Sissoo Bowl with a rim treatment

[Kathy Marshall]

Yesterday I was doing a little cleanup in the shop, and I started off by clearing out some shavings. It was very windy and with the back door and the side door both open, the shavings and dust were blowing all over the place. I shut the side door and without the wind the dust wasn't a problem, but it did start getting a tad warm. So when I uncovered a sisso (indian rosewood) bowl blank that had been completely buried in shavings, I took that as a sign that I had shoveled enough shavings for the day:D.

I knew that I was going to add some embellishment, so I went with a round bottom bowl, and since I knew part of the embellishment would be on the rim, I decided to make it a thick walled bowl.

I turned some v-grooves to border the embellishments on the rim and sides. I used a few different burning tips to brand the side band and then ebonized it with black gesso. For the rim, I ebonized with black gesso first, then used a rotary carving tip to cut the grooves.

It's 7 1/4" x 3 1/2" and finished with a coat of antique oil.

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Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.

[Cheryl A. Prince]

Hi Kathy. I like the weight of the bowl. It looks like it would feel really good in your hands. Looking at the bottom shot of the bowl, your curve looks spot on! The gesso you used to ebonize is very crisp at the edges. Did you cut the groves after you applied the gesso or do you just have a steady hand when you painted it on. I have a hard time getting a crisp edge like yours. Nice burning tips as well. The only thing I might have omitted is the texture on the top side of the bowl. It need to be a little more refined, similar to the spirals on the side of the bowl. Maybe just ebonizing the texture on the rim (instead of carving through) would have blended the top band with the side band a little better. Over all a great little bowl!

[Josh Bowman]

Kathy, I like the bowl. I like the shape, color and embellishments. At first I thought you had done segments or inlays.

[charlie knighton]

very appealing, thanks for sharing

[jwjerry w kowalski]

Very nice Kathy, I like the contrast of the sap wood on the outside and the heartwood on the inside, the inside of the bowl displays the beauty of the rosewood nicely. Just a thought, bu t I wonder how a bead to border the embellishment on the outside, above and below it would look. I'll bet this feels great in your hand with the rosewood being such a dense and heavy wood.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Nice shape bowl and it looks good "stout" in rosewood.

[Tim Rinehart]

Sweet! I like the alternating pattern on the outside banding, and the weight sure makes a fine statement. The natural wood reveal on the top rim using the rotary tool is very cool...I may need to try that, it has a wonderful effect.

[Roger Chandler]

Real nice work, Kathy!

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice Kathy. The wood is great and so are your embellishments!

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks everyone!

Hi Kathy. I like the weight of the bowl. It looks like it would feel really good in your hands. Looking at the bottom shot of the bowl, your curve looks spot on! The gesso you used to ebonize is very crisp at the edges. Did you cut the groves after you applied the gesso or do you just have a steady hand when you painted it on. I have a hard time getting a crisp edge like yours. Nice burning tips as well. The only thing I might have omitted is the texture on the top side of the bowl. It need to be a little more refined, similar to the spirals on the side of the bowl. Maybe just ebonizing the texture on the rim (instead of carving through) would have blended the top band with the side band a little better. Over all a great little bowl!
Cheryl, I use a small foam brush to apply the gesso while the piece is still in the chuck, and just turn the spindle by hand. The foam brush makes it much easier to get a clean line since it doesnt' spread like a bristled bush would.


Very nice Kathy, I like the contrast of the sap wood on the outside and the heartwood on the inside, the inside of the bowl displays the beauty of the rosewood nicely. Just a thought, bu t I wonder how a bead to border the embellishment on the outside, above and below it would look. I'll bet this feels great in your hand with the rosewood being such a dense and heavy wood.
Thanks Jerry. I have used beads as borders on other pieces and like how they look, I just wanted simpler, cleaner lines on this one. And yes, it does feel great in your hand, lot's of heft to this little bowl.


Sweet! I like the alternating pattern on the outside banding, and the weight sure makes a fine statement. The natural wood reveal on the top rim using the rotary tool is very cool...I may need to try that, it has a wonderful effect.
Thanks Tim. I like how the natural wood reveal varies in color between the sapwood and heartwood, it adds a little to the contrast with the gesso.

[Donny Lawson]

Kathy, you did an awesome job on this bowl. Great lines and I love the added features.

[Eric Gourieux]

Kathy,
That is outstanding!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Kathy that is a really nice bowl. I like the embellishments especially the rim.

[Doug W Swanson]

Not often you see a bowl this thick. The embellishment looks great. Love it!