Back in the saddle again....

I'm not sure that metaphor is the correct one, but I've resumed my artistic journey in wood. I took the past year off from woodturning and carving to put all of my efforts on my day job. Long hours in the lab and in front of the computer were necessary to bring the backlog out of storage and into print... or at least into the publication and grant proposal mill.  Ahhhh, peer review - so good for the ego (not!).

However, after the AAW symposium in Tampa, my muse and motivation for wood art have returned. The balance of my time will still lean toward my science endeavors, but I do plan to spend some time in the evenings and weekends playing with wood.

My first project for 2013 will be made from redwood burl (Sequoia). The design is inspired from scanning electron micrographs of Sequoia wood anatomy. Here are the progress pics thus far....

The form I will carve is a tall bowl with walls about 1 inch thick.

The layout was done on my comfy sofa with my dachshunds competing for room on my lap....

(Photo courtesy of Steve Wolfe)

This is the design layout - 33 columns of "cells". The base of the vessel has fewer columns because of the curvature. The carved motif will not be nearly as rigid as the layout - this is simply a guide for where I will pierce through the walls and carve the cells.  If I have room, I will add the paired pits, but I'll have to see how it goes...

(Photo courtesy of Steve Wolfe)