Welcome to Knotty By Nature. This site is designed to showcase my works, and to be a way for you to contact me. If you are simply browsing, feel free to look at many of my past creations under the 'Turning' header. If you are looking specifically for items to purchase, you may see me at art/craft shows. After each show, I list my next one. If you find something in the 'Turning' section and it is already sold, it might be possible for me to design and create some similar to it. Thanks for looking!
Artist's Statement
As a native and current resident of Maryland, I live on a 21 acre horse farm with a new 900 ft2 wood shop just minutes from Boonsboro. Woodworking has been my passion throughout childhood, middle and high school, and college, where I was pleasantly surprised to find a woodworking course offered. Through graduation, it remained one of my favorite classes.
After college, I continued woodworking as a hobby until 1999 when I was fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of a fantastic woodworker who taught me more than any classroom ever could have. And I found myself getting paid for what I loved to do! He introduced me to the lathe, but the interest of turning bowls didn’t strike me until 2010.
Now, in my own wood shop, I have 2 lathes. Each with its own job: One for small items; and a custom built lathe for bowls and platters up to 28” in diameter.
Most of my turning is done with local woods like walnut, cherry, ash, and others, but a large percentage of my turnings are maple. This is mainly due to me having a very good supply of numerous species of some quite spectacular maple. Maple is one of those woods that can have nearly every kind of figure, including: Spalting, burls, curl, ambrosia, bird’s eyes, and feathering. It can also range from very light in color to much darker.
I don’t cut down any live trees for woodworking (or for any other reason). My works come from trees that have come down in storms, died naturally, or that I’ve saved from becoming firewood when taken down by arborists.
I hope you enjoy what you see.
After college, I continued woodworking as a hobby until 1999 when I was fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of a fantastic woodworker who taught me more than any classroom ever could have. And I found myself getting paid for what I loved to do! He introduced me to the lathe, but the interest of turning bowls didn’t strike me until 2010.
Now, in my own wood shop, I have 2 lathes. Each with its own job: One for small items; and a custom built lathe for bowls and platters up to 28” in diameter.
Most of my turning is done with local woods like walnut, cherry, ash, and others, but a large percentage of my turnings are maple. This is mainly due to me having a very good supply of numerous species of some quite spectacular maple. Maple is one of those woods that can have nearly every kind of figure, including: Spalting, burls, curl, ambrosia, bird’s eyes, and feathering. It can also range from very light in color to much darker.
I don’t cut down any live trees for woodworking (or for any other reason). My works come from trees that have come down in storms, died naturally, or that I’ve saved from becoming firewood when taken down by arborists.
I hope you enjoy what you see.