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English Yew Root Hollow Vessel
"Puka" Series

This is another purely artistic turning created from an English Yew root - which was destined for the landfill - that I obtained from a yard in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Sometimes I'm really blessed with great material, and it is a pleasure to have given it a second life. The difficulty in obtaining raw material of this size is a rarity and to be able bring it to fruition is gratification beyond words.

Before starting on any material of this nature it is nearly impossible to envision the final product, this was a true "work-in-progress", starting in late 2004 and finishing in the spring of 2005. This particular piece of the tree did indeed tax my abilities. When turning very thin-walled hollow vessels like this, the flexible green wood can expand due to centrifugal force from the fluctuating rate of rotation of the lathe. Even a minute expansion - usually invisible to the eye - combined with even the smallest incorrect change in the way the hand-held cutting gouge is presented to the rapidly turning wood can result in a beautiful piece ending up in hundreds of shards in a split second.

Bringing these types of turnings to completion also requires me to be creative and very tentative while it is put through a very delicate and exacting drying process that is different for each piece. Hand rubbed with 8 to 10 coats of Tung oil over a period of 3 to 4 weeks this piece is finished with a carnauba wax buffing.

With proper care, this piece will last several lifetimes or more. As a part of my "Puka" Series - Puka [poo' kah], loosely translated from the Hawaiian language, means "holes" or "perforations" - this piece, is truly an unusual, distinctive, and once-in-a-lifetime creation. The interior of this vessel was dyed black, so that the viewer focuses on the exterior and the unusual colorations and grain patterns of this chatoyant wood that are brought to light by the turning process.

[ Note: "chatoyant" means: "having a changeable luster, or color, like that of a changeable silk, or of a cat's eye in the dark" ]