Musings

Winter Projects (and well beyond) – Inspiring Bowls/Fauxrushi

One of the areas of interest that will absolutely play a greater role in my future time and energies is continuing my attempts to replicate the artistry of Oriental Urushi Lacquerwork, which I place near the pinnacle of the creative arts.  My own diversion from the millennia-old techniques as practiced in the Far East is based in the fact that those techniques involve the use of varnishes and paints formulated from urushiol, the main component of the sap from the poison sumac tree cultivars they harvest.

To evade the outcome I would expect from using urushi given my sensitivity to poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, etc., I am employing various synthetic reactive polymers to achieve the same artistic ends.  I will mostly be using the red-and-black “rubbed through” decorative techniques.  Well, maybe some plain red or black surfaces, with the occasional enhancement of gold leaf or pearl fragments.

In order to have some workpieces to experiment with I asked my dear friend JohnH, whose friendship is a true jewel in my Treasure Chest of Life, to take some of my vintage and otherwise interesting wood pieces and use his Rose Engine Lathe to crank out some small bowls with decorative surface features to enhance my experiments.  Little did I know he would present me with the following gallery of spectacular artworks.  Now the pressure is really on as I have to do justice to his fabulous pieces.

Sit back and enjoy this remarkable gallery of sublime creations.