The Bowl of Confusion

I had real fun making this one, although it was a bit time consuming. Using two types of plywood, one a blond soft wood the other dark hard woods, this bowl has been constructed with each of the four layers alternating in style and orientation.

Layer One has been left in it's normal flat alignment as an impressive blond rim to the bowl.

Layer Two, a darker wood has been cut into strips, turned 90 degrees then re-laminated to create an 'edge on' effect.

Layer Three was achieved by cutting the ply into short blocks and re-laminating them back into a 'herring bone' pattern.

Layer Four had the plywood cut into strips then laminated back together with every other strip set on edge.

The picture below depicts well the overall effect with layer three being my personal favourite as the herring bone construction gives the illusion of the timber bending as it turns the corner of the bowl.

13" x 9" x 3.25"


Finished with four coats of linseed / tung oil mix this fruit / salad bowl is food safe and extremely heat resistant.


This item is for sale along with many other WeirdWood creations and can be found at:  http://weirdwood.mysupadupa.com/   

Stuff I Like ~~~ Chairs

Time for another post in the 'Stuff I Like' series, this one dedicated to chairs which I find Weird enough and wonderful enough to pique my interest and hopefully yours. :)

I just have to start with these amazing storytelling chairs from Free Range Designs. I have admired this company for a long time for their sustainable approach to woodworking, like myself, working 'off grid' and using reclaimed materials.

freerangedesigns.co.uk

This eco-friendly yet modern lounger from Istanbul based Gursan Ergil Design Studio I love for the ergonomic design I would love to try it out for comfort. I'm not so sure about the contemporary looking legs though !

http://www.gursanergil.com/

Here's a good use of recycled cardboard, would work with plywood as well of course and very novel, I'm just wondering how many other letters of the alphabet this would work with !

The a-chair was realised at the Royal College of Art. Inspired by a Alvar Aalto’s ply-wood furniture experiments, Frank Gehry’s cardboard furniture, typographic forms and sustainable materials. The a-chair was hand crafted from over 250 sheets of recycled cardboard and a lot of love.

I couldn't finish this post without including a plywood chair, a material I am particularly fond of working with. The chunkiness and curving lines of this stack laminated chair makes it look as though it has been carved from one solid block. Created by Brazil based designer Julia Krantz.

http://www.juliakrantz.com.br

Just a small selection of the many wacky bottom holders out there, I would have loved to list them all  :)

Tapio Wirkkala Creation

These bowls by Tapio Wirkkala makes you think about the whole issue of what an item is worth ! Valued at  $17,000 each !!!

I suppose being a famous designer in the first place helps and they are nice bowls, but hey, they are not even particularly large pieces !!!

If you have ever visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, or the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, or if you plan to in the near future, look out for Tapio Wirkkala's creations. The Finnish artist was revered for some of the most well crafted wooden bowls created between 1951 and 1954. One such experiment with birch plywood resulted in these beautiful tailor made bowls. What makes this bowl unique is the crafting technique. Just like handloom woven fabrics, these bowls are made by setting dark and light strips of the plywood to give out a dramatic effect.

The overall effect reminds you of a wooden leaf with its veins intact. Sporting a hole at one end, this beautiful bowl was a personal gift presented by the designer Tapio Wirkkala to Edward Wormley. The bowl is 13.75inches long and 7.5inches wide. Each piece is priced at $17,000.

Stuff I Like ~~~ Beds

Just thought I would post a few pictures of other peoples Eco-Friendly Weird Wooden stuff I like. This is the sort of thing that inspires me in my own work. This post I shall dedicate to beds.

These amazing beds are made from juniper a wood I have never had the chance to use myself but the two tone colouring and twisted nature of the stuff I find fascinating, these three pics are just a taster of the amazing pieces which can be found at:

http://www.woodlandcreekfurniture.com

Juniper Bed with Burl Redwood Slabs

These three pictures are beds made by Paul from Free Range Designs, a designer and woodworker living in Wales, making beautiful original furniture from eco-friendly materials while spreading a positive environmental message.

http://www.freerangedesigns.co.uk/

This clever four poster utilizes different thickness's of timber to very good effect, one of the many unique ideas found at:

http://www.captivatist.com

Two more interesting numbers using unconventional wood with a more conventional style of construction to be found at:

http://archdeco.net/decorate/bedroom/how-to-make-amazing-log-beds/

I hope you enjoyed my selection, just some of the many Weird beds I have found. With one third of our lives spent in bed I think it's only right that we should choose an aesthetically pleasing bed to sleep in .

Rustic Oak Bowl

This gorgeous oak bowl I carved from an ancient English Oak I cleared from a village just a few miles from my workshop. Rough carved over 18 months ago and then left to 'season' before the final shaping. The bowl was sanded down the grades to a 180 grit paper, then 'saturated' six times with pure Tung oil.

The finished result is absolutely stunning with a myriad of patterns for the eye to feast on, a heavy weight chunky rustic bowl, slightly elliptical with a medieval non-symmetrical feel.

13" Long x 10.5" Wide x 5" High (3" deep inside)    2.5 Kilograms

It's farm house table, It's country cottage, It's hobbit home. I'm so impressed with this one I can't bear to part with it .....well .....not unless I get a very good offer  :)

For more bowls or mirrors on sale visit my shop on Folksy.com

David

Large Oval 'Checker' Fruit Bowl

Newly listed in my Folksy shop is this huge fruit bowl. I've been playing around with the orientation of the layers of plywood with this one and am very pleased with the results.

The next bowl will have a 'herring bone' pattern in one layer  :)

10811

23.5" Long x 12" Wide x 3.25" High         Weight 1.7kg

This Large Oval fruit bowl has been carved from four layers of plywood laminated together, one layer has been sliced then stood on edge in a checker pattern near the top of the bowl to create an eye catching effect before lamination.

Finished with four coats of Tung and Linseed oil mix, to a high gloss.

This bowl is 'food safe' due to the natural oils used to finish and extremely heat resistant.
A very unusual 'talking point' as a table display on a larger dinning table or side board.

Love Heart Mirror

This piece was commissioned as a wedding present. Designed by Su Stephenson with the final design approved by the customer before commencement of work.

We tried to create a symbolic piece here for such an important occasion, the intertwining of the two halves forming the shape of a heart representing the commitment of love.

Ideal hung in a hallway or small wall area with a height of 3ft by 1.5ft wide and 1.5 inches deep.

The two tones were achieved by laminating a blonde coloured plywood onto a darker heavier ply to create a highlighted ridge, a quality mirror glass recessed and boarded then subtly finished with four coats of satin polyurethane.

As usual the pictures do not do full justice and fail to depict the depth of the colours, unfortunately time did not allow for some better pictures to be taken of this piece.