After the relative stillness of winter, everything seems to be in motion now. The spring rains have encouraged the creek to dance to the white-throated sparrow’s tune. Emerging leaves are being introduced to wind. Even when the air is still, they appear to be in flow.

As wood carvers, one of the ways we can create a sense of movement is through texture and the direction of the strokes. On the exterior of this latest bowl, I played around with a new pattern of gouge cuts.

The sinuous boundary continues down and across the foot as it flows between opposite corners. Sort of a yin and yang relationship. The recess inside the foot is carved and milk-painted.

Here’s a notebook sketch as a visual summary of how I went about it:

Another viewpoint, from the side…

…and from above.

This bowl is available for purchase. It is 10 3/4″ long, 7 1/4″ wide, and just a smidge under 3″ high. Black cherry. The price of $700 includes shipping. If you’re interested, please email me at dandkfish@gmail.com. Thank you.

I’ll finish this post with some more spring leaves on the move.

Young quaking aspen leaves — and a white-throated sparrow nearby.