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A Little Fishy for Woodturning is an wood sculpture item that I created in a workshop with Michael Hosulak. Hosulak is an exceptional wood artist that I began to follow when my woodturning journey began in 2009. Even today, his work is so different from what all other master turners are doing. His voice is unique and his style is instantly recognizable. It is whimsical and colorful and the shapes are unlike everything else. Many pieces are downright bizarre. My Wood Turn

Fragile X Carved Vase is a gift for Dr. Randi Hagerman. She is a top research doctor in the at the University of California at Davis. Her team is doing state of the art genetic research. I am a volunteer at the Mind Institute in their research program. I carry a gene that creates a specific protein. Isolating this genetic material shows strong evidence towards successful treatments and potential cures. It is heartbreaking to see these children with limited mental develo

Description As with much of my art, I derive inspiration from Nature. Plants, leaves and seed pods are a consist source for inspiration. I admire the delicate ferns that come up every Spring in our garden. The delicate lace like leaves intrigue me. Then another favorite is the Ginkgo leaf. Is there anyone who does not like the shape of a Ginkgo leaf? I often challenge myself to recreate these wonders of Mother Nature. This Fern and Ginkgo Vase embody my favorite plants.

Description This turning of the Planet Earth Wood Sphere features pyrography, also known as wood burning features symbols for water, land and life. The wooden sphere is freehand turned on a wood lathe. I then spend many hours at my studio bench in Montvale, NJ USA creating the story. With a high wattage pyrography tool I brand symbols into the wood ball. Then I airbrush colors to highlight the symbols. Explore the Planet Earth Wood Sphere and you will discover water, bir

Maple Seed Pods are also known as Helicopter Seeds because of the spinning motion they make falling from trees.  Or so we called them growing up in Brooklyn. They are the seeds from Maple trees. My goal is to recapture my childhood memories of these seeds spinning to the ground.  As kids we would split the seeds open and stick them on our nose.  I guess we were easy to entertain. I get a lot of inspiration from nature and various seed pods which are often a source for explora

First Place Award in Carving for Dancing on Air Vase at the Totally Turning Symposium in Saratoga in 2016. This piece is inspired by Matisse’s painting “The Dance” hanging in the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.  Matisse is one of my favorite artists. This piece of wood art starts by turning a vase shape on a wood lathe, then drawing the dancers.  Over several days at the studio bench I am carving, piercing and sanding.  The Bradford Pear wood has beautiful grain markings from the

Always a great weekend event at the Totally Turning NWA Woodworking Event in Saratoga. Award for Second Place 2016 for my seed pods and ash vase. I derive much of my inspiration from Mother Nature.  Poppy Seed Pods and Vase are made on the Wood Lathe. The wood is Madrone from California.  The cylindrical shape that comes off the lathe begins to distort as the wood dries. The asymmetrical and organic shape is what I am looking to achieve. Once dry each pod receives a series of

Wood Sculpture Elm Dog Burl is a sculptural form. For years a large piece of Elm Burl sat on my shelf. Not sure what I will make from it, it just sat there. I began to notice animal forms peering out of the wood. Perhaps it should remain as it is and not lose those feature which would happen if I would turn a bowl. I began by cleaning up the front surface with a little carving around the edges. Then removing wood from the rear to mirror the front and lighten the mass. Do

We love looking for sea treasures as with this Eroded Wood Urchin.  Here I explore making sea urchins.  I turn the form from Madrone wood, then carve it, and finally bleach it. The size is approximately 4 inches in diameter. After turning the hollow form on the lathe I spend several days at the workbench to complete an item with this amount of detail.  The final piece looks like it came from the ocean and not the forest. I would like to discuss Madrone wood.  It grows on West

Large Wood Sea Urchin.  We all love scavenging the beach for keepsakes. Sometimes we get lucky with a starfish, sand dollar or in this case a sea urchin.  Meet Large Wood Sea Urchin. I turn, carve and bleach to simulate Mother Nature.  Size is about 4 inches in diameter. This is the treasure we look for on a beach vacation. Here I explore making wood sea urchins using Madrone wood. After turning the hollow form on the lathe I spend several days at the workbench carving the de

Matisse Falling Leaves Vase is inspiration from the art of Matisse during the period he could no longer paint and set about creating his art by cutting paper forms with a pair of scissors. This vase is 12 1/2 inches tall. I carve the  leaves from Apple wood and which sit proud by approximately 3/8 of an inch and then painted.  There is remaining  a section of the bark to retain the look of the original tree trunk. I find that I go back to the art of Matisse often for his flow

Who doesn’t like Ginkgo leaves?  Inspiration for this Ginkgo Leaves Wood Bowl is from Mother Nature. This bowl features turning, carving and bleaching of Bradford Pear.  The size is 7 inches in diameter by 4 inches deep. This Ginkgo Bowl is turned on the Lathe. When the form is complete with the proper   thickness for carving I draw the leaves.  Next I remove the negative space between the leaves with a dental drill.  My goal is to create a delicate bowl held together by the

Scary Wood Sea Urchin is a wood sculpture of a Sea Urchin.  It is fabricated from Madrone wood.  The process to make this piece includes turning, carving and bleaching.  I enjoy changing to look of wood so it no longer is identifiable as such.  Approximate size is 3 inches in diameter. Madrone is perfect for creating faux sea creatures.  After turning a hollow form shape on the lathe I will devote several days refining the details with various power and hand tools.  When I co

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

Abstract Sphere Wood Sculpture is an experimental piece in carving.  I make a sphere, then hollowed it out. Next I drew intersecting bands and carve away the negative spaces.  Finally I us paint and decorate with a gesso texture.  I am not sure what it is and not sure if I like it. I think the reason for my disappointment is that it is not as delicate as I imagined. The only reason for posting this item is because the concept does have potential and I will revisit this style

Coral From the Beach is Madrone wood featuring turning, carving and bleaching.  After turning the shape on the lathe I spend several days at the workbench to complete an item like this.  The final piece looks like coral that came from the ocean. Madrone Wood I want to say a few words about Madrone wood.  It comes from the West Coast and it is very difficult to get in the east.  I would love to get more of it.  As the wood dries it deforms  mysteriously taking on a new shape. 

Collaboration Stella Meets Mondrian in this sculpture where all of the pieces are from one large vase from which I cut all the components.  I explored this concept previously with my post “Sea Worms” which is much more organic. Here I am looking to make an assembly with sharp edges and bright colors.  I am combining the strong graphic shapes in Frank Stella paintings and the bold colors of Mondrian’s grid painting. The size is 7.5 tall x 7 wide x 4.5 inches high.  Here are li

Night and Day Sculpture is an inspirational piece by the art of Rene Magritte. Looking from the top view you see the Day. Reverse the sculpture and the view is that of Night. If you are not familiar with the art of Magritte may I suggest that you do a little research on this Twentieth Century Surrealist Artist. The first time I saw his painting I was just out of high school and hitchhiking through Europe. There was a retrospective in a museum in Brussels paying homage t

Winter Branches Platter is an experiment to be able to make a wood platter and a wood block that will be able to produce a wood cut print.  Through out my college years, I am creating silk screen and wood cut prints. Now I see the possibility to create a utilitarian platter that also serves as the print block. Wood Cut Print To make a wood cut print the artist draws an image onto a flat piece of wood.  Now I carve away the space between the lines.  This leaves a recess in the

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