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Hollow-Turned Vase English Yew Wood Root with Bark Inclusions
This is one of my favorite pieces, and every time I look at this photo - which really doesn't capture the true color and chatoyancy of the wood - or see the piece itself, I regret selling it. I know that it is treated well and is in the possession of one my biggest collectors, but I would still love to have it back; when you are a young starving artist you will sell almost anything to survive. Yews are some of the prettiest woods to turn. Their colors run from a deep honey brown to purple to reddish-orange. Irish Yews of many forms are now widely domesticated here in the United States, but the English Yew is not so often planted here. The spreading tree from whence this piece came was planted in the 1920's on Maryland's Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. Being able to locate such a tree with the bark still intact and in time to complete this piece made it truly one-of-a-kind and next to priceless. This particular piece was turned so that the orientation was upside down, meaning the bottom of the piece was the section growing out of the ground and the top was the root burl. When creating these kinds of pieces I need days of continuous working time solely dedicated to turning in order to take advantage and fully respect the rarity of such gifts of nature, knowing full well that material such as formed this piece is so very hard to obtain. In all of my turnings, though, I strive to collect and uniquely transform wood that is as special as I am able to acquire. Still, none of my pieces will ever involve the destruction or harm of a living tree.
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Photography by Peter Shefler © 2002 Clearstory Studios