Month: January 2020

Corvid Moon, final

  • “Corvid Moon” 7″ tall, 12″ diameter
    sycamore, birdseye maple and hard maple
    Aniline dye and shellac finish
Corvid Moon” is the third piece in the “Virgo” series featuring the full moon. It was inspired by both Greek and Pacific North West Indigenous creation stories. The one I am drawn to most comes from the indigenous people of British Columbia where Raven brings light, stars and the moon to the people of Earth. I started planning the design and construction of this piece just after Christmas, 2019 and have worked steadily on it for four weeks. It is made from sycamore (base), bird’s eye maple (top of base, body, wings and tail) and hard maple (head). The body, tail and wings were initially turned from a single piece of wood. After a month of cutting, carving, filing, sanding and reassembly Corvid emerged. Coloring is by transparent water-based aniline dyes and finished with coats of shellac and wax.

Australia continued…pink silky

Another beautiful timber I received from club members in Australia was a piece of “pink silky”. It’s grain pattern resembles oak, but once turned has this beautiful pink hue under certain light. To honor this wood I turned a wide mouthed lidded vessel so that the chatoyance effect of color shifts could be seen on the inside. I wood-burned an ancient three rabbit design into the lid. This motif appears in many ancient contexts ranging from a Celtic trinity to a symbol of fertility. It is believed that the symbol migrated west via the Silk Road from the orient.

Australia

Back in 2017 I visited Australia and through the wonders of the internet and woodturning community was able to visit clubs in Sydney and Brisbane. My Australian hosts were more than hospitable, going out of their ways to show me around, introduce me to their clubs and give me samples of wonderful wood. I turned my first camphor laurel lidded vessel in Australia, in my friend’s woodshop complete with a possum in the roll-up garage door! The aroma was intoxicating and the wood-simply divine! By the time I got the piece back to Arizona, the dry wood dried some more so the opening was no longer true and changed color. I decided to re center the opening, turn a finial and carve the upper surface with camphor laurel design

Original turned camphor laurel vessel

Final carved vessel with finial