Cherry burl bowl with bark

I was happy this one didn't explode because of the bark inclusions. Since then, I've looked at bark inclusions as a quality to be featured rather than eliminated

Companion to Uplifting One, this smaller bowl has a perfect shape with bark inclusions that are located in a radially symmetrical pattern, and curly vertical burl curliness.

A burled branch of cherry was turned with a bowl and a set of wings. The result is a lovely floral piece with a flowering top and a pair of elongated leaves at the base.

The dark vertical stains left by the ambrosia beetle combined with the cherry insert remind me of a dark forest as seen through a circular pane of glass.

After turning a hemispherical center and a nice bevel, the bevel and center were burned, then painted. Nice contrast with the beautiful cherry wood, no?

You rarely see the pith of a tree in a piece of wood because it almost always cracks.  This one survived intact.  Unlike most pieces, the middle of the cherry tree runs from the left to the right in this piece.  The burl at the top of this vase was on the side of the intact log.  Special drying techniques made this survivor possible.

The redwood burl was so lovely all I had to do was turn a simple form to show it off, then finish it with mineral oil and wax in the microwave. The other platter made from resawing this platter was its mirror image, and just as lovely.  The owner commisioned one, and was delighted when two arrived from the same piece of redwood burl.

The spectacular spalted maple was bookmatched, then inset into a bubinga top into which grooves were cut, then burned by friction with a wire.  The walnut base gives the flamboyant grain in the top a firm understanding.

Burled maple box with
wire-burned lines

This box, made from maple burl, contains both the dark heartwood and light sapwood, the demarcation line of which is clearly visible running from the base through the top.  The wire-burned lines were added for additional visual interest.

If you have questions for Eric, click here to send an e-mail to matthe9@charter.net

Visit Eric's Web site to see more of his work at: www.ericswoodart.com

Eric S. Matthews
4306 Cherokee Drive
Madison, WI 53711
Telephone: 608-277-9950

How long have you been working as an artist?

Many years ago, I worked full time as a classical guitarist. Music taught me how important it is to understand your medium and to be disciplined in applying yourself towards a goal. I've been turning wood for about 10 years, and selling it for 3, but the skills of disciplined, directed practice I learned as a musician gave me a "leg up" on
learning to turn.

Is this full-time or part-time?

Part time. I work a "regular job" in the mornings and turn on afternoons and weekends. Next year, my wife and I will retire, so I will be able to turn full time.  (This is retirement?)

Did you have professional training or are you self-taught?

I'm largely self taught. Most of my training has come from the monthly meeting of the Badger Woodturners, a group that meets once a month in Madison to share techniques, ideas and new discoveries. I also attend the American Association of Woodturners' symposium every other year or so and read the AAW journal faithfully, but I've never had lessons. A course in basic drawing I took as a freshman at the UW Madison with Walter Hamady taught me about hand-eye coord-ination, design, balance, composition, and positive and negative space.  It's surprising how well it stuck!

Why do you like the medium that you work in?

Wood turning is so immediate that many substantial pieces can be turned and finished in a single day. No sooner do you touch the wood with your tool than wonderful, sensuous forms start to take shape before your very eyes. This is positively addictive. The textures of the grain in many woods is indescribably complex and beautiful. Every piece of wood you encounter has hidden beauty, but it's up to you to find it and bring it out. Once turned, the piece lives on and you can keep enjoying it, both through your own eyes, and through the eyes of others who may find new meaning in it that you may have missed. A new discovery awaits you every time you turn on the lathe!

Can you describe your technique or creative thought process?

I look for the aspects in each particular species or individual piece of wood that make it unique. I have a general plan before I start, but I'm open to whatever craziness I find inside the wood, then I modify my plans to feature the unique aspects of the wood. This may set me off in a whole new direction that I can explore and develop. When I succeed, the piece is unlike any other, and has taken me somewhere I haven't been before. Every once in a great while, I'll find a new form that no one has ever seen. This is a fantastic experience. I was never able to improvise well in music, but I can't seem to help it when I'm turning.

Complete this sentence: If I couldn't be an artist, I would like to have been.....

I've worked as a computer programmer, and a linguist, a bus driver, a peach picker and a short-order cook, but I'll always be an artist no matter what my economic situation compels me to do. There's art in everything. The trick is to find it, enjoy it, learn from it, and let it make you happy while you do what you need to do to survive.

What part of your work, if any, do you least like to do? Most like to do?

Every woodworker will tell you that sanding is soul-deadening but necessary. People seem to be hard-wired to prefer clean, shiny surfaces to dull, irregular ones, so there's just no getting around it. The nice thing about turning is that your technique can develop to the point where a lot less sanding is necessary, but there's no way to eliminate it entirely.

What I most like to do is to learn, discover, create new techniques and forms, then explore them and take them as far as I can. If I can share what I've discovered with others, it makes me happy to see what they do with what I've shared. We all benefit more by sharing knowledge than by hoarding it.

If your art were a food, what do you think it would be? Why?

It would be a never ending banquet.  I work certain woods all the time because they are cheap, beautiful, easy to work and locally available. Cherry, maple, and walnut are my meat and potatoes. Woods like bubinga, wenge, bloodwood, and spalted maple are expensive and harder to come by, so I use them more sparingly, much
like spices in a recipe. Too much ruins the soup, but just the right mix makes the dish wonderful.

Tell us about your family, other interests, any special awards you might have received.

Family:  I grew up in a military family. Every 2 or 3 years we would move from one part of the world to another and leave all our friends behind. We'd live out of suitcases for months at a time in new, sometimes exotic places, while waiting for the furniture to arrive. To survive, we learned to make friends fast and be open to new things. I now prefer to stay in one place and set down roots. I've chosen Madison as the best place to live, in spite of the weather.

Other interests: I've been "phacinated"  by physics throughout my adult life. An intuitive understanding of physics makes it possible to poke a razor sharp tool into a piece of wood spinning like a propeller at 1000 rpm, and produce a clean, curved surface without getting hurt. The element of risk makes it exciting. What could be more fun? I also enjoy photography, swimming, and like to watch professional tennis on TV.

Special awards:
2003
Best of Show: Cambridge Art Fair.
Best of Category: Art Fair Off the Square.
2004
Honorable Mention: Spring Green Art Fair.
2005
Best of Category: Art Fair off the Square.
My piece "Cherry Lily" was chosen to represent the "Northern Reflections" Exhibition at the American Association of Woodturners' Gallery at the Landmark Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.