A wood bowl is a joy to hold and feel. The best part of making wood bowls is seeing people enjoy the beauty of the wood and the feel of the bowl, that special connection to nature and to the artist who crafted the bowl by hand.
Please contact me if you would like to be on my mailing list. I offer special sales and updates several times a year by email.
Lou at the 2010 Hovland Arts Festival
My Bowls: I make bowls from burls, logs, crotches, and any gnarly interesting piece of wood. Bark is an important part of wood so I try very hard to have a natural bark edge on my bowls. I mostly make bowls from burls, but I also make bark edged bowls from any other part of a tree. I do make some flat edged bowls for food, but these more conventional bowls are made on order. The Bowls for Sale page shows my current inventory with prices and complete descriptions.
Commissioned Bowls: I often make bowls for people who have lost treasured trees from their yard. A wood bowl can preserve the soul of a tree for generations to come, and make a special gift for relatives and friends. Contact me for details, pricing, and information on cutting your tree for a bowl. A significant part of my business comes from commissioned bowls.
General: All of my purchased bowls come with a description of the wood and bowl, information on the wood turning process, care instructions, and a brief bio of the artist. These laminated cards do not show the bowl price and are perfect to accompany a gifted bowl. I do not believe in presenting testimonials from customers, but I can at least say that I have sold over 800 bowls from my web site and every one was loved by the buyers, and not a single one was returned.
Comments on Pricing: My bowls are unusual and unique, each hand crafted on a lathe after careful selection of the wood, dried slowly under controlled conditions, sanded to least 600 grit, sealed with several applications of hand rubbed pure tung oil, and hand buffed after a thin coat of beeswax/walnut oil. Burls are rare (some so rare I may never get another similar one) and often purchased from local loggers. Bowls made from burls must therefore sell for higher prices. I often pay over $100 for a burl that gives one bowl. Burls are also more difficult to turn due to decay and unusual grain and shapes. My primary goal is to have fun making wood bowls and to provide enjoyment to those who have them. Thus, prices are set to primarily cover my bowl making expenses, which are not insignificant.
If you fall in love with one of my bowls and feel you can't afford it, contact me and tell me why you love the bowl and I will work with you to come up with a special price on this or a similar bowl. It is important to me that my bowls are affordable to anyone who really appreciates the beauty of wood.
