Today's student - Karen

Karen is a friend and ex-colleague who came over for the day to turn a bowl. Unsurprisingly, Karen took to it like a duck to water and made a great ash bowl!

Turning the inside.

Showing good tool control!

The inside completed. It feels lovely and smooth! It is finished with sanding sealer and microcrystalline wax which shows up the fantastic grain.

From this piece of wood came a lovely bowl!

Experimenting with hollowed vases

In the last few weeks I have been experimenting with the form and colouring effects. These vases have rounded bases and have been finished with metallic bronze paint and verdigris wax to try and give a weathered effect.

Slightly scorched to open the grain but the pith on the base scorched too much leaving a hole.

Brushed to open the grain. This wasn't very effective. Black ebonising lacquer was used before the bronze paint, having the effect of filling the grain again! When the excess verdigris wax was removed, most of it just rubbed off leaving a shiny finish. However, it does sit at an interesting angle!

Brushed aggressively to open the grain. Black acrylic wood dye then bronze paint. The verdigris wax stayed in the grain more effectively but (not shown here) when the excess was rubbed off, "rub lines" appeared towards the top of the vase. That would have worked if they were random but unfortunately formed a regular pattern round the vase. The base is nicely rounded. The foot was removed and the base rounded by holding the top of the vase on gripper jaws in expansion mode, protected with self adhesive neoprene.