FEATURED WOODTURNING
This will be a section featuring a new piece with details about its make up and the story behind it.
"Last Light"
This 23 X 19" Wall Hanging was turned from Mahogany using several centers then dyed and finished. It suggests to me a view of the sun's last light of day as it is reflected off an island mountain and on to the sea. Perhaps the viewer is on a ship, surrounded by waves which are becoming darker as the light fades. You may see something completely different, but I hope you enjoy the picture. This piece is my entry into the Art Prize show which will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan this coming September. They will have about 1500 artists in many different venues around the city. It is a show worth seeing if you can get there.
This 23 X 19" Wall Hanging was turned from Mahogany using several centers then dyed and finished. It suggests to me a view of the sun's last light of day as it is reflected off an island mountain and on to the sea. Perhaps the viewer is on a ship, surrounded by waves which are becoming darker as the light fades. You may see something completely different, but I hope you enjoy the picture. This piece is my entry into the Art Prize show which will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan this coming September. They will have about 1500 artists in many different venues around the city. It is a show worth seeing if you can get there.
This is a 9" covered dish made from Cherry. It was blackened using a solution made by adding steel wool to vinegar. When applied to woods with a high tannin content such as Oak and Cherry, it causes the wood to turn dark, a process called ebonizing. Black and red dyes were added to deepen and enrich the color. The central portion of the lid is made from Cherry Burl, which did not have the black coloring. Texture was applied to the middle ring of the lid with a wood burner. It was sold through the Zero Degrees Artist Gallery in Marquette.
"WAVE" is this week the featured turning. It was made from a slab left over from a large Ash Burl which had been hanging around my shop for about a year. It was shaped quite irregular and I was not sure how to approach it. There is burl figure in the middle portion and this is the form I was able to obtain. The lid comes off and contains both Walnut and some of the burl which I cored out of the center. There is a small portion of burl on the nob of the handle as well. It was dyed with multiple colors finally coming up with the deep maroon that you see. This piece won the Turning of the Week in the American Association of Woodturners forum the week of March 9, 2014.
The January 20, 2014 featured turning is called SHIELD. It is turned from a maple burl and metallic copper an ground Turquoise stone were added. It was then Dyed. The piece measures 22" across and is 16" high. It is mean to be a wall hanging.
The featured turning for December 9, 2103 is this 13" platter made from a Maple Burl. It had many small and some not so small cracks and bark inclusions. I filled these with powdered copper and Cyanoacrylate glue. The piece was dyed and copper paint was added to the grooves around the rim. It was finished with many coats of a polyurethane product. Pictures of this piece were posted on several wood turning forums where it was well received. In fact it won the Cover Award for 12/9/13 on World of Woodturning, which is an international, very highly regarded woodturning forum. It is currently displayed in the Paige Wiard Gallery in Calumet, Michigan. I was also accepted into the Great Lakes Showcase juried Art exhibit at Michigan Technological University 2014.
HOT DISH is the Featured Turning for October 21, 2013. This is a 13" X 3.5" Bowl turned from a Maple Burl which had some large and not very solid bark inclusions which I removed leaving the large holes in the base of the piece. I used a torch to char the inside of the holes and dyed it blue, sanded it back which opened up some areas around the holes and then applied a red/orange dye. The Burl has lots of figure and the colors make it look like something smoldering in large canyons in the base of the bowl. I was going to call it "Hot Dish", but that sounds too much like food. The pictures really don't do this one justice. I wish you could all see it up close.
Featured Turning for October 10, 2013. This is a 12" X 4" Bowl turned from Big Leaf Maple or Western Maple as it is also called. The tree is fairly common in Oregon, but here in the UP it is not to be found. I purchased a large irregular burl from Bell Forest Products in Ishpeming and this is part of it. The burls can have a lot of spikes and these are evident in the picture on the left. I would have liked to have more of the spikes, but had to deal with wall thickness issues and some of the spikes were topped off. It was dyed using my usual dyes and finished with a polyurethane product. The figure (grain pattern) in the piece is remarkable and I can't wait to turn the rest of it. Hope you enjoy it.
"UP STREAM" Featured Turning for October 4, 2013.
This is another wall hanging/platter turned from Maple, dyed and textured. It is about 18" in diameter. The surface has waves in it and there is a prominent texture pattern following the growth rings. There are also several areas that are untextured in the middle of the pattern. Look closely at the texturing to see the fish swimming up stream. They must go around the rocks to reach their destination. Hope you enjoy this piece. For the rest of the month it will be part of a show at the Sweet Water Cafe' in Marquette. There are also hand dyed and nuno-felted silk scarves made by my wife Rene' Himes and her friend Renee Michaud in the same show.
