To make this bowl, I glued together almost a hundred precision-cut bowl segment pieces. The first time I tried to make this bowl, I was over ten hours into its construction when it flew off the lathe and shattered - itself and my heart. I was, fortunately, able to salvage something from the remains of it (you can check out that bowl out here). And the very next day, as what I see to be a divine consolation prize, I received a commission to make the exact kind of bowl I'd blown up, as a 30-year anniversary present for friends I'd known all my life. I figured out the unforced errors I'd made and was able to complete this bowl without destroying it in the process. The bottom of the bowl has a distinctive and beautiful grain pattern I chose to highlight. The walnut for this bowl was sustainably harvested locally my good friend Cameron Howard, of Howard Horse Power LLC, a certified master biological woodsman associated with the nonprofit Healing Harvest Forest Foundation. He pulled this tree out of the woods with his pair of Suffolk draft horses, which don't compact or damage the ground. The maple comes from a tree I harvested on our property. I milled both into lumber on my sawmill and then had the wood expertly kiln-dried by Jerry Renneker, a fellow parishioner and the proprietor of Wide and Long Lumber. This is a large bowl, measuring 12 1/4" across and 4 1/2" high. It is finished with all-natural, non-toxic, non-allergenic, food-safe walnut oil. If used as food serving bowl, it should be hand washed, and if washed repeatedly, it will eventually require renewed application of finish - walnut oil or mineral oil, just like you would renew a cutting board. I only make this bowl to order, so it requires at least two weeks of lead time, as each bowl requires over a dozen hours to complete, spread over several days. If you like this style but would prefer it in a different size or with different design elements, feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I can make a bowl to your exact specifications.
