I hadn’t done a green pot for a while so back to that this week. The bowl has really nice grain and wash just perfect for the green. I did do a lot of dark yellow highlights in it which makes a brownish color on the green. The lid is cherry (I have a lot of cherry boards). The spindle wanted to be large so it was. It is natural walnut with a touch of walnut oil to darken it up a bit.

I hadn’t done this since elementary school (or maybe earlier than that) but this is the results of my finger painting experiment. The background is india ink and the painting was done with acrylics. The photos don’t do it justice as it just turned out splendidly. I had just got a bottle of leather dye and wanted to try that so the inside has that applied. After drying I applied shellac to the inside and a coat of butcher block was. Everyone who has seen this is amazed. I did get the idea from Gary Lowe on youtube (thanks Gary!)

I still have a large Sapele board in stock and wanted to turn something from it. Sapele has a natural chatoyance to it that just pops out when finish is applied. I also got some black leather dye that I wanted to try on the rim. The flower motif was a perfect embellishment for this project. Dish is about 6″ in diameter with lacquer finish.

I wanted to get my new light box built to get better photos but got distracted on shop upgrades — building drawers, painting cabinets and painting the floor. The upgrades are almost done (round 1) so I can get back to that soon.

This piece has been sitting around since I turned and colored it months ago. It originally had a black top and just didn’t excite me. Last week I decided to revisit the top and here is the result. A bit whimsical but certainly better than the original. i still need another half dozen coats of lacquer to shine up the apple and lid (which I found out was some sort of particle board material which did give it an interesting texture for coloring).

This bowl was going to be another black one to replace all the ones that sold but I just wasn’t pleased with the finish. The answer was to cover the bulk of the bowl with my acrylic flower motif. The lid is a piece of cherry with an inset black spindle with is a deviation from the spindles I normally turn. It just helps with the lift on the top half of the bowl. I had thought about bringing the flowers all the to the top but I think just bringing them up the sides was just enough. The bowl is maple and has been left naked inside.

This cherry plate has been sitting on my bench for at least a year now with no particular purpose. It was time to move it along. I wanted to see how well the cherry would take dye and wasn’t really impressed with the results of the green but once on there, it stays on there. The perfect solution was to flowerize it. My wife has now claimed this piece.

The magnolia was so much fun to turn, let’s just say one good turn deserves another. This one has a base and lid turned from some sycamorere that I cut into boards last year. The spindle is Brazilian Cherry. I just got a big load of maple this week so that will be used for quite a few upcoming projects.

I have a lot of projects going on in different stages. Many are back logged waiting for lacquer and the weather has just not been cooperating with me. This piece was from a log someone left me that I thought was poplar due to the grain and coloration but the donor showed up and told me it was magnolia. What a joy to turn it was. The whiteness screamed for color but the grain patterns were wonderful. This one wanted an indigo blue which I had to custom mix from some batik dyes I had been wanting to experiment with. My wife thought it was the best color job yet. With practice comes proficiency. I was able to take it outside and put a sealer coat on yesterday since it was sunny and fairly warm but the winds were a bit much to do a lot of spraying so I have 2 other projects waiting in the wings.