David DeCristoforo
08-29-2011, 6:40 PM
About a month ago, Charlie Belden was gifted several large slabs of old growth (DRY!) redwood burl. Charlie decided to share this wood with other turners and created his "Pay it Forward (http://web.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/Turning/RedwoodSlabs/RedwoodBurlSignUpList.htm)" project.
Charlie put a post on Wood Central in which he invited other turners to request a piece of this wood. There was no charge other than the shipping cost. The idea was that each person who received a piece of the wood was to "pay it forward" in the form of some sort of charitable contribution, hopefully by donating the piece or at least some of the proceeds from it.
I was fortunate enough to be given one of the pieces. It was the perfect size to make one of these "amphora" pieces. This piece is being shipped this week, along with several others to a gallery "on approval". If it is accepted and (if and when) sold, I plan on donating all or part of the sale to the Free the Children Foundation (http://www.freethechildren.com/), a cause that my daughter is very passionate about and actively involved in. If this does not pan out, I will fall back to Plan B. (No idea what that is yet!)
So… here is another "amphora". This one is sixteen inches tall and 4.5" at the rim. The body, embellishment and base are redwood burl. The stem and transition piece are ebonized rosewood. This one is much fuller in form than any of it's predecessors because I wanted to retain as much of the wood as possible. To help in visually balancing the larger form, I increased the size of most of the details. The narrow part of the stem and the transition piece, the "bulb" at the top of the stem and the embellishment were all "bulked up" a bit to add some "weight". I had considered some sort of detailing at the rim but I really wanted the wood to be the center of attention with this one so I left the rim alone. It's finished with lacquer and buffed to a satin gloss.
206316
206317
Charlie put a post on Wood Central in which he invited other turners to request a piece of this wood. There was no charge other than the shipping cost. The idea was that each person who received a piece of the wood was to "pay it forward" in the form of some sort of charitable contribution, hopefully by donating the piece or at least some of the proceeds from it.
I was fortunate enough to be given one of the pieces. It was the perfect size to make one of these "amphora" pieces. This piece is being shipped this week, along with several others to a gallery "on approval". If it is accepted and (if and when) sold, I plan on donating all or part of the sale to the Free the Children Foundation (http://www.freethechildren.com/), a cause that my daughter is very passionate about and actively involved in. If this does not pan out, I will fall back to Plan B. (No idea what that is yet!)
So… here is another "amphora". This one is sixteen inches tall and 4.5" at the rim. The body, embellishment and base are redwood burl. The stem and transition piece are ebonized rosewood. This one is much fuller in form than any of it's predecessors because I wanted to retain as much of the wood as possible. To help in visually balancing the larger form, I increased the size of most of the details. The narrow part of the stem and the transition piece, the "bulb" at the top of the stem and the embellishment were all "bulked up" a bit to add some "weight". I had considered some sort of detailing at the rim but I really wanted the wood to be the center of attention with this one so I left the rim alone. It's finished with lacquer and buffed to a satin gloss.
206316
206317