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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

Maple Salad Bowl This Stunning Maple Salad Bowl is rich in color from the heartwood growth that occurs near the center of the tree. The white sapwood is new growth growing close to the bark. This bowl shows unique contrasting features between the heartwood and sapwood. This wood bowl features a slight concave rim. Utilitarian Centerpiece Maple is a common wood in the Northeast. The colors in this piece are extraordinary. They are rich and the wood turns beautifully. Handm

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

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

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

Ambrosia Hollow Form Bowl is a Woodturning Style. It requires skill and experience to remove most of the interior wood through a small opening. Master Woodturner, David Ellsworth invented the Ellsworth Style Hollow Form for woodturning.  Previously it was a form that glass blowers and ceramists practiced. David, a student of ceramics thought it would be possible to make this shape with wood. The challenge is that woodturning is a process that removes material. Ceramics and gl

Norfolk Island Pine Vessel is one of my favorite Woods. It grows in Florida and Hawaii. My first exposure to this wood was in a gallery in Southampton, New York. The gallery was full of contemporary paintings. Way in the back of the store was this incredible wood bowl on a pedestal. I never saw anything like this. As I was admiring it, the director approached me. He explains that it was made by Ron Kent an artist in Hawaii. Ron was retiring and this bowl would be an ex

Volcano and Forest Bowl this is my interpretation of planet earth developing.  There are no flat spots on the bottom so the bowl will wobble with a slight push.  Volcano and Forest Bowl features several craft techniques including off center turning, pyrography, carving, decoration with acrylics and finally a protective finish. It is a one of a kind lathe turned wood wobble bowl featuring forests and a volcano. You can imagine your own story about how the forming of the planet

This Large Norfolk Island Pine Bowl has five red branch knots. The NIP tree grows in Florida and Hawaii.  It is a rather bland wood until it receives the proper oil treatment to bring out the colors.  The process is to soak the finished piece in linseed oil for several weeks.  The wood cells absorb the oil and when the oil dries the wood is polymerized.  It becomes translucent under a bright light with a tortoise shell appearance. The red branch knots become highlighted and a

This is a Shell Shape Natural Edge Cherry Bowl. Seashell Wood Bowl is a gift to my student and wood supplier.  This piece of wood has incredible character.  The feathering effect beginning at the top left edge is where a branch grew.  At these intersections wonderful patterns are evident due to the change in the direction of the grain. Natural Edge Natural Edge is a style is woodworking where the bark location is an important feature of the product.  This is common in furnitu

This Natural Edge Cherry Bowl features the bark remainIng in place along top edge and has incredible character.  Many times while making a natural edge bowl the bark will come off. Here the bark remains intact. Natural Edge Natural Edge is a style is woodworking where the bark edge becomes an important part of the product. Often seen in furniture and table design it is also an important organic form that appears in woodturning.  At times the bark is left in place, but it is c

Description Sand Dollar Wobble Bowl is a semi sphere art object with a sand dollar in the center. Gilders paste is added for color decoration. This is the coloring material for picture frames. Once the half sphere is made it is remounted on the lathe with a vacuum pump chuck which secures the piece to the lathe and this allows me to cut asymmetrical arcs inside the sphere. Basically, as my wife would say, a useless item. Therefore it must be Art. If it is not art is certai

Silver Starfish Wobble Bowl is a woodturning off center semi sphere with a starfish on the ocean floor. This off center sphere features woodturning, carving, pyrography and a variety of coloring applications. This is a one of a kind Maple wood wobble bowl with graphic symbols from a solid piece of wood. There is no flat spot on the bottom of the bowl so it will rock when nudged. It is a great desk item and conversation piece. Silver Starfish Wobble Bowl is very comfortable to

Description My grandson, Oliver, found these Very cool shark teeth and fossils on an island beach in the Chesapeake Bay. I cast them in resin in this Shark Teeth Bowl so he could have them for a very long time. I turn a wood bowl with a wide rim with a recess and place the teeth in the well. The rim is then flooded with resin making this a one of a kind gift This is a technique that I developed with colored pencils. Here is another bowl that features coins around the rim

Description The process to make this Color Pencil Dish is to line up a bunch of pencils in a mold. Then I soak them in resin until a cast block results.  Once the casting is hard I have a material that offers many opportunities to produce unique items. Sometimes it is jewelry and other times it is bowls and vases.  This block went to the lathe to create this one of a kind Color Pencil Dish. Revolving at a high speed a hand held tool cuts into the casting.  Long strings of pla

Silent Auction Donation Rory Wood Bowl is quilted and spalted maple.  A friend approached me for a donation for a silent auction for his young niece who was battling cancer.  I made this bowl for Rory who has recovered. Delighted to play a small part in the healthy recovery of a very ill child. Maple Patterns Maple is an interesting wood for woodworkers. Typically the material is available with a straight grain.  The color is a consistent whitish yellow.  Then there are a var

Inspiration for this Manzanita Wooden Bowl comes from the early pottery of Native Americans.  The wood features terracotta earth tone colors.  The shape displays age and missing pieces from years of misuse. The size is 7 inches by 4 inches deep. Manzanita is one of the most beautiful woods I work with as an artist.  If organic forms are appealing to you will like this Manzanita Wooden Bowl. Every Manzanita root burl displays a unique character. As a raw material it is quite u