Pine Bowl Turning Project: One Tree, A Hundred Bowls

Baltimore Area Turners Newsletter Page

2011-12-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Baltimore Area Turners for this story in their December newsletter about the show. It was great to see so many club members at the gallery. Appreciate your support for the project.

Photos and Video from the How Many Bowls? show

2011-11-22T04:51:00.000-08:00

Check out Joe Nash's photo journal, Nahsification, for more photos and a video of the show. Thanks Joe! The Mark Supik & Co. sweatshirt never looked better!

Joe Nash Photos II
Joe Nash Photos I (with video)

100 Bowl Reunion

2011-11-22T04:48:00.000-08:00

The How Many Bowls? show was a great party! Thanks to all of the turners who made it back with their bowls. Mark turned the 100th bowl in the gallery on Saturday to a cheering crowd. Special thanks to Kini Collins for her help in setting the show. And thanks to Dan & Liz Schiavone for their hospitality at Schiavone Fine Art.

Bowl countdown

2011-11-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here are the largest bowls drying after their final coat of finish. The largest has a 23" diameter. Hope we have enough pedestals. Thanks Melissa, Gretchen, John, Andrew, Chuck, Danielle, Mechelle, Leisha, Joe & Ed for getting your bowls to us this week. Hope you can all make it on Saturday or Sunday.

Need more information about the show. Here's a link to the invitation.

Link to the invitation to the How Many Bowls? show

They didn't all make it....

2011-11-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Our goal was to turn 100 bowls from one pine tree. You'll see if you make it to the show this weekend that some of the bowls didn't quite make it through to the finish. These are two of Mark's. Any other turners who haven't brought there bowls by because they aren't perfect, we don't care. It's all part of the process. These two will be on display at the show. We may even have pretzels in them!

Schiavone Fine Art

2011-11-16T06:20:00.000-08:00

The How Many Bowls? show is from 1 - 4 pm on both Nov. 19 & 20th. Schiavone Fine Art at 244 S. Highlandand Ave is not far from the shop. The gallery is an old Moose Lodge that's been restored by it's owners, Dan & Liz Schiavone. It's worth the trip over just to see the beautiful restoration.
Plenty of great restaurants nearby if you're making a day of it. On Saturday you can walk to DiPasquale's (open for lunch, closes at 6 pm) and to The Laughing Pint (opens at 3 pm, open late) from the gallery. We may head there after the show ourselves.

Directions to the gallery

Bowls Gather Before Show

2011-11-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

Still have a few spots left on the shelves. If you haven't gotten your bowl to us, it's not too late. We're into the final countdown.

Pine Bowl Glamour Shots

2011-11-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

The pine bowls are looking good. Especially when photographed by Kim Brock who took these shots when she was visiting from Grand Rapids, Michigan last week. We'll be showing more of Kim's photos at the gallery show next weekend.

Schiavone Gallery - Facebook Event Page

2011-11-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Coming to the show on November 19th & 20th? If you're on facebook, you can help us publicize the show by inviting your friends to the event. Here's the link to the Schiavone Gallery's event page for How Many Bowls?

How Many Bowls Show Facebook Event

Sanding Day

2011-11-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Mark gave Bowl #71 a final sanding today. Cut from the base of the tree it measures in at 22" across the top. It was good to see Remy today, who put the finishing touches on Bowl #6. Thanks Bob, Trudy, Donna, Jerry, John, Brian, Tim, Stacy Dan, Kini, Sue, and Tina for getting your bowls to us before the November 13th deadline. They'll each have a special spot in the show.

One of the big ones

2011-11-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

Mark turning a 15" diameter bowl.

Bowl Turners Sand for the Bowl Show

2011-10-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ever try a circular sanding pad on a drill press for sanding bowls? You can get these pads from 2Sand.com. Mark's been using them to sand all of his bowls lately and finds they work especially well inside bowls.

Sanding Discs and Holders

Tim & Donna spent the morning during Open Studio last week getting their bowls sanded and finished for the show. We've heard back from lots of turners and are expecting a good turnout of both turners and bowls for the November 19th party.

Milk Paint Finish

2011-10-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

Mark's been doing some experimenting with applying milk paints to a few of the pine bowls. Here are the results so far. Bowls 22, 33 and 35. Here's the link to the Real Milk Paints website if you want to read about the paints.

One Tree. How Many Bowls?

2011-10-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Bowl Turners, Send Us Your Bowls!

2011-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Bowl Turners.....

We want your bowl in the show and we’d like to have it by November 12th so that we have time to set up the show. We promise to take good care of it. You could mail it to us or drop it off at the shop. If your’re dropping your bowl off, we’re here from 8 AM to 5 PM Mon-Friday and also will be here on the weekends of Sept 23rd & 24th, October 22nd and 23rd, and Nov 11th & 12th. We’ll also be around on October 1st and October 8th. If none of these times work, let us know and we’ll make other arrangements with you.

