Osage orange 9″ x 2 ½”, turned from a cracked blank started some years ago.

The cut face of Osage orange changes from bright yellow to medium brown as it ages.

Maple burl; 4 ½” wide by 1 ½” tall.

Turned over the course of a few days…getting my seasonal feet wet on the lathe with something bigger than usual.

This bowl came from a half-log section given to me by our arborist some years ago. The wood is undoubtedly still wet although it feels and behaves as if dry — for the moment. Two hairline cracks appeared while turning. Sanding and finishing bowls remains a struggle for me — I spent some time trying to eliminate the flats in the interior curve with moderate success. Sanding marks remain. Sometimes its necessary to move on to the next thing.

I gave this bowl to a visitor from Connecticut. She’s a childhood friend of my sister who also appreciates the view and the food here.

The large bowl on the right was turned as a wedding gift for my niece. The small one in the foreground was turned quickly as an experiment in form. The small bowl on the left also represents a departure in my typical form-making. It is my first bowl which takes on a more “classical” shape, with its flared rim. All have a oil and wax finish.

A very quick turning…more an investigation and exercise than an intent to end with a useful bowl. I am not certain what use a bowl turned of cedar might be as, because of it’s strong odor, it is certainly is not appropriate for food. Left unfinished, it may some day find a place where its natural role as an insect repellant will be useful.

This bowl was turned as a gift for the vacation house of family friends. It is one of the larger bowls I turned from a large slab of maple burl I received from a carpenter who turned bowls once a week.  I did nothing to fill or glue the holes in the bowl; as a bread bowl or other dry goods, these defects will be of little consequence. The bowl is now in the Green Mountain State: Vermont.

A small bowl from a mulberry log.

This bowl is turned from green wood which fell sometime in late spring 2013. My best guess for the wood species is mulberry, which struck me as eerily similar to osage orange. As it happens, these two trees are in the same family, moraceae.