trio of tapered vases in laburnum

sometimes a piece of wood simply sings to you.

these three laburnum vases began as part of alan’s wood collection—a lovely story involving a cup of tea, a little glimpse into another woodturner’s history, and the bittersweet reality of someone having to step away from a practice they had loved because of ill health.

his wood has gradually become part of my own ever-growing collection. while sorting through the timber one day, looking at sizes and deciding what needed preparing into blanks, i came across some laburnum.

i was rather excited.

i’d previously considered buying some, but the price had always made me hesitate. suddenly, here it was, sitting amongst the pile. and then, rather ridiculously, i acquired even more. i won a bid for a trailer-load of freshly cut laburnum for what can only be described as a slightly ridiculous price. once collected, i sorted it, cut it, sealed the end grain and labelled everything before finding it a place on the upper shelves, where it will quietly season for the next year or two.

the rest went to the woodturning club. opening the boot was like opening a treasure chest. hands appeared from every direction, pulling out pieces of what, to some of us, felt very much like gold dust.

but back to the vases.

i’d been looking at wooden vases for dried flowers and thought i’d have a go at creating my own version. three seemed like a good place to start—similar in form but slightly different in scale.

the first, taller vase began to reveal the possibilities almost immediately.

the colour. the grain. the knots slowly appearing beneath the surface.

then the second revealed more. and the third seemed to completely give itself away.

swirling grain, unexpected colour and patterns that i simply hadn't anticipated.

woodturning nirvana.

at that point, the form became almost secondary. my job was simply to expose what was already there.

careful drilling created the internal openings, while the finishing was deliberately restrained, allowing the laburnum to retain its natural depth and variation. the first layers of wax have brought the surface alive, and i’ll return to them again after they’ve had some time to settle, probably with northern grit feed & finish.

these three pieces have reminded me why i enjoy working with timber so much.

you can begin with an idea.

but you never really know what you’re going to find.

sometimes the wood keeps the best part until last.