June is here and the birds and flowers are bursting with enthusiasm. I’m mostly making final preparations for my upcoming shrink pot and lettering class at Pete Galbert’s, but I wanted to take a moment to post this bowl that I’ve just finished and follow up on a couple things from the Hand Tool Haven event.
This bird/waterfowl-inspired bowl was carved from a straight section of cherry log. I shaved off the rotten sapwood and got down to the sound heartwood, shaping the blank so that the head and tail, in profile, would rise slightly up and away from the body.
There’s the hollow from above, ready to serve. You can also catch a bit of the band of texture and color just below the rim. On that narrow tapering band, I carved a loose series of gouge cuts, then some “blue spruce” milk paint, which was then rubbed back. The paint appears more bright and bold in these photos than in reality.
The exterior surfaces were left from the drawknife and sloyd knife. Cherry is known for some surprise sap pockets, and there was one right about the location of the bird’s heart (only on the exterior). I did a little cardiac repair with a mix of wood glue and cherry sawdust. That went well with all of the colors around the wound. There are a couple more photos of the bowl below.
This cherry bird is available for purchase. It is just under 12″ long, 5 1/2″ wide, and 3″ high. $650 includes shipping. If you’re interested, please email me at dandkfish@gmail.com. Thank you. SOLD
Going back a couple weeks to the Hand Tool Haven event, it was a thrill to be there and meet Jamie Harpster and his crew that are doing so much for a good cause. I met many interesting and talented people, including Shea Alexander. Shea and I met while we were searching through Josh Clark’s vast assortment of antique carving gouges for sale. I have purchased some used tools from Josh’s Hyperkitten Tool Company over the years, and it was nice to meet him.
Shea is part of Alexander Brothers. They provide all sorts of materials and finished goods related to woodworking, blacksmithing, and leatherwork. I learned the they’re selling butternut bowl blanks sized perfectly for my Bowl From a Plank design. Butternut can be difficult to find, so it’s a great resource.
I did buy a few gouges from Josh. The name stamp of the former user is often icing on the cake.
The multiflora rose isn’t all that’s in bloom in June. The “tulips” are on the tulip poplar again.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
Dave, a great inspiration to start June off. This is a very elegant continuation of the goose bowl theme. I look forward to the October edition of the Shrink Pot class at Peter’s. -Frank
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Thanks Frank. There is certainly a continuity between the goose bowls we did in last year’s classes and this iteration. Looking forward to carving with you again in October!
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The free-form carving along the side is a playful touch. The bird bowl form proves to have a lot of room for expression. This one has a very on-the-water feel about it.
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Thanks Phil. I definitely had the general idea of a water bird in mind. Some sense of a goose or duck.
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Love the detail in the last bird photo showing the ends of the “tail feathers.” The center gap is lovely, and the simple little scallops across the back edge really catch my eye.
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Thanks for sharing those observations! The little scallops were done with a sloyd knife.
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it was awesome having you there and I am so happy to met Josh and Shea, and all the other great people supporting the mission!! Hope to see you next year and I won’t bug you but door is always open whenever ur ready to teach with us 😀
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Hi David. I am nearly done with my Bellamy eagle (painting next week I think followed by gold leaf). I also purchased some nice butternut to do the bowl from a plank. The butternut is a skinny 4” thick and 7 or 8” wide. I have all the plans for the original dimensions. Do you think the board from a plank scales up easily? Thanks, Joe Leonetti.
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Joe, the bowl from a plank plans will adapt easily to various widths and lengths. The layout process will remain the same, just adjust naturally to the size of your plank. Aesthetically, there will be no disadvantage.
However, when it comes to thickness…If you go with 4″ thick as opposed to 2″ thick, that will be significant, especially in terms of the carving procedure itself. You will have a very deep and steep bowl that may be difficult for your tools to negotiate. Sketch out the center cross-section on the end grain of the bowl before you begin to see the reality of the contours before you commit. You can always resaw the plank to reduce it’s thickness.
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Thanks David for the feedback. I’m not opposed to trimming the wood down. I do have the No 8 and No 5 and No 6 gouges you recommend for the making of the bowl and carving the tree of life. What do you think based on those tools would be a reasonable thickness/depth to make the bowl? From a carving perspective, I still consider myself a beginner with about 2-1/2 years of carving one night a week for 3 hours.
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I’d suggest sticking as close to the plan as possible until you feel more comfortable with the design and process, Joe. So, resaw the blank to a 2″ thickness and reduce the width to 6″. Since the blank is close to 4″ thick, you can get two bowls out of this blank, plus some extra wood off the side for something else. Should work out great.
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fab
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All of your birds seem to fly away very quickly. Fantastic for your income ledger, but difficult for those of us who don’t catch them out of the coup.
GREAT to hear about the butternut bowl blanks, a fine idea for those of us who moved south of hardwoods territory. (I’ve haven’t yet tried carving a Florida palm.) Thanks for the link to Alexander Brothers!
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