Driven by curiosity I made my first [very primitive] hand hewn bowl in 1998. I had no idea that in a few years I would be recognized as one of the very few contemporary masters of this ancient craft. Demonstrating and exhibiting at the top traditional craft shows in the Eastern United States, selected seven consecutive years as one of the top traditional craftsmen in America by “Early American Life Magazine”. During this time, I have continuously worked to refine my techniques and skills with the hopes of “making a better bowl”.
At first improvement came quickly, but through the years I had made most of the leaps and bounds, and as my bowl total continued to rise, areas for refinement became more difficult to identify. Still I was always searching, but I was discovering that hewing a vessel from single piece of wood and staying within the boundaries of traditional and functional was somewhat limiting.
I have often felt I was standing still in the craft. But with my bowl total now approaching 2000, I am still being told my work is “improving”, a testament that the drive is still alive.
In conjunction with this drive to master the technical aspects of the craft has been my desire to gain an understanding of its historical significance. Early on, as I was specifically searching for references to hewn bowls, I was finding that relatively little has been published on any of the crafts as they were used in the making of historic wooden ware or treen. Hewing, carving, or turning.
Then in 2005, while I was still focused on the general field of treen, I was made aware of a narrow branch within it identified as “burl treen.” I was immediately attracted to it, finding a diversity of work from two cultures that rekindled a waning passion.
In the 2 years since I have devoted hundreds of hours to mastering the skills and techniques required to produce burl treen in the historical styles, from hewn/carved Native American work to finely turned Colonial covered pieces.
It has taken well over a year to locate and acquire enough of this now rare and quite expensive burl to consider this venture.
Much trail and error and dissecting of burl has been required to understand how orientation of the finished piece in the burl or section of burl will affect the figure.
It has been an exciting but monumental challenge, with each increased level of skill and understanding being accompanied by a deepening respect for the historical works and the anonymous craftsmen who created them.
After many “false starts”, I feel I am now ready to offer my work in burl treen. All pieces will be inspired by historical works but will show the hand of my personal skills and technique.
In Native American styles I will focus on hewn bowls, some with cut - out handles, and ladles/dippers.
In Colonial, I will focus on finer pieces used for table service: covered pieces, salts, compotes, specialty pieces, and occasionally bowls.
Due to the high cost and limited supply of burl, I will concentrate on higher end work.
