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Monday, March 24, 2008

Yet more lathe turned Alaskan Birch bowls

Just so you all don't think I've been wasting my time around here.

First, I wrote over 3500 good solid words today (which makes up for the 2000 I cut yesterday, this chapter is killing me!).

Then this afternoon I finished a couple of lathe projects.

These are my latest completed bowls. Some are available, some have been sold. And no, Shawn Powers' bowl is NOT among these pictures. His is in progress and will be finished this week, but it was turned from very wet wood and it's taking a while to dry. Sorry it's taking so long, Shawn, but you wanted something in particular and I selected a piece of wood with a lot of character. However, the next bowl picture I post will be yours. It will.
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Alaskan Birch Bowl #54

Status: Sold
Full image gallery for this piece here.
Description: Alaska Birch heartwood, turned from fire damaged, dried wood harvested between Big Lake and Miller's Reach. The tree survived the famous (or infamous) Big Lake, Alaska fire, but had split from the heat. The crack contained charing, which the tree attempted to grow around. After turning, I sculpted the sides to emphasize the grain and the fire damage, then added filigree in flowing patterns. The piece is finished in Danish and walnut oil, and clear glossy acrylic. This piece was made on consignment for a family who lost their home in the fire.

Diameter 12", height 5"

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Alaskan Birch Bowl #55

Status: Available.
Full image gallery for this piece here.
Description: Green turned Alaska Birch heartwood, natural edged. This bowl was turned from wood harvested in South Central Alaska. I left a thick inner bark lip around the rim. After turning, I sculpted the sides to emphasize the heartwood grain, then added filigree in flowing patterns. The piece is finished in light walnut oil, and clear glossy acrylic.

Diameter 7", height 7"

Price: $80USD

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Alaskan Birch Bowl #58



Status: Available.
Full image gallery for this piece here.
Description: Alaskan birch, shallow hollowform design. This piece was turned from wood harvested in South Central Alaska, laid up and dried for two years. It is made from a spalted birch burl, the grain is dense and complex with dark spalt lines in a 'eagle wing' pattern. The rim and sides have tightly grained, opalescent section that appear to glow under strong white light. Because of the dryness of the wood and the complex grain, this piece was extremely difficult to turn and required over a 100 hours to complete. The wood in incredibly beautiful and rare. Finished in simple tung oil and spar vanish.

Diameter 9", height 6"

Price: $170 USD

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Alaskan Birch Turned Jewelry Box#57


Status: Sold
Full image gallery for this piece here.
Description: Alaskan birch, lidded bowl with Celtic love knot finale. This piece was turned from cured Alaskan Birch harvested in South Central Alaska. I made this on request from Becca, who was looking for a jewelry box to set on a bedside nightstand. The sides and lid are lightly sculpted to emphasize the grain. Finished in tung oil and hard acrylic to resist scratching. Both the bowl and the lid are coated in a hard, shiny wax to prevent sticking.

Diameter 7", height 7"

Price $75USD


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Alaskan Birch bowl #59



Status: Sold
Full image gallery for this piece here.
Description: Alaskan birch heartwood, hollowform design. This piece was turned from wood harvested in South Central Alaska. The sides are burnished smooth and finished in simple tung oil and spar vanish.

Diameter 7", height 7"

Price: $75 USD

10 comments:

  1. Jim,

    I am in no hurry whatsoever. I'm giddy, but very patient. :)

    And your new batch of bowls are extremely cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oooh!

    What does this message from the aliens say?!

    And very pretty. The one with the lid is particularly nice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think this time it's the Great Hive Mother's secret brownie recipe. Surprisingly, not a whole lot of chitin called for - more mint than I'm comfortable with though.
    Seriously, though, these look awesome. Where would I find information on getting one for meself?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shawn, thanks man. And I think I'm a bit embarrassed here. I realized, by accident this morning that I never mailed you a check for the youth group fast. I wrote it out, and put it in an envelope and that's as far as I got. Then I completely forgot about it. I feel like an ass, and I apologize. The whole time I was following the fast on your website no bells actually rang in my head, yeah, major case of the dumbass. Are you still taking donations, or has the window closed? Or is there an address I can donate to directly?

    And thanks for your patience on the bowl, I expected it to be done sooner. But it just won't dry, dammit.
    --------------------
    Michelle. I have no idea, apparently only my subconscious speaks Grey. I am not on speaking terms with my id.
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    Howie.

    Well, first you've got to give me a link to more of your graphic artwork.

    Seriously, if you're interested in a piece, just let me know here in the comments. Or drop me an email at jlwright@gci.net.

    ReplyDelete
  5. No worries, Jim. :) The fast is indeed over, but by happenstance, the envelope of money hasn't been sent to World Vision yet. We're still waiting for one of the teens to bring in a check from someone. If you do still want to send the check, we'll happily wait to send in the donation.

    The 4 donors (you included) really did spurn our teens to gather donations. :) Me getting donations from all over the country (2 in Alaska!) really got them going. :) So even without the actual check here -- y'all were pretty effective.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jim,

    That is an absolutely beautiful!

    Send me a total and I will paypal you per usual! I love this piece! I know just where I am going to place this!

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jim,

    If I'm speaking up first, I'd like to claim #59, please. [I don't care either way, but the Flickr set has it at 9" tall vs. the 7" described here, btw.]

    It looks _gorgeous_ and will be part of my 10th anniversary gift to my wife :).

    Thanks - Ewan

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ewan, it's yours. Email me at jlwright@gci.net, make sure you put "birch bowl #59" in the subject line. I'll return your email with details.

    Becca, I'll send you a paypal invoice shortly. Glad you like it, I was fairly thrilled with how it came out myself.

    Shawn, I'll mail it first thing in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ewan, the dimensions posted here for all the bowls are correct. I was cutting and pasting on my Flickr site and obviously forgot to fix a few things. Thanks, I'll fix it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jim, you really are a genius when it comes to turning pieces of wood into pieces of art. These are lovely!

    ReplyDelete

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