Wood Turning Stories of the StrawBoss

    THROUGH ALL THE WORLD THERE GOES ONE LONG CRY FROM THE HEART OF THE ARTIST: GIVE ME LEAVE TO DO MY UTMOST ! Babette:   Babette’s Feast                                                         Babbets Feast Bowl   2018  (Private collection)   When we love something, we grant it soul, we see its soul, and we let its soul touch ours. We must love something deeply to know its soul ( anima ). Before the resonance of love, we are largely blind to the meaning, value, and power of ordinary things to “save” us and help us live in union with the source of all being. In fact, until we can appreciate and even delight in the soul of other things, even trees and animals, we probably haven’t discovered our own souls either. Soul knows soul through lov...

         Graduation 2020 deserves special attention. Turning a gift for graduating students who have lost all the traditional markings of class gatherings, proms, awards ceremonies, and even marching to Pomp and Circumstance, requires a specific image statement.  The Graduation Bowl begins with the square of the mortorboard cap turned down at corners by social distance,  teleclass technology, drive by graduation parade, and unemployment.  Within the container for self resolution, creative expression, social service, and economic accountability graduates have already demonstrated ability to engage the future from the changing present.  This bowl is a basic flat square tray with simple bowl shape easily turned using elementary skills.  Risking slight variations to "cut the air" and undercut the curve demonstrates the challenge to learn new application.  Graduates have opened new ways to learn, engaged in collective and creative ...