The Medium
Urban neighborhoods are generally filled with a variety of trees. Disease, sprawl, and age can bring a favorite tree down. The end result is usually that the tree ends it life as firewood or at the waste facility. The endeavor at Urban Wood Creations is to intercept the wood and use it to create an object that reveals the internal beauty of this downed wood, giving it a second life.
Through relationships with arborists, tree services, and word of mouth, a variety of green wood is available. The first step to the process is inspecting the log for branch stubs, a crotch "y", burl, or any other growth that might indicate an interesting grain pattern below the bark. The piece is then mounted on the lathe in a manner to best reveal the perceived most interesting grain patterns. As the turning process begins, the plan may proceed as conceived or very possibly make a 180 degree change. It is all about the wood, not the plan. That is what makes this process so interesting. As the shavings are flying off the bowl gouge or roughing gouge, the beauty of the hidden grain comes to life and exposes what took as much as 50 to 100 years to grow.
Urban neighborhoods are generally filled with a variety of trees. Disease, sprawl, and age can bring a favorite tree down. The end result is usually that the tree ends it life as firewood or at the waste facility. The endeavor at Urban Wood Creations is to intercept the wood and use it to create an object that reveals the internal beauty of this downed wood, giving it a second life.
Through relationships with arborists, tree services, and word of mouth, a variety of green wood is available. The first step to the process is inspecting the log for branch stubs, a crotch "y", burl, or any other growth that might indicate an interesting grain pattern below the bark. The piece is then mounted on the lathe in a manner to best reveal the perceived most interesting grain patterns. As the turning process begins, the plan may proceed as conceived or very possibly make a 180 degree change. It is all about the wood, not the plan. That is what makes this process so interesting. As the shavings are flying off the bowl gouge or roughing gouge, the beauty of the hidden grain comes to life and exposes what took as much as 50 to 100 years to grow.