The Art of the Wooden Bowl
Rescued Wood Bowls

In times past, bowl makers had the luxury of felling trees and selecting material for bowl turning. Now many bowl makers have a profound reverence for the materials they use, a respect for the environment, and have committed themselves to using exclusively rescued materials. That is the unifying theme behind our bowl show, all the bowl makers in the show use rescued materials.

The material these bowl makers use are rescued in various ways. Material sometimes results when tree surgeons trim or remove trees because they are either a hazard or distressed. The material is also found on the forest floor after trees have been felled by fire or a storm, or left behind as a result of logging.

Using this salvaged material benefits the environment, but the rewards for us are even greater: the material has matured, colors are deepened, and contrasts are made more vivid. Areas of decomposition sometimes dictate form and at other times provide natural highlights to the form imposed by the bowlmaker.