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.
Maple bowl blank
Shaped and hollowed
Abbotsford maple bowl
This figured maple bowl began as a weathered block from an old backyard tree in Abbotsford. I shaped the outside and foot on the lathe, then hollowed the interior. A finish of linseed oil and beeswax brings out the figure in the wood. Completed on 18 October 2026.
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.