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Sunday, May 1, 2016

Chris Wellington: Box Elder Burl Natural Edge Hand-Turned Bowl, 2016













This bowl is 5-1/4 inches in diameter at the top and is roughly 5 inches tall.

It's made from Box Elder Burl, known for its beauty, vibrant color, and swirling grain -- with the natural edge creating a stunning rim.

It's abeautiful piece of burl that even the detailed photos can't do it justice as it's extremely striking with all of the colors being displayed.

Box Elder burl bowl has the beauty of the natural edge, overall stunning colors, as well as the unique look that the many bark inclusions and burl eyes add to the look of this bowl.  This bowl is a nice size and color for a Box Elder Burl with a live or natural edge.  

The item has been sanded to 1000 grit, then coated with a Shellac and Carnauba Wax based water-resistant finish. Finally the item is the buffed using a three-step process. The first buffing is done using Tripoli to remove any fine scratches or tool marks, then White Diamond to start to bring out the shine, and then buffed with pure Carnauba wax which not only protects the item, but also provides a deep gloss finish.

Box Elder Burl is one of the most beautiful, rare, expensive, and difficult burls to find.  A burl is an abnormal growth that typically grows on the outside of the tree, usually near the main trunk.  Each "eye" of the burl could have grown into a tree branch, which causes the grain to grow in many directions.  The result is exquisite swirling grain. A burl typically also has bark inclusions, voids, and other imperfections which make it difficult to turn.  However, as seen in the pictures, burls are worth the effort.  During the turning process, natural characteristics such as dark lines, imperfections, natural voids, knots, worm holes, insect art, etc., all of which add to the uniqueness and beauty of the piece, are revealed. This bowl has many unique and beautiful variations that only Nature can provide. As nice as this looks in the photos, it looks and feels so much better in person. This bowl is NOT a food safe item. 







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