SandBoxTime

Fluted Bowl, Cherry, 15" diameter

2011-12-17T14:11:00.001-06:00

Maple Burl Bowl II

2011-11-19T07:55:00.000-06:00

Maple Burl Natural Edge Bowl

10" diameter with Tung Oil finish

[Sold]

Maple Burl Bowl

2011-11-08T07:37:00.001-06:00

Maple Burl

12" Dia

2 1/2 " Height and 1 7/8" bowl depth

Tung Oil Finish

[SOLD]

Oktoberfest Top Contest

2011-10-23T12:59:00.000-05:00

My top won two blue ribbons!

One in the "most unique" category

and

one in the "wide open" category.

Yes!

Many Brands

2011-10-02T20:44:00.000-05:00

10" Tall

5.5 Diameter

Under The Magnolia

2011-08-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

Cherry wood and 11 1/4" tall by 6" in diameter

Link to a video of Under The Magnolia

Pair of Blackbirds

2011-08-14T19:32:00.000-05:00

Blackbird I (left) and Blackbird II (right)

Closed cherry hollow forms.

With their frayed finials,

Blackbird I measures 17" tall x 13" wide

and

Blackbird II measures 13" tall by 8" wide.

Detail view (Blackbird I).

Detail view of Blackbird I's frayed finial.

Click HERE to see the video.

Thanks for stopping by,

Larry

Burning Bush

2011-08-14T09:53:00.001-05:00

Cherry hollow form with segmented batik finish.

Detail of frayed finial.

Detail of top.

Another overall view of Burning Bush

(collaborative with my wife, Julie)

Click here to see Burning Bush in motion.

Thanks for stopping by,

Larry

Beauty and the Beast

2011-08-07T10:19:00.000-05:00

Julie and I have created collaborative entries for this contest.

The Beast and Belle in the garden

I turned the two Cherry closed hollow forms.

Julie then embellished my turnings ("dressed our entries")

using her segmented batik method.

Belle in the garden

Belle is 5" in diameter and stands 9-1/2" tall.

The Beast in the garden

The Beast measures 6-3/4" in diameter and stands 12" tall.

The Beast and Belle in the ballroom

Click this link to see a video of our entries dancing together

(and be sure to turn up your speaker volume).

***

Belle's contest entry (with formal photos) can be found here.

The Beast's contest entry (with formal photos) can be found here.

Voting begins after the September 6, 2011 entrance deadline passes.

Larry

Middle of the Night

2011-07-27T19:41:00.000-05:00

Cherry - ebonized

12" diameter

Synergy

2011-07-11T05:00:00.015-05:00

Defined as two or more things functioning together

to produce a result not independently obtainable,

synergy arises when two persons with

different yet complementary skills cooperate.

Sweet gum turned green

then embellished with batiks

13" diameter

6" depth

Collaborative with Julie

(woodturner + quilter)

Bottom view of bowl.

All photos will enlarge if clicked and then clicked again.

You can see Julie's process photos here.

Midnight

2011-07-09T21:39:00.001-05:00

Cherry - ebonized

16" diameter

6" depth

Detail view of upper rim.

Detail of edge.

Flash Fire I

2011-07-09T21:33:00.000-05:00

Flash Fire I

Cherry

8" tall

5-1/2" wide

View from above

Double click for even more detail

Mid South Perspective 2011

2011-07-09T21:28:00.000-05:00

Infinity

2011 Mid South Perspective challenge:

Lidded Vessel with Surprise Inside

Lid detail

The idea for this lid came from a glass platter

that my wife brought back from Finland in 1974.

First peek inside

Best viewed in a darkened room.

Double click for greater detail

Now you can see why it is named Infinity.

Week at the Folk School

2011-04-02T19:42:00.001-05:00

Ambrosia maple - milk paint finish

Ambrosia maple - pyrography, milk paint finish

Cherry - double opening

Ambrosia maple - double opening

Ambrosia maple

This is what happened during my week in the NC mountains

at John C. Campbell Folk School woodturning studio.

Pat, Larry and George examine one of Pat's tools

The best part of the week?

Spending studio, meal, and other time with friends.

(each photo will enlarge if clicked then double clicked)

Barrels of Fun

2011-03-03T19:22:00.000-06:00

I am can truly say I had barrels of fun completing my part of the

Mid-South Woodturners Guild's chapter collaborative challenge

for the 2011 American Association of Woodturners

annual symposium.

White oak

1-1/4" high x 7/8" diameter

Pyrography, stained, and oil finish

Gratitude

2010-12-10T17:53:00.001-06:00

Segmented bowl with carved outside, spiral embellished inside, and ebonized.

Diamater 7.5 inches

Height 7 7/8 inches

Black Friday 2010

2010-11-28T16:19:00.000-06:00

Black Friday 2010

Cherry bowl carved and ebonized

9 ¼ inches in diameter

4 inches high

My Latest - Jacks

2010-11-19T19:12:00.000-06:00

Created for the Mid South Woodturner's Guild challenge.

