burl cap that is 9 Inches in diameter by 2.5 inches high.  I am happy with the rough outer natural edge and the smooth interior with the flowing grain. It reminds me of the pattern left by water rushing over beach sand. I like to look at a raw piece of wood and think about the best way to represent the character of the material in a finished product.  Here the block of Burl exhibited so many unusual organic features that the rule “less is more” w

Description Bowls Grow On Trees is to show that bowls evolve by spinning a log on a lathe. A tool which looks like a chisel approaches the spinning wood and removes shavings as a shape begins to appear. Process This piece is a way to demonstrate the process of how turning wood can create wonderful items.  I start with a log that I secure to a wood lathe.  As the wood begins to spin a sharp tool presses into the wood and layers peel away.  First the bark is cut away as the too

I design and produce all my items in my Montvale, NJ USA studio Reading Wood This Oak Burl Hollow Form is 7 inches in diameter and 4 inches tall. A  friend had a huge oak tree cut down threatening his Victorian home.  He told me to come over for some wood. When the tree cutter learned that I was a wood turner he hand picked several logs which he said that would make me very happy.  This was early in my journey and it was a surprise that someone could know that there was somet

Description The inspiration for Sand Dollars Bowl is Mother Nature.  During a beach vacation everyone searches the shoreline hoping to find a starfish, sand dollar or a sea urchin. Sand Dollars Bowl features sea urchin skeletons finding their way on to shore with waves and currents. The process to make this piece requires turning a bowl, carving away the negative space, pyrography to burn in the lines and bleaching.   The wood is Bradford Pear and the size is 8 inch diameter

Crawford Coral Bowl is a box elder wood hollow form.  I start with a hollow form shape. Then I carve and pierce the wood and finish with bleaching.  At this point it no longer looks or feels like wood. The really neat thing about this piece is when someone everyone asks, “What is this made out of?”  All of the wood qualities no longer exist. The size is 5.5 inch diameter by 3 inches tall. Box Elder wood is a good material for creating my sea urchin creatures.  After making th

Description Vanilla Chocolate Swirl Burl came out of a 800 pound maple burl that I harvested with a friend on a llama farm. My best advice for you if you get to a llama farm and the animals are fenced in with wire do not to go close enough to touch that wire.  It maybe electrified and that is not a fun experience.  The Burl was worthwhile.  Every slice of this burl yields unique patterns of lines and textures.  Picture a beautiful handmade wood bowl similar Vanilla Chocolate