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"Greek and Oriental potters have been stealing my designs for thousands of years." - Bob Stocksdale

I've been turning one-of-a-kind bowls since 1977. If George Nakashima turned bowls, they would look like my thicker bowls. The thin, footed bowls are clearly influenced by the same sources as Bob Stocksdale. Most of my bowls are in cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa, a kind of rosewood). I don't look to impose a shape, but to uncover one that reflects and interacts with the natural fractal harmony between heartwood and sapwood. (See |Biesanz Home Page| for more philosophy.)

My resume.

I turn four basic catagories of bowls:

• "Precolombian" shapes, with narrow mouths and no "foot" on the bowl.
• Thick, massive bowls without a "foot" - these are a good format to show off the fine black tracery pattern made by fungus, or labyrinthine holes by beetles. The weight of the bowl together with the silky finish is a sensual experience. The top of the bowl follows the natural grain of the wood.
• Thin, footed bowls. Sometimes these are thin enough to be translucent.
• Thin bowls with no foot.

Technique:

1. Examine the cocobolo log for grain, then choose the orientation of the bowl.
2. Crosscut the log into chunks, then stand it on end and split it in two. Cut those pieces into bowl size chunks.
3. Plane flat the side that will be the bottom, and let the chunk dry.
4. Mount a waste block onto the bottom with glue, and screw the faceplate for the lathe into that.
5. Mount the piece on the lathe, and use the gouges to true it up and make it round. Hollow out the bowl to 3/4 " thick.
6. Wax the roughed out bowl to slow down drying.
7. Let the bowl dry for up to a year. If I'm in a hurry, I microwave the bowl on "defrost".
8. Return to the lathe to give the bowl final shape. Yes, the very thin bowls sometimes break - I use the calipers a lot.
9. Bowls are sanded up to 800 grit.
10. Carve the foot, if any, and possibly carve the top to follow the grain. I have a new technique to keep the cocobolo from turning dark
11. Finish with 'Qualasole' padding laquer.
12. Woodburn my signature and the date into the bottom.

Picture of Barry at the lathe

Links to woodturning sites: -Triangle Woodturner's Association- -Treasures from Trees- -Arizona Woodturner's Association- -The Woodturning Center- -Ken Bullock-

|Reserva Ecologica Biesanz| |List of US Galleries| |Magazine Article about Barry Biesanz| |Barry| |Rainforest Sapling Giveaway| |Map to our showroom| |Biesanz Home Page| |For Sale: Tropical Jungle in Beach Resort|

e-mail address: biesanz@sol.racsa.co.cr