Category Archives: bird bowls

Playing With Cool Sticks

Green woodworking can imply more than just the general notion of working wood that is still relatively fresh with a high moisture content.  Among other things, the term connotes the idea of working with nature, sensitively considering the unique attributes … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, cherry, figure, finding wood, green woodworking, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Rooftop Bird with 12/12 pitch

It’s been a couple years since I wrote this post about a bowl orientation I call a rooftop bowl.  In it, I discussed working with this type of blank and suggested experimenting with quarter-log splits and other angles.  Of course, … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, finding wood, holding, layout, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

Maple Hen

I just finished a hen bowl in maple and left it natural except for the bit of red paint on the comb.  Besides the lack of paint on the body, I made a couple other changes compared to those I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in ale bowls, bird bowls, bowls, layout, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Bird Inspiration

The birds are singing in the rain about the small pond in front, the inquisitive chickadee that has flown at once to the alders to reconnoitre us, the blackbirds, the song sparrow, telling of expanding buds. Henry David Thoreau, journal … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, cherry, finding wood, nature, photography, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Revisiting the Ale Duck

It had been a while since I carved an ale bowl, so it was fun to make another recently, in this case an ale duck.  I’ve written several posts about ale bowls, including some that go into my carving process, but  … Continue reading

Posted in ale bowls, bird bowls, carving, cherry, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

True Hope is Swift

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings. Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.           — William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, Scene ii I knew I had to carve that first line … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, carving, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, Lettering, quotes and excerpts, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments

It Took a Crook

An oak crook, more specifically, was the origin of this rooster-inspired bowl that I’ve just finished.  The flow of the grain is evident in the top photo in the line between the light sapwood and the darker heartwood.  I first … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, paint, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

A Bird in the Hand

I’ll be thrilled one day if I ever convince a chickadee to eat from my hand.  Until then, this little guy will have to do.  I carved him from a small maple crook, and learned the difficulties of carving small.  … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, cherry, nature, proportions, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 26 Comments

Quiet Hen

Noise proves nothing.  Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid. Mark Twain, Following the Equator (1897) No asteroid under this chicken.  Since my last post, I finished her with oil … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, paint, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

The Return of the Swallows

This little guy was in the pear tree yesterday morning.  I hadn’t made any in awhile, which is a shame because they are a lot of fun to make.  I based the design on the swallow and their graceful curves … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, carving, cherry, patterns, spoons, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 11 Comments