This piece of ash was going to be a platter - the intention was to make a large rim and carve and decorate it with spirit dyes and bonising spray - as the grain showing on the outside was fairly plain and not terribly inspiring. After about an hour's total frustration - catch after catch, resharpening my tools, changing the height of my toolrest, re-evaluating my turning technique etc, I finally took a breather and sat in the sun outside for five minutes to calm myself.
When I came back in again - I heard myselfy talking to the chunk of wood. It went along the lines of "Ok - so you don't want to be a pretty platter - so what DO you want to be then?" I de-focussed my eyes (not always a good thing when turning), and let the grain of the wood guide my tools rather than the other way around. After another 20 minutes or so, this is what emerged - and looking at the inside and how the grain lines are just about perfect in the middle, I'd say the wood was trying to guide me all the way, only I wasn't being sensitive enough to hear what it was trying to say to me. And I don't hug trees...
Except for the foot and the slightly raised bead on the edge, the bowl is more or less the same thickness all the way through.