Each jack measures 3-3/4" across.

Ebonized cherry

with cast, turned, and

embellished acrylic resin.

Redwood on the Rocks

2010-10-10T08:44:00.000-05:00

Redwood burl hollow form

Detail view of stippled ebony finial

Dimensions 14" x 7" overall

Remember

2010-09-24T19:30:00.000-05:00

Introducing Remember ~

created for John and Vicki Jordan's

Voice of a Beloved Tree.

Detail view of embellished collar.

Detail view of monkey fist ebony finial and celtic relief base.

Sugar Maple hollow form embellished with pyrographic swirls.

9" diameter x 12.5" height

Special Project

2010-08-10T19:59:00.001-05:00

Earlier this year, after tornadoes swept through Tennessee, the pastor of our son's church was part of a disaster relief team. After being given part of a fallen cedar tree, he asked me to turn it into a portable communion table.

After preparing the piece, I visited Bill Covington who used his laser engraving system to add this scene on the front and the text below on the back.

The communion table stands 8" tall, is 2" thick, measures 14" wide, and has an oil-based finish.

Simple Elegance

2010-06-26T13:42:00.000-05:00

Wormy Cherry hollow form

Wenge collar and foot

Laminated bent finial of Cherry and Wenge

Height 13-1/2"

Diameter 10-1/4"

Redwood I

2010-06-22T19:56:00.000-05:00

Redwood burl hollow form
7" diameter
10" tall (including carved, textured ebony finial)

Pat's Wood

2010-06-01T20:58:00.000-05:00

Black Walnut
7" diameter
6" tall

Thanks, Pat!

Just for George

2010-06-01T20:53:00.000-05:00

Black Walnut
Turned and textured
Milk paint finish
2-3/4" tall
8-1/2" diameter

Introducing ... Many Eyes

2010-05-04T06:59:00.000-05:00

Many Eyes is a stabile made of birds eye maple.

The base started as a laminated block that was turned to a deep bowl. The layers of the bowl were then seperated.

After additional carving and texturing the interior and base were embellished with my unique pyrographic three-line design.

24" wide x 18" high.

Thanks for stopping by,
Larry

Folk School Cherry

2010-03-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

During my last visit to the John C. Campbell Folk School, I found a non-descript piece of cherry burl in the pile of trash wood. I turned this hollow vessel during my class with Kim Blatt.

This is my first spiral finial and I'm very happy with the result.

Height (including finial) 9-3/4"

Diameter 6-1/2"

Thanks for visiting,
Larry

Another Finish!

2010-02-20T10:27:00.000-06:00

4 inches in diameter
6.5 inches high

Base is Black Wood
Body is Pink York Gum Burl from Australia
Collar is Cocobolo
Finial is Black Ebony

Created during recent week at JCCFS.

Thanks for stopping by!
Larry

Folk School Visit No. 7

2010-01-31T15:37:00.000-06:00

I spent last week at the John C. Campbell Folk School where I made this piece.

It is a cherry hollow form with pyrography embellishments inside and out that stands 12-1/2" tall by 5" wide.

The finish is milk paint, the foot and cap are pink ivory, and the finial is ebony.

Larry

Worth Sharing

2010-01-16T17:52:00.000-06:00

How cool is it to see your own piece (Journey) featured (for weeks) on the AAW homepage?

Very cool indeed!

Golden Leopard

2009-09-19T15:18:00.001-05:00

Golden Leopard is a segmented mobile. Each of the rings (except for the smallest one) is made from 32 leopardwood segments - 161 segments in all. The outer ring measures 19-5/8" and the center ring 1-1/4". The photo below shows a test glue-up.

How did I come up with the name?

"A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded on all sides by a wall. How many pairs of rabbits can be produced from that pair in a year if it is supposed that every month each pair begets a new pair, which from the second month on becomes productive."

This problem appeared in the third section of Liber abaci and led to the discovery for which Fibonacci is best remembered - the Fibonacci Sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. The Fibonacci Sequence bears a close relationship to the Golden Mean (or Divine Proportion) - the relation, in perfect proportion, of the whole to its parts. [for more detail, see Divine Proportion by Priya Hemenway]

Larry

AAW Symposium in Albuquerque NM - June 2009

2009-07-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

Titled Moonlight at Delicate Arch, this stabile was part of the Instant Gallery. The upper portions rotate freely above the base and the moon hanging below the arch also moves. Named for the magnificent Delicate Arch rock bridge in Utah, this piece (wenge and birdseye maple) was sold to a Memphis attorney prior to the symposium.

Erosion was created specifically for the AAW Education Opportunity Grant (EOG) auction. The cherry hollow form with my performation technique and pyrographied interior sold for $250.00, 100% of which was donated to the EOG fund.

