Category Archives: patterns

On Flutes and Aging

I don’t know much about cheese or scotch, but I’ve heard they can improve if you just let them sit around awhile.  The same might be said for wood sometimes.  This maple bowl underway is from a log that hung around in … Continue reading

Posted in green woodworking, holding, layout, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green

So here is the finished little sumac bowl that I discussed in this earlier post.  No coloring of any kind has been added to this piece; the wood is just that wild.  I like the color against the little tangerines.  Well, at … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, patterns, Uncategorized, video | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Painted Bowl

  Several weeks ago, I wrote a post about carving the side panels of this maple bowl.  Since then, I’ve completed the painting — a slow process.  Not just because artist’s oils dry slowly, but more so because I did … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, drying, paint, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged | 11 Comments

Side Panel Carving

A few months ago, I wrote a post about laying out the side panels on this red maple bowl.  Since then, the bowl dried and I carved over the surfaces again with paring cuts.  By the way, calling this “soft … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, carving, holding, paint, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Reference Sketching

Why make a reference sketch?  In order to draw a subject, one is forced to consider it intently.  I find that I’m often surprised, while sketching, by what I hadn’t noticed prior to making the sketch.  In fact, the process … Continue reading

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More on the Maine Woods… from Eric

In addition to meeting new friends in Maine, I was able to catch up with some old ones, including Eric Goodson.  He even gifted me this lovely eating spoon with a delicately chip-carved handle.  Eating spoons are tricky to get … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, patterns, spoons, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

By Hound and Eye

Arcs flow seamlessly across a transition point if their radii align there in a straight line. — George Walker and Jim Tolpin, By Hound and Eye If you read the quote above and said, “Huh?,” it’s because you haven’t seen … Continue reading

Posted in books, layout, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

White Oak Bowl — Finished

  In creating, the only hard thing’s to begin; A grass-blade’s no easier to make than an oak — James Russell Lowell, A Fable for Critics (1848) I wonder if James Russell Lowell ever carved an oak bowl?  In these … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, patterns, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Sinuous Side Panels

A week or two ago, a friend had a red maple (Acer rubrum) tree down, and I was happy to help him cut it up and rescue a few chunks for bowls.  The creamy white wood might represent a great … Continue reading

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And Now for Something Completely Different….Chestnut

My latest bowl, this boat-inspired piece, came from a Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) tree that grew a couple miles from my home.  In the photo, it is riding on waves of walnut bark on the wood stack.  I’ve got more … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, holding, layout, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments