Voyage to Darkness Continues

Well, onwards and upwards. The ebonized bowl is coming along slowly but surely. Now the outside has several coats of ebony the inside is starting to come along. As you can see, there are still areas that need covering. We have had humid and rainy days which greatly increases the drying time. So, we have to wait longer for every new layer. Traditionally lacquering is referred to "Japanese Lacquer" which comes from many many (possibly hundreds) of layers of lacquer from the lacquer tree. This website shows how the Asian process is done: http://www.urushi-kobo.com/process.html. As we go along, our ebonizing liquid is made from a stain and pigments. There is some minor finish layers included in the commercial stain we are using. Once the color is clear and black, we will be adding the proper finish layers of clear shellac and polyacrylic. This combination has proven to be optimal under the additional pressures of the shave bowl which is often wet. In general, finishes are not made to withstand being in water. We have also finished some really beautiful Shave Brushes in wenge, purpleheart and mahogany.

The shape of things...

Every few months we take some time to look around and see interesting shapes and they way we can use them in our work. From art pottery to 17th century punch bowls. This sounds like a lot of divergent shapes. This art pottery was very interesting in it's form. Now, in order to simplify it for our purposes, the handle became solid and the deep ribbing wouldn't translate very well into wood, but here is one of the inspiration pieces: . In this punch bowl it was the outline that was so appealing: Finally, here is a lidded bowl from ages ago. It's amazing to look through the ages as more things change the more things stay the same. This vessel is from the 2nd or 3rd century all are courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. It is an incredible museum and if you ever have the chance to go there - do. . This is the final lidded box. It is larger than a shaving bowl and is more of an object d'art. There is a well inside but the diameter is 8 inches across. The cross current grain of the mahogany reminds us of the waves in the ocean whether it might be a rip current or waves crashing in to the beach. If you would like to take this home or see more of our work, please visit our Etsy Shop, Lovgren & Daughter.

Write Away! Wooden Pens turned on a lathe.

One of the items that we make is wooden pens. They are great fun to make. From the beginning when they are blocks of wood, to their turning and the trials and tribulations of working with wood. They crack and pop and sometimes the blanks (hunks of wood)dry and distort especially those made of fruit woods like pistachio and apple. It is a whole new ball game. . This is a blank of laminated woods which gives us stripes in the end product. These on still on the mandrel (metal rod) fresh from the lathe. . Here these are the pieces drying on paper plates, we use a nail to support them vertically. Best way to dry round things. If you have noticed, I write on the plates where the pieces are in the finishing process. It really helped when we were working on a large order for the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin. . Here is the striped pen as a result of the blank from the first picture. We also make fountain pens but that's a topic for another day. To see more, visit our Etsy Shop: Lovgren & Daughter. Nice to visit with you today!

Waves of Grain

We have new decorative bowl made of Mahogany. We are still putting the final coats of finish on it now. . We took some of the musical instrument grade mahogany and laminated it together. Laminating is actually when you glue boards together to make a thickness that suits your needs. In this case, we alternated the grain patterns so that you can see them flow cross currently as your eye travels up the bowl. . This bowl started out as a shave bowl, it was rather large for a shave bowl but in cutting it down we would have lost the gentle form that compliments the grain. . We hope you like it as much as we do. It will be available in our Etsy shop: Lovgren & Daughter in a few days.

Spring!

Ahh the beauty of Spring whe the air is sweet and the outdoors welcomes in the new season. As a Tree Hugger, It is the sweet smell of the maples, the grape hyacinth and tulips that draws me outside. My heart belongs to the woods of my younger days. They were full of maple and pine and beaver dams and quiet. You could sit and wait for the beavers to glide noiselessly through the ponds they created. Spring came slowly to the stream deep in the woods. Ice sheets and burms dripped, dripped, dripped into a raging stream only to wash themselves away to a trickle or oatmeal mud as the summer marched in. So, welcome Spring and the memories of springs long ago lived. Hello, the sap is running and the old wood lilacs are in bloom.