"Pua" Open Flower Forms
Black Walnut with English Boxwood
Spalted Wormy Ash with African Blackwood

In the Hawaiian lanuage the word "Pua" - amongst other things - also means flower blossom. The first piece in a series of flower forms created in 2003, the Spalted Wormy Ash end-grain turning uses a piece of African Blackwood to replicate a seed pod on the exterior and a flowering bud on the inside. Influences for this piece are flowers of the shape of Petunias and the Plumeria from Hawaii and Southeast Asia. As a native of Hawaii and one who has spent a number of years traveling and living in Southeast Asia, those influences often stir my creative imagination in attempting forms unusual in woodturning. Approximate wall thickness is 1/16". Finished with Tung Oil and Lacquer Spray.

My second attempt at creating these flower forms, with petals so thin that they seem to move when you blow on them, was formed from a Walnut end-grain turning and embellished with English Boxwood turned and carved to represent the flower's seedpod. It is finished with multiple coats of Tung Oil, and after a lengthy drying period, the piece was rubbed out with very fine steel wool and sprayed with Lacquer Spray.