"Nature chose for a tool, not the earthquake or lightning to rend and split asunder; not the stormy torrent or eroding rain; but the tender snow-flowers, noiselessly falling through unnumbered centuries." (John Muir)

Journey was juried into the AAW special international Spirit of the Southwest exhibit. After being displayed during the symposium, it will now travel to AAW headquarters in Minnesota where the exhibit will be on display from September through December. The exhibit will then return to Albuquerque in the spring of 2010 for another showing.

Believed to have originated in South America, the wedding vase tradition has been part of Pueblo life for centuries. The graceful spouts represent two separate lives and the bridge at the top unites these separate lives together as one. The groom’s parents provide the wedding vase two weeks before marriage during festivities when gifts and advice are also given to the bride and groom. On their wedding day, after the wedding vase is filled with holy water, the bride drinks from one side and the groom from the opposite side. The vase is then protected and cherished throughout their married life. I chose to embellish this wedding vase with spirals to represent the broadening of consciousness, the destination of a long journey. Spirals are also found in Southwestern legends like that of Ho-Bo-Bo, the spirit of the whirlwind. The black-on-black coloring honors the work of Maria Martinez, the potter of San Ildefonso.

To purchase Journey, please contact Tib Shaw, Gallery Coordinator, at AAW or call (651) 484-9094. (Price: $2,400; all pieces must remain with the exhibit until all showings have concluded)

To see my album of photos from this weekend event, please click here.

Journey

2009-05-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

The letter was in the mailbox today ~ Journey has been accepted into the juried Spirit of the Southwest exhibit that debuts at the 2009 AAW Symposium in Albuquerque!

YES!!

Racing in the Rain

2009-05-02T15:50:00.000-05:00

Here's how I spent the morning of my birthday this year ~ participating in the canoe and kayak race on the Mississippi River . . . in the rain!

That's us in the center - dressed in blue.

Photos taken by Roger Cotton.

SO True

2009-01-11T14:27:00.000-06:00

From the current issue of our MSWG newsletter
(submitted by fellow club member Emmett M.)

Lord grant me the serenity to accept the tools I already have,

the courage to resist the temptation of new tools I don't really need,

and the wisdom to ignore this nonsense when I find something really cool.

Amen !

Christmas Ornament 2008

2008-12-23T17:08:00.000-06:00

This is the ornament that I made for my wife this year ~ created from a piece of box elder, it measures 3.5" across and 2.75" tall.

Including the ribbon, it weighs 8.8 grams (or 3/10ths of an ounce).

What a Wonderful Surprise...

2008-12-21T17:54:00.001-06:00

December was my last meeting as President of the Mid-South Woodturner's Guild ~ and this is the Ambrosia Maple platter and stand that Dennis Paullus made for me. THANK YOU!!!

Japanese Bowls, a Memphis Perspective

2008-09-22T17:17:00.000-05:00

Text by Joan Kelly and video by Larry Sefton

Japanese Bowls, a Memphis Perspective is a project of the Mid-South Woodturners Guild. This endeavor is patterned after a similar collection of turnings, Japanese Bowls, A Western Perspective, by internationally recognized woodturning artists. In early 2007, the American Association of Woodturners was given several dozen roughed-turned rice bowls. These bowls were left over from a New York exhibition (which included a demonstration component) of traditional Japanese urushi ware, an art form that dates back 6,000 years. The artists were invited to take one of the rough bowls, which were essentially identical, and finish them in their own unique styles.

Dennis Paullus, a long time member of MSWG, undertook the effort to duplicate the rough turned traditional bowls like the Japanese produce. These rough bowls are turned from green wood and are approximately five inches tall and five inches in diameter. They are left about an inch thick to allow for warping of the wood as it dries. After a suitable drying period, guild members were invited to take one of the bowls and create the Memphis Perspective.

Our members bring a wide variety of experience to the lathe. The only requirement for guild membership is having an interest in woodturning. This show represents the efforts of people who turn “just for fun” and people who aspire to be gallery artists; people who have turned for a short while, and people who have turned for decades.

For more information about the Mid-South Woodturners Guild, please visit our web site at http://www.midsouthwoodturners.com/

My Woodturnings 5 Minute Video

2008-09-21T12:05:00.000-05:00

Natural Edge Cherry Burl

2008-09-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

Natural Edge Sweetgum

2008-09-21T10:38:00.000-05:00

Cats

2008-09-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

Bird Soup

2008-09-21T10:24:00.000-05:00

Plum Crazy

2008-09-14T06:39:00.000-05:00

Titled Plum Crazy because if someone had told me that I would have made this bowl four years ago when I first stated woodturning I would have told them they were "Plum Crazy."

It is made from what I call road kill wood - Boxelder that I found at the side of the road waiting to go to the city mulch dump. The bowl was thin wall turned including the bottom. The images were branded into the wood and pierced. PC was completed by air brushing and top coating with a protective finish.

Plum Crazy won a blue ribbon at the Memphis 2008 Delta Fair and Music Festival.

Tree Of Life

2008-09-07T09:40:00.000-05:00