Koa Contest Bowl - Reposted for C&C

[steven carter]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163761&thumb=1&d=1286542320 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163761&d=1286542320)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163762&thumb=1&d=1286542320 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163762&d=1286542320)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163763&thumb=1&d=1286542332 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163763&d=1286542332)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163760&thumb=1&d=1286542294 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163760&d=1286542294)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163759&thumb=1&d=1286542294 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=163759&d=1286542294)

Congratulations to Jack Mincey, bowl winner, and to all the other category winners and contestants!

I had fun making this bowl and participating in the contest. This bowl ended up with so much chatoyance that the photos don't do it justice. It has been 37 years since I've held one of these, so I just went from what my memory told me it should look like.

Any critique given will be appreciated.

Steve

[David Walser]

Steve,

That's a nice bowl and you should be proud of it. As far as how to improve it, that's always a difficult question. You started out with a beautiful piece of wood and, while you claim the chatoyance is better in person, the photos show that the bowl has some beautiful grain. That's a compliment to both the wood and the finish you put on it. My only question is whether you choose the best form (or shape) for your bowl. Instead of a nice curve, it appears to have almost straight up and down sides. Indeed, the sides seem to taper in slightly, making the mouth of the bowl more narrow than the base. Was that your intent? If you were to paint the bowl black, so your eyes weren't drawn to the wood's great color and grain, I think you'd agree that the interest generated by the bowl's great wood is not matched by the interest generated by the bowl's form. If you were to go to the fine china section of a nice department store, I doubt you'd find many bowls with a similar shape on display. That should be instructive.

Having said that, I think the bowl's form would work very well if matched with a nicely shaped lid from the same or contrasting wood.

I hope this helps. It really is a nice bowl, but one that would be even nicer if it had a better form.

[steven carter]

David,

This was an attempt at a Hawaiian Umeke calabash style bowl that is characterized as having a round bottom, and the opening of the bowl smaller than the diameter. The smaller opening is to facilitate getting food out of the bowl by hand. With the inward sloping walls, the food is supposed to fall into the hand instead of onto the table.

Steve

[Dennis Ford]

I don't think that you could have improved on the wood or the finish. I would have liked to see the interior shape and exterior shape match each other more.

[Kim Ford]

Steve, nice bowl and nice finish.

I would chime in with David though as to form. The bowl in this link is another example of the Hawaiian calabash style that is more what I think of.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200606A22.html

The challange with a calabash style is to not get the base to heavy. To keep the walls as straight as you have doesn't allow the base to curve with the inside keeping the weight down unless you narrow up the upper walls and then protrude the base which kinda gives it a "gord" type look, which gives the piece a different style as well.

The calabash is a very tuff style to turn, I think you have done an excellent job. Keep it up.

[John Keeton]

Steve, I am not familiar with this style, so can't comment on that. But, you did a really nice job on the turning and finishing of this piece. Beautiful wood!!

[Don Alexander]

+1 on what Dennis said on the interior and exterior mirroring

the wood is beautifull and nicely finished too certainly a keeper

[Baxter Smith]

Very pretty wood and finish. Don't know what it was supposed to look like without looking it up so.... looks nice to me!:)

[David E Keller]

It's gorgeous wood and a nice looking form... If I'm not mistaken, there's a fair bit of variety seen in calabash bowls. I really like this bowl!

[Rick Prosser]

When I saw this entry, I could tell it was the calabash style - and there is lots of variation in the style.

My suggestion would be a little more roundness in the sides. The straight sides kinda give it a "squat" look. Might have been OK if it was taller.

Overall, great wood and nice bowl.