European Oak Bowl

Wood : European Oak

Origin: Gran Sasso National Park - Abruzzo - Italy

Size: 31 x 29,5 x 11,5 h (cm)

Finishing: Sunflower Seeds Oil

This piece is part of my winter bowl production I am still working on these days. I will add new bowls as soon as I finish them.

It’s been hard to harvest the suitable material since I moved here in Abruzzo, I had to expand my contacts and meet new people I can trust in the choice of wood, because it is easy to achieve wood from the coppice woods here but it is difficult when my specific requirements are many, such as the cutting period, the moon phase, the fast delivery and the length of the logs, because all those parameters are the basis to obtain a high quality product. It was quite upsetting to get through this, but in the end after a few months spent between calls and site visits, I finally managed to get what I struggle for.

The titles of the works are inspired by the names of some of the small villages and hamlets located within the territory of the Gran Sasso National Park, close to where I live and where the material comes from. The wood I selected for this small production is oak, and to be more exact two kind of oaks, European Oak and Turkey Oak. The material was otherwise and unfortunately intended for firewood. There are many differences between these two oak species, quite easily recognizable from the grain, that is because the European Oak grows wilder and tend to isolate itself from other trees, while the Turkey oak is more social and open to congregation often creating wide pure forests. European oak is very difficult to manage, I spent years before to start reaching results out of it, it is not just a question of turning it in a perfect way, the most concerned the whole seasoning process. But it is completely worth the effort, I really love its wavy grain and the pale changes in colour. Turkey oak from the other hand, it is quite easier to handle and has great features such as the dramatic contrast between heartwood and sapwood so that it fits perfectly even the most linear shapes.

The processing on how I make a bowl has been widely described and shown through my Instagram channel day by day, anyway after the logs landed on my property, I prepared several bowl blanks out of them using my chainsaws and then make them round on the bandsaw before mounting them on my lathe and start turning. I cored out at least two or three bowls from a single blank, saving the more I could to avoid wasting material. As soon as the pieces have been turned I put them aside for the natural air drying process. This phase requires special attention according to the type of wood, the shape and the part of the tree involved.

For me the seasoning process is crucial, because it is there that the connection between me and the material is most unfolded, in that tension between the shape I have chosen and the ability of the wood to adapt to or adapt that specific setting. This is also the reason why over the years I have elected green wood as my only medium, and thin walls for all my projects, besides the fact that I do not particularly like heavy objects. Furthermore, I have always considered the production of bowls to be important, as well as relaxing, because in it I can reduce my expectations and conduct a more carefree but no less mindful research. And it is precisely this research that is then finalised in the making of my larger projects where awareness plays a fundamental role. Basically making bowls is for me like playing with lots of small sketches exploring the potentiality of the material.