| Woodturning
by Chris Zema
I am a self-taught woodturner. I understood
machinery as I had a background in a machine-shop,
and knew how to sharpen all kinds of machining
tools before I ever started woodturning.
I bought a load of logs, and kept practicing
making turned wood bowls until I learned
how to turn properly. If they came out
badly, they went into the stove for fuel.
I graduated from turning salad bowls to
decorative bowls, using classic shapes
- nothing peculiar or 'far-out'. After
making hundreds of turned wood bowls,
salad-style, for about five years, I couldn't
stand it any longer and decided to make
decorative vessels only. I decided that
I should have a distinct style, and I
prefer the classic shapes, with simple
and elegant lines,not necessarily
perfectly concentric. I like to incorporate
some of the natural edge of the wood in
the finished work.
When I changed to turning decorative wooden
bowls and other pieces, I started using
all the local hardwood burls I could find,
from neighbors, loggers, and a few from
my own land. Burls often have voids and
crevices and sometimes embedded pieces
of stone
or hard soil. This gave me the idea to
try inlaying some of my work. At first
I used abalone shell, mother-of-pearl,
malachite and
turquoise. Now I use only turquoise that
I buy directly from the Sleeping Beauty
mine to ensure consistent quality.
My wooden bowls, vases, platters and hollow
forms lend themselves beautifully to inlaying,
but if the wood is exceptionally beautiful
I
leave it in the natural state. I have
been woodturning since I was a teenager,
but never took it seriously as a business
until
about thirteen years ago. My work sells
very well at high quality art and craft
shows.
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