After a days work turning bowls carving one can be quiet a free experience. I am no longer tied to circular forms. In Sweden I have seen many beautiful old bowls carved in the shapes of birds, there is a similar tradition in the Native peoples of the North West Coast of the US. Anyway last night I carved this duck bowl, inspired by a gorgeous one we saw several years ago at Saterglantan, Swedens National Folk Craft school.
I carved it out of alder. The original was painted with a gorgeous earth pigment blue paint with orange bill, I might do the same for a very Swedish feel and then we will be using it to serve salad or bread at home.
I think at some stage I would like to teach bowl carving courses though it is so much easier for beginners to start with spoons and build up the skills needed. When we have enough folk that have done our spoon courses hopefully some will want to come back and carve bowls.
As ever, an amazing end result! Taking about painting bowls, I have one of your porringers and noticed one painted blue on your site – how was that done and what materials did you use?Cheers, Martin
Hi Martin,That blue porringer is the one I use for breakfast every day. The paint is a Swedish recipe made with by volume 1 whole egg, 2 linseed and 3 water mixed with a natural earth pigment available from artist shops or natural paint supplies like the centre for alternative technology. This quantity would paint a door both sides.
Beautiful! Did you use a crooked knife for this one like for spoons? Did it take a long time to hollow?-Fuzzy
Hi Fuzzy,I started hollowing with an adze then used a sort of home made hook which I made myself about 10 years ago out of an old car spring. It takes longer than turning a bowl, several hours.