Willow Trio

[steven carter]

For the entire time our 2 kids (girl and boy) were growing up, we had neighbors across the street that had 2 kids (girl and boy), and our kids spent a lot of time together. The grandmother of the neighbor kids lived across the street from them, and had a large willow tree in the yard. My neighbor built a tree house in the willow and the two boys spent countless hours playing there. The kids are all grown, the neighbors have moved, and the grandmother passed away last December. The tree house has been torn/fallen down, and the tree is also on it's last legs. The tree had 3 large trunks coming up from the base and I cut one off to make these bowls. I gave 2 to the neighbor kids as a remembrance of the tree house and thier grandmother, the third bowl went to my son. The wood was very punky, I had to cut 5 large pieces just to get these three bowls, and I will try to get one more so I can have one for my daughter.

The first is 9" x 6".

147274 147275 147276

The second one is 6" x 4".
147277 147278 147279


The third on e was full of worms, it ended up 9" x 3".
147280 147281


This was my first time turning willow, was a bit stringy, but sands quickly. All were finished with home brew oil, beall buffed and ren wax.

C&C welcomed.

Steve

[bob svoboda]

Nice bowls! The only thing better than free wood is free wood with a memorable story behind it!

[Toney Robertson]

All very nice Steven.

I think the second one is my favorite. A classic shape.

Toney

[John Keeton]

Well done!! I, too, like the second one for form, but that third one kind of goes with the history a little better - character, age, ravages of time, etc.

[Bill Bolen]

Your bowls are made even prettier because of the sentiment they hold. Very nice! I have had poor results turning Willow but yours came out just right...Bill..

[Steve Schlumpf]

Steve - great story - really nice bowls! I like the grain and color in all of these! Second bowl gets my vote also - love the classic form! Hope you can find enough good wood in what's left to turn a bowl for your daughter!

[Richard Madison]

Steve C., Nice work and good emotional value in those bowls. Good photos too.

Since you asked, consider use of a plain white background. A couple layers of plain white sheet will do. Do your profile shots just barely looking over the rim so you can see that the piece is hollow but showing the full profile. Not criticism, just some stuff to try.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Steven bowls look great. Like the simple form and finish. What a great story and giving it to the kids as a way of remembering.

[David E Keller]

Great bowls from wood with a nice story.

[alex carey]

it always nice when your turning has a story behind it. Looks good.

[Roger Bullock]

You're not just turning bowls, your turning memories. Any wood that has a history, a story, or memories behind it makes the best turnings in my book. Regardless of our skill level, from the guy that has only turned a few pens to a wood artist like our own Mr. Keeton, we as turners have the ability to take the smallest chuck of wood and transform its history or in this case memories, into something that will last for years to come.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice bowl. Nice story. Great keepsake!