This is another wall hanging/platter turned from Maple, dyed and textured. It is about 18" in diameter. The surface has waves in it and there is a prominent texture pattern following the growth rings. There are also several areas that are untextured in the middle of the pattern. Look closely at the texturing to see the fish swimming up stream. They must go around the rocks to reach their destination. Hope you enjoy this piece. For the rest of the month it will be part of a show at the Sweet Water Cafe' in Marquette. There are also hand dyed and nuno-felted silk scarves made by my wife Rene' Himes and her friend Renee Michaud in the same show.
Featured Turning for 9/22/13
This is a dyed and textured Maple Vase about 8.5" tall and 5 " in diameter. I used the growth rings as a pattern for the texturing I did with the Dremel. Multiple colors were used in both the textured and nontextured areas. There is a natural defect in the wall and a natural curve to the lip giving extra character to the piece. I don't have a name for this piece as of today. It has been sold.
This is a dyed and textured Maple Vase about 8.5" tall and 5 " in diameter. I used the growth rings as a pattern for the texturing I did with the Dremel. Multiple colors were used in both the textured and nontextured areas. There is a natural defect in the wall and a natural curve to the lip giving extra character to the piece. I don't have a name for this piece as of today. It has been sold.
The September 18th Featured Turning is "CORAL CAVE 2"
Coral cave 1 is the title of an earlier piece. This was an off center Maple Burl which was turned as I would turn a short vase or "hollow form". It was quite difficult to turn as the sides are not very thick and there is a lot of bark, which I wanted to keep on the piece. This piece reminded me of an underwater cave which I would see when I was snorkeling. I added some texture to the bottom and colored it with multiple layers of dye. There were many hours of sanding this piece as it is so fragile and there are several hard to reach places. I have added an image of the burl before the pieces was done so you can get an idea of the process.
Coral cave 1 is the title of an earlier piece. This was an off center Maple Burl which was turned as I would turn a short vase or "hollow form". It was quite difficult to turn as the sides are not very thick and there is a lot of bark, which I wanted to keep on the piece. This piece reminded me of an underwater cave which I would see when I was snorkeling. I added some texture to the bottom and colored it with multiple layers of dye. There were many hours of sanding this piece as it is so fragile and there are several hard to reach places. I have added an image of the burl before the pieces was done so you can get an idea of the process.
CORAL CAVE 2
More views
More views
CORAL CAVE 2: This shows the piece as it is mounted on the lathe with a hole bored into the center. The hollowing was done by under cutting the sides of the bored hole. You can see the large defect in the side at the 1:00 o'clock position.
September 9,2013 Featured Turning is "REACHING"
This is a wall hanging/Platter about 18" in diameter made from Yellow Birch with texture and dye added. I see a figure who is reaching to heaven and sending and receiving love and comfort from above. This is in memory of my daughter Laura who recently passed away.
This is a wall hanging/Platter about 18" in diameter made from Yellow Birch with texture and dye added. I see a figure who is reaching to heaven and sending and receiving love and comfort from above. This is in memory of my daughter Laura who recently passed away.
FEATURED TURNING FOR SEPTEMBER 2-9.
This piece is a lidded vessel about 14" tall and is so far untitled. The base and brown/orange part of the lid are Bird's Eye Maple and the other parts of the lid are Cherry with a Maple finial. Turquoise Inlace was added to the lid and the piece was dyed using blue and orange Aniline dyes. The lid is well fitted and comes off the base. The Bird's Eye came from a dead tree that I harvested (with permission) about 4 years ago. Since the photograph was taken I have added several more coats of Wipe-On-Poly finish, so in "person" it has a nice glossy shine.
This piece is a lidded vessel about 14" tall and is so far untitled. The base and brown/orange part of the lid are Bird's Eye Maple and the other parts of the lid are Cherry with a Maple finial. Turquoise Inlace was added to the lid and the piece was dyed using blue and orange Aniline dyes. The lid is well fitted and comes off the base. The Bird's Eye came from a dead tree that I harvested (with permission) about 4 years ago. Since the photograph was taken I have added several more coats of Wipe-On-Poly finish, so in "person" it has a nice glossy shine.
August 24,2013 This week I chose "Reflections" as the featured turning. This is a piece made from a White Birch crotch where the tree divided into two main trunks. This creates a feathery like figure in the wood that can be seen in the center of the piece. The separation into two trunks is seen beginning on the left side.
There is a story to go with this. My Son in law, Brandon Boesl, who is a wonderful photographer was visiting us in July and took a spectacular picture of the sunrise. This inspired me to try to capture the feeling of a sunrise in this wood turning. While I could not duplicate the colors in the photo, the piece represents a sunrise with reflection of the colors in the sky on the water as the sun starts to peak over the horizon.
There is a story to go with this. My Son in law, Brandon Boesl, who is a wonderful photographer was visiting us in July and took a spectacular picture of the sunrise. This inspired me to try to capture the feeling of a sunrise in this wood turning. While I could not duplicate the colors in the photo, the piece represents a sunrise with reflection of the colors in the sky on the water as the sun starts to peak over the horizon.
