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Wood Turning Definition These colorful Salt and Pepper Shaker are handmade on the wood lathe. The woods are Sycamore and Mahogany. This offers a contrast in colors to represent the white color of salt and black for pepper. Sycamore is often underrated. Many people compare Sycamore to Maple. I find the grain patterns much more interesting. Mahogany is a beautiful hardwood that is always appealing. The rich color and durability make both of these species highly sought aft

This is Tabi’s Adirondack Style Chair.  When a grandchild turns two, I make a theme chair based on their interest. I think Tabitha is developing an interest in Arts and Crafts like her Mother and Grandfather.  At least, I do know that she loves this chair.  Looking forward to seeing Tabi develop her artistic expression. This is the fifth chair for the grandchildren. The objective is to create a chair that represents their current interest.  Mai has a wonderful imagination and

Commission Assignments Commission work is a part of the art that I do all of the time. It is always fun and challenging. It requires a high level of focus because I have the responsibility to fulfill the needs of the client and to maintain my standards for excellence. This Ceramic Vase Lamp Commission required transforming a vintage ceramic vase into a lamp. I turned a walnut base and a sphere shape lid. Thus making this mid century vase a contemporary home decor item. As

This Stunning Cherry Burl Platter with figured textures and Burl sections will make a terrific centerpiece in your home. A perfect home decor addition to a kitchen or dining room table. Use it as a fruit platter or a cheese platter or a stand-alone art piece. The size is a 17 inch diameter and 1 1/2 inches tall. If you like this Stunning Cherry Burl Platter take a look this burl gift item. What is a Burl Let’s discuss Burl as it has been mentioned before. It is the large bum

What is more fun than one fish? It is telling a story with a school of fish and a yellow submarine. The fish and the submarine are wood art pieces that I turn on a lathe. Most items that come off the lathe are perfectly round and not oval as are these items. So how does that happen? This is a technique that I learned in a workshop with a brilliant woodturner and artist Michael Hosaluk. I refer to Michael as the Picasso of woodturning. He makes a piece and then cuts it u

Workshop Experience Fish, Tuba and Sea Cucumber are whimsical wood items from a Workshop with Michael Hosulak. Michael is an incredible wood artist and it was my long term goal to spend several days with him. Finally, in the fall of 2019 Suzanne Boswell of Dovetail Wood Arts and I put together the workshop with six other talented woodturners. I think of Michael as the Picasso of wood turning, To me his art is similar to Cubism. Mike creates a symmetrical form on the lathe

Wooden Musical Instruments Magical Wood Tuba is the first of an abstract wood turning musical instrument in the form of a Tuba. I use a wood lathe to produce the initial shape which is a long funnel. Then I slice segments from the existing form at different angles. I next reassemble the piece with twists and turns to create curves from these previous straight parts. Turners refer to this style as Segment Turning. I think of it as Freelance Turning as I was not sure how it

Life Cycle Bowl features a piece of Norfolk Island Pine (NIP) wood. In the United States NIP only grows in Florida and Hawaii. I believe that it is the only tree where the branches grow in concentric layers. This is unlike other trees where the branches grow randomly. This piece does not have any knots, but you can see them in this piece. These knots appear as eyes looking out into the world. This Life Cycle Bowl features symbols that tell the story of life on earth. Sym

These Vintage Country Table Legs are from yellow pine vintage beams that are from a mid nineteenth century New York City Brownstone. I often collaborate with my good friend Rob, the owner of New York City Slab. New York City Slab salvages vintage lumber from demolished buildings in the New York City area. With all the construction and gentrification, there is lots of lumber going to waste. We are proud to be preserving a part of history by giving this wood a new life. Recyc

This Freedom of the Press Platter is a laser etching of an early typewriter patent. Many of the engineering drawings for early patents are works of art. They are in the public domain and worthy of exposure. These intricate and beautiful engineering drawings are available from the US Patent office. First Amendment I transfer the graphic image unto the wooden platter using a high power laser. Then I add the headline “Freedom of the Press” above the drawing to make a stateme

Stunning Walnut Bowl with Pencil Rim is a signature piece.. The wood is from an Estate in Westchester. Due to a restoration project a large Walnut tree became an obstacle for the project. The good news is that all of the usable wood became new wooden items. The mill aware of my work, made a gift to me of several logs to craft woodturning bowls. The large sections from the tree truck became natural edge tables from cut slabs. The wood lives on in home decor items and furnitur

Pretty Woman Zipper Vase is the first in a series of vases with a zipper. The idea came about as a design opportunity when the drying wood vase developed a serious crack. I was not able to give up on the vase because I saw something special developing. I placed the vase on a shelf for several months where I could see it every day. Then one day the solution came to me. I would finish the vase with a zipper. Creative Process The creative process fascinates me on how an ide

This piece is part of my series of zippered vases. Teenager Zipper Vase is colorful and quirky just as many teenagers express themselves in fashion. This Vase is a part of a series of vases that feature a zipper and other elements about fashion and female themes. Teenager Zipper Vase is the third in a series of vases with zippers. The idea for this series started with Pretty Woman which was an accidental design opportunity. The idea came from finding a solution to a crack ap

Description A great deal of my inspiration comes from Mother Nature. These Poppy Seed Pods in vase come off the Wood Lathe. I fabricate them from Madrone wood from California. As this wood dries the cylindrical shape that comes off the lathe distorts. This is exactly the effect I was seeking. Not perfectly round, but asymmetrical. Then each pod goes through a series of processes at the studio bench involving carving, painting and assembly. These secondary processes will

What is a Hollow Form? Dragonfly Vase a Hollow Form Style art piece. Hollow Form is a style of woodturning where the opening at the top is smaller than the diameter of the piece. The concept was developed by David Ellsworth in the early 1970’s. David is a student of ceramics and took an interest in woodturning. In ceramics it is relatively easy to form a small hole at the top of a piece. The artist can manipulate the clay upwards and close the opening. David sought a meth

This Captain America Wood Box is a Birthday Gift for Grandson Jack. The base and lift off lid are turned on a wood lathe. Jack who is a big Captain America fan will have this keepsake box for years to come. Decoration Process The Captain America Wood Box lid is red, white and blue with acrylic paints. The base has a blue stain blue and with pyrography stars are on the wood. Pyrography is wood burning and unlike our experience in the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts. Remember how t

Description Introducing the Zipper Girls Vase Trio. These pieces are the core of the zipper series which began with Pretty Woman. Each vase represents a unique character, personality and culture in feminine society. Twisted Sister named after the Rock and Roll band is about black leather and metal stud fashion. Skinny Jeans is a tall leggy vase in tight fitting faux denim fabric. Biker Chick represents the Harley Motorcycle culture with leather and steel findings. Design O

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 glass adds material and can be manipulated by moving the material around. With a block of wood the turner cannot make the block larger or mak

Everyone loves vintage oil cans and no one knows what to do with them. I got the idea to design these unique Oil Can Jewelry Boxes by combining them with wood bases. Vintage Oil Can Jewelry Box I have a collection of very cool antique thumb oil cans and wanted to do something with them to bring them back for a useful purpose. The idea of a jewelry box with the oil can being the lid came to mind. I turn a wood base so the oil can friction fits into a recess. The challenge i

Description These wooden bowls take on their own asymmetrical organic shapes after turning as they dry. I think of these wood bowl forms as Pottery Shape Wooden Bowls. When a log is fresh cut it contains an enormous amount of water and moisture. This is Green Wood. If the Maker cuts a thin and evenly thick wall the wood actually moves and the shape goes from round to oval to even bizarre. If the walls are too thick then the wood will crack. This is visible in the cracks o