Very Tall Alder Urn with Banksia Feather Finial.

[Russell Neyman]

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My latest work: "Chief Colby" -- a tall, graceful alder urn with my "trademark" banksia feather finial. I picked the alder because I wanted the extreme contrast with the dark trim. The stand and finial round are Moroccan ebony. The finish on the alder is two coats of shellac (to enhance the figuring) with four coats of wipe-on poly. Interestingly, the ebony simply wouldn't take a finish -- just too oily, I guess -- so it's simply buffed it out and waxed with good results. It has taken me a couple of years to perfect the banksia feather process so that it's great-looking but still sturdy enough to be mounted this way, and the final coats on it are poly, too. 6" wide by 23" tall.

There was a bit of debate surrounding the size of the feather/finial. The locals who enjoy wandering by my shop to see what I'm up to were split on whether to put a large banksia feather, a small one, or none at all. Because many of my pieces are sold to designers through art galleries, I went for the "dramatic effect" of the largest one I could make. The interior (below) has a emerald green texture paint.

This piece will be on display at the Valley Art Gallery in Forest Grove, Oregon.

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[Dennis Ford]

That is very nice and a most unusual urn. I like the large "feather" and the finished interior.

[Russell Neyman]

I got a couple of notes asking how I stablized the banksia pod so that it could be worked into a "feather." Simple: saturated with CA glue first, then sanding smooth, and poly on top of that.

[Baxter Smith]

Lots of different/interesting features to this one. The banksia pod and painted interior are quite eyecatching.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really a interesting looking piece. The embellishments sure do stand out. Looks good.

[Norm Zax]

A very unique piece, and I like it! The part I would change is the base - would probably either remove it or glue an ebony slice beneath the alder and turn with it to create a dark slice as a companion to the dark finial base.
Also, have you considerd filling the feather holes with ground turquise or synthetic inlay mimicking the interior green? Can be very interesting.
Keep em coming!!
Norm

[Russell Neyman]

A very unique piece, and I like it! The part I would change is the base - would probably either remove it or glue an ebony slice beneath the alder and turn with it to create a dark slice as a companion to the dark finial base.
Also, have you considered filling the feather holes with ground turquoise or synthetic inlay mimicking the interior green? Can be very interesting.
Keep em coming!!
Norm

Both great ideas, Norm, especially the green-to-green suggestion. The base was added as an afterthought because I felt it needed something to counter-balance the dark features at the top. Converting the pinecone-like banksia seedpod into a feather is a complex, time-consuming process, and since it's quite porous it might be tough to fill it without contaminating all the fibers around it, but I might give it a try.

These "feathers" (as I like to call them) have remarkable detail and beauty all on their own without further embellishment. Besides the obvious wood grain, there are very subtle geometric patterns that only Mother Nature could produce. I did, actually, fill many of the voids with a black epoxy. Perhaps I will take close-up photos so that you can see what I mean. While many of my turned boxes and bowls draw attention at shows and galleries, anything I do that involves one of these decorations stops the show. It has taken me many years of failed efforts to figure out how to get them to this point.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. Always good to swap ideas with a fellow artisan.