Category Archives: cherry

Almost Ready for Ale

I finished carving a couple personal-size ale bowls over the weekend.  These are the two I mentioned having roughed out in my recent post about ale bowls.  I haven’t oiled them yet, but I thought I’d share some photos of … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, carving, cherry, historical reference, holding, layout, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Every Goose a Swan

WHEN all the world is young, lad, And all the trees are green; And every goose a swan, lad, And every lass a queen; — Charles Kingsley, Young and Old Charles Kingsley’s simple wonderful lines of youthful optimism were running through my … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Dancing with Nature

What a privilege it is to collaborate with Nature.  Green wood is a medium that has a lot to say; there is no blank canvas.  Nature is a dance partner, and she usually takes the lead. Especially in pieces like … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, layout, nature, tools, Uncategorized, video | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Some Spoons For Sale

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been carving some spoons from crooks.  Here are seven of them, and I’m offering them for sale.  I’ll provide photos and a brief description of each one below, but there are some … Continue reading

Posted in cherry, spoons, Uncategorized | Tagged | 12 Comments

Finding the Spoon in the Crook

I like making spoons from crooks.  It makes for strong elegant spoons that let the tree be a design partner.  Besides, I like discovering the crooks. When a crook is split, the sinuous ergonomic profile of the spoon is revealed.  … Continue reading

Posted in cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, sketch, spoons, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Walking….and Spoons

The more you walk, the better you feel, the more relaxed you become, the more you sense, the better you think, the less mental clutter you accumulate.  And it’s the uncluttered man who is the happy man. — Aaron Sussman … Continue reading

Posted in cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, nature, spoons, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Bottoms Up

It’s time to think about bottoms.  After all, your bowl is going to spend most of it’s life resting on it, and it is an important design consideration.  You can even add some fun designs.  Folks might even smile when they … Continue reading

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Basking in the Sunshine

The plus side of the cold temperatures lately has been beautiful clear sunny skies.  I propped up this cherry bowl in the window to bask in the sunshine and help along the curing of the flax oil.  I do this … Continue reading

Posted in carving, cherry, holding, layout, patterns, tools, Uncategorized, video | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Prepare to Pare

I was paring the interior of a cherry bowl recently.  Whenever I perform this operation, I hold the gouge in an unorthodox carving grip, reminiscent of a scene from Psycho or Julius Caesar. This allows me to register my thumb against … Continue reading

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I hope you love birds too.

I hope you love birds too.  It is economical.  It saves going to heaven. -Emily Dickinson It is very pleasant work carving bird bowls.  I start with a branch and a few roughly sketched lines.  After much bulk is removed … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, cherry, holding, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments