Black Ash Burl hf

[Kathy Marshall]

This is the 1st turning from the black ash burl blanks I received from Cory Norgart a couple weeks ago. This piece was the one on the bottom left. It was colored similar to the one on the bottom right, but had a little more light areas. In looking at the blank and deciding how to orient it, it looked like the most burl was in the darker areas so I made that the top. I took it to the bandsaw to cut off the corners and to my surprise, the colors reversed. The dark areas were lighter under the wax and the light area was darker under the wax.
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I mounted it between centers, roughed it to a cylinder and faced the bottom. Next I mounted it on a faceplate and then started roughing the shape. I just kept thinking Wow! This piece was full of burl figure and feather. After seeing DD's latest, I momentarily considered using some dye to really pop the figure, but just couldn't make myself do it.It ended up at 4 1/2" tall x 5 1/2" wide with a coat of danish oil (it will get some wop later). The pics don't do it justice and it should really pop after serveral coats of WOP.
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Thanks again Cory for the beautiful wood!

Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful work Kathy! You nailed the orientation! Amazing wood!

[Curt Fuller]

Oh Wow! Now that's just beautiful!

[Bill Bolen]

Gorgeous pieces Kathy. You certainly got the best from that wood.

[Bill Wyko]

Truly extraordinary. It has the feel of looking into a Forrest of trees. Excellent form as well. Thanks for sharing.

[Rick Markham]

Fantastic Kathy!!! Perfect shape, and grain orientation!!! :D

[Dan Forman]

Really beautiful Kathy! If the picture doesn't do it justice, I think I'd be afraid to look at it in real life, in case my brain would explode. :)

Dan

[John Keeton]

Good call on the orientation as the eyes are in the sapwood side as you have it. Had you reversed it, I am afraid you would have lost much of that look.

Great piece, Kathy! I love working with burl, though I have not had the pleasure of using the black ash burl Cory has.

[Michelle Rich]

gorgeous wood in any orientation! nicely shaped vessel

[Dennis Ford]

WOW it does not get better than that.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Excellent piece of wood , great form. Nice work kathy

[Russell Eaton]

Kathy you KILLED that piece. A true home run.

[Tim Rinehart]

Gotta agree with all comments that you nailed this very well. Orientation and form couldn't get any better! I tend to side with you on the dye dilemma...but nothing wrong with this stuff left au natural!

[Fred Belknap]

Don't get much better than that.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful piece and wood Kathy. Really nice form.

[charlie knighton]

well done, thanks for sharing

[Cory Norgart]

You did very good on this Kathy!!!! I am soooo glad you didnt dye it,,,my personal preference, that is only for certain woods.. Dont get me wrong tho,, Ive seen some beautiful dyed BA Burl,, usually on Burlwoods with less or partial burl configuration.. I think your pictures are great on this piece,, dont fool yourself:) Kathy,, you are an outstanding artist,, and I am honored you enjoyed this wood, I cant wait to start one of the pieces I got from you, it will be soon, I just have a couple of irons in the kettle yet that have to get done and than I promise you a post. Once again, top notch Kathy!!

[Nathan Hawkes]

WOW! Now that's a nice piece of Ash! Very nice job on the form and finish as well.

[Alan Trout]

Kathy,

That is an incredible piece of wood and a beautiful turning.

Alan

[David DeCristoforo]

That is soooo sweet! That's as good as it gets. Would it be redundant to say you totally nailed the form? You chose well on the orientation because this would not have nearly the pow value with the darker tone on the top.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Kathy,
I must say, it has been fun watching your work as you progress from bowl turner to artsy turner. That's a very sweet hollow form and a well used piece of wood. I feel your enthusiasm by the sheer volume of turnings you produce and by your excellent choice of wood. You've always beautifully oriented your work in the wood and this one is no exception. Keep them coming, you're fun to watch.
faust