I turned this piece sometime in 2011. Because it had no grain or character I painted it with black lacquer. It sat on my office shelf until May, 2014 when I decided to spiff it up. I applied copper leaf and a chemical patina to the rim and inside. It is too shallow and the bottom is too broad to call it a bowl. The copper is shiny hence the name “Flash in the Pan”.
Before the copper leaf
Autumn Splendor is made on the wood lathe from a piece of specimen Sycamore. The tree blew down in the Spring storm of 2011 at Knoxville, TN. The shape was turned on the lath about 1″ thick at the base and about 5/8″ thick where the leaves start. The piece was sanded to 220 grit sealed with shellac. The leaves were then penciled in.
The next step was to cut the edges of the leaves around the outside of the rim. Then I made a relief cut around the inside edges of the leaves at the bottom of the bowl. Piercing the negative spaces between the leaves was next. Making the leaves 3 dimensional by relief carving the texture and veins make the look pop. Wood burning the veins with a razor tip completes the wood work.
The leaves were then sealed with a one lb. solution of dewaxed shellac. After curing, each leaf was individually masked with frisket. It was now ready to air brush.
Air brushing the leaves with transparent paint is the secret to realistic, vibrant color. On most leaves I lay down a base coat of yellow. It may vary in shade and amount depending on what color I want to end up with. Next comes the red, orange or green layered on lightly in the areas I want the heavier color. A red leaf has a base coat of pink instead of yellow. The same for the purple leaves. Once the leaf looks good I go back and add a touch of shading grey to create shadows. It is important to remember, “Less is More”.
After the paint cures for several days I apply no less than five coats of satin lacquer from a spray can. Two hours between coats so that I do not have to sand. The display stand is finished with gloss brushing lacquer.
Roger Dale Scott WoodPops
I like natural edge bowls with lots of figure (character). However, this Ash bowl had lots of character but not the kind that looks good. OK. What to do.
At the time I’m making new portable shelves for the art shows planned for this year. They are made from cheap rough cut poplar that I plan to ebonize with the iron water and tannis technique. Why not try it on this bowl?
Turned out pretty darned good. I’m a genius, and modest too.
This piece has had more lives than a cat. It started out as an ordinary oak bowl. But, the top blew out while turning. A maple piece I was working on later, the bottom blew out. Of course I keep all these worthless pieces. So I decide to marry the maple top to the oak bottom. Looked like you know what. Needed something. Black and white calcite inlay to separate the oak from the maple. That works. Okay, still not right. Got it – turn the oak black with Iron Water ebony technique. Looks awesome.
Now we just cut off the tenon that’s gripped by the chuck and finish it. Right. Cutting the tenon to close left a small hole in the bottom. What a dumb ass! Now what? Make a plug, fill the hole, putty it, sand it. Looks like sh– well you know. Gotta hide it without a tell. Got just the ticket. Apply Copper leaf to the bottom. Use sodium sulfide to put an antique patina on the copper and, Voila Old Oak Pot with Copper Bottom. It’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey.
This large natural edge, Bradford Pear bowl came out really gorgeous – THEN disaster. It checked! My muse said it looked like lightning struck it. I seized the idea and widened the checks, flattened them, stabilized the movement and inlaid calcite crystals to look like lightning bolts. WOW! It looks marvelous. And that is why all artists need a muse. Thank you Carolyn.
This is a big heavy bowl! After it was turned it developed a couple of small hairline checks. I stabilized them with thin CA glue and Oak wood flour. To turn the Oak black I applied liberal amounts of Iron Water and let it react over night. Iron Water is a solution of white vinegar, 00 steel wool and tea. The Iron Water reacts with the tannis in the oak and the tea and turns black. The bowl was put back on the lathe and polished with 00 steel wool so that some of the original Oak showed through. I then applied several coats of blond shellac. Make a great bowl to display pine cones in your mountain cabin.
This Wild Cherry natural edge bowl is a specimen. I love the shape and the texture of the bark. The stippling on the sap wood adds just the right amount of “Pop”.
This art piece started out as a natural rim bowl. It morphed over time into this. I took it to a weekend workshop at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg TN. The master was Binh Pho and the workshop was embellishment with piercing, pyrography, texturing, and air brushing. This is the first piece I finished from that workshop.
Top Lookin Down
Front
Side
Another Top View
Base
This precious little bowl is made from camphor and inlaid with Calcite mineral. It has a display stand included. It can be displayed standing on a shelf or sitting flat on your coffee table. In either case you will get lots of comments from your art loving friends.
Displayed standing Up
Displayed sitting Flat
Back side on Display Stand
Close UP of Mineral Inlay
Close UP of Inlaid Rim
This multifaceted bowl has it all! The piece starts at the top with a Calcite mineral beaded rim. Just below the rim is the delicate and quite intricate piercing. It is a repetitive pattern of butterflies wingtip to wingtip. The bowl is completed with a blending of rose colors airbrushed and faded into the base of the bowl. Dark shading gives the slight hint of the butterflies bodies.
This small dish has an inlaid gecko. The mineral used is calcite.
Calcite mineral inlay
Rough Natural Bark Edge
Note the contrasting sap wood
Note the floating bowl base
Beautiful bark edge
Bright red bowl! Red milk paint with an under coat of white sanded through gives that well worn look. The scuffed edge completes the affect.
