red shank

This unusually colorful wood came from the place of a friend who had me out to work with him and visit this summer. The land is near Anza, California, East of Temecula. Red shank is one of the dominant native shrubs there, and some of the ones near the house of my friend Randy are quite large, which makes for good spoon wood. The trunk I selected was partly dead, so I figured it was more expendable than the more vigorous parts of the plant. Fortunately the dead wood added huge amounts of character and beauty to this spoon! Some large cracks remained when it was complete, and I filled them with red brick dust during the curing, hoping the cracks would close and seal the dust in as they cooled. The idea came from my recent experience with kolrosing. What was most surprising and remarkable to is the 'curly' quality of the wood revealed int he bowl once sanded. Like waves in the wood. Gives the wood a whole other dimension.