Before it was yours
Abbotsford Maple Bowl
Bigleaf Maple
Abbotsford Maple
A backyard maple in Abbotsford came down about a decade ago. The owner cut it up and stacked it, not quite ready to let it go - the way people do with good wood when they don't know what they'll do with it yet. It sat there until it came to me. It must have been a remarkable old tree. The blocks came out with everything - deep figure in one cut, clean straight grain in the next, spalting running through others in dark branching lines. Sometimes all three in a single blank. A tree that grew long enough to become interesting in ways you can't predict until the saw goes in.
Large maple block, pre-cut
One of the blanks from the block
Abbotsford Maple Bowl
This one sits between two things. Most of the bowl is warm, straight grain, but along one side a band of grey runs through where the spalting was just starting to take hold before it stopped. You can see the wood caught mid-change, the colour shifting from amber to something cooler and back again. The form is simple and open, nothing to distract from what the wood is doing. Finished with pure polymerized linseed oil and beeswax, which brought out that warmth and let the grey band hold its own against it.
Looking after it
A wipe with a damp cloth, never the dishwasher, and a little food-safe oil when the wood looks dry. Don't overthink it - wood is hardy and resilient, and everything I make is meant to be used.