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The Solstice Batch

While my more sensible friends were out howling at the moon, I was sitting in the shop with cups of paint and handfuls of steel wool, finishing up the latest batch of new bowls.

Clockwise from top left, “Kiwi”, Solstice”, a white oak piece and a little honey locust utility bowl. They’re headed to Sebastopol Gallery this afternoon.

A nice little bowl made from a tree we took out of our front yard.

I roughed out this bowl a few years ago and it’s been sitting in the drying pile thinking about life since then. As I was starting to finish-turn it, I realized it was pretty badly checked (checks are the cracks that can develop as wood dries). But I really liked the piece of wood so I kept going. I normally don’t use checked wood at all, but this one has a lot of personality. I like it. I called it the Breathing Bowl since the wood is obviously still very active.

Since I was painting this one on the Solstice, I went with sunny colors. I’ve been having fun with layering different paint colors, something my new set of paint chips makes infinitely easier.

I’m very, very happy with this bowl. It has a lot of presence. I called it “kiwi”.

When you lightly sand and then steel-wool milk paint, you get a very pleasing, slightly toothy surface. Once it’s oiled, it’s also incredibly tough and food-safe. This bowl feels really good to hold.