The mailing address is the same for both (be happy to reimburse for shipping costs)

Mark Supik and Co.
1 N. Haven St.
Baltimore, MD 21224

We’ll take care of getting your bowl back to you after the show.

Bowl not finished? Mark will be putting up some tips on the blog (http://pinebowlproject.blogspot.com/) that may help. He’s also happy to talk on the phone anytime if you have questions. We have an open studio day on October 1st if you want to stop by and work on finishing your bowl.We also have a bowl class on October 22nd and another on November 13th if you want to take bowl turning to the next level and spruce up your pine bowl. Here's a link to the teaching schedule for the fall: Fall 2011 Woodturning Workshops

Bowl not perfect? Not a problem. Cracks, bug holes, chips and scrapes are all part of the process.

Bowl Sales. If you want to sell your bowl, please let us know. Mark will have many of his for sale and you are welcome to sell yours. The gallery does take a percentage of all sales, so please let us know if you’d like any of your bowls to be for sale and we can talk with you about how that will work.

Bowl Turners, Time for the Reunion!

2011-09-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

Time for the 100 Bowls Project Reunion!

The project we started over a year ago is entering the home stretch. All but a few of the 100 bowls have been turned, with only a few blanks and some small branches left.

We’ve set a date for the show/reunion/party and hope that you and your bowls will be in attendance.

About The Event.

The event, called How Many Bowls?, will take place over two days, November 19th and 20th at the Schiavone Gallery in Baltimore (just a few blocks from the shop in Highlandtown). Mark & I visited the gallery last week and the space is beautiful! There will be plenty of room to display the bowls and to project a slide show with photos of the original tree and of the bowls being turned. Dan & Liz, who run the gallery, are excited about the show and our artist-friend, Kini Collins (also one of the 100 bowl turners) has offered to help us arrange the show and attract some attention in the art community. The exhibit will be in place for 2 days, November 19th & 20th, with some opportunities for early viewing the week before.

On Saturday, November 19th we’ll turn the 100th bowl right in the gallery (we’ll be taking a lathe over) and have a celebration to honor the turners (there are 38 of you). The event will be from 1-4 pm and will be open to the public, so please plan to attend and bring your fan clubs.

On Sunday, November 20th the gallery will be open again from 1-4 pm. Mark will demonstrate bowl turning (he’ll be making small bowls from some of the smaller pieces) and the 100 bowls will again be on display. If you can’t make Saturday, hope you can make Sunday, even better if you can come both days.

How Many Bowls? Show date set!

2011-08-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

We're not sure whether to call it an art show, a reunion or a party, but we've set the date for the project's big blow out. We happy to announce that How Many Bowls? will happen November 19th and 20th. We've been offered space in a wonderful gallery right here in Highlandtown. We'll be sending out details to all of the bowl turners (there are 38 of us!) early in September with directions on getting your bowl ready for the show. So, mark your calendars for November 19th & 20th ,set your GPS for Schiavone Fine Art, 244 S. Highland Ave. Baltimore, MD 21224.

Trudy turning bowl #86?

2011-07-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hoping you can view this video of bowl #86 in the making.

Trudy's Bowl #86

2011-07-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Trudy just sent this great photo of the finished Bowl #86 alongside a hand carved spoon. Did you also make the spoon, Trudy? I found this video of Trudy working on the bowl (it was her first) in last fall's bowl making class. So, here we have Trudy's first bowl followed my first attempt to load a video onto the blog.

Three Bowls Visit St. Paul, MN for the AAW Symposium

2011-07-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Mark and Nancy just returned from St. Paul where they attended the annual American Association of Woodturners Symposium . They took Bowl #36, #10 and #91 along with them. They were in good company in the Instant Gallery along with hundreds of other woodturnings from woodturning club members from around the country.

Thanks, Alex for Bowl #92

2011-06-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Alex turned Bowl #92 in our June Bowl Turning class. Some of these final pieces have plenty of insect damage, we just call it 'character'. Look forward to seeing the finished bowl, Alex. Hope you'll send along a photo.

California Woodturner, Jerry Kermode joins our project

2011-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

During Jerry's visit to Baltimore in February of 2011, our California woodturning friend agreed to take a pine bowl blank back to California. We can't wait to see Bowl #89 from this great teacher and turner. Here's a photo of Jerry teaching bowl turning to a small group of lucky students in Baltimore last winter. Visit his website to see some of his outstanding work. Jerry Kermode Woodturning

Bob Presents Bowl #41

2010-09-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

What a beauty! As you can see, Bob is no beginner. He's an experienced turner and active member of the Baltimore Area Turners. He turned this bowl (vessel might be a better word for it) at the bowl turning party on that very hot day in July (see Aug 1, 2010 blog post). #41 has some very distinctive red markings in the wood that according to Bob, "give the bowl some character". Thanks for the photo Bob. For more information about the Baltimore Area Turners and other woodturning clubs in the area, visit the Links Page on our website or the American Association of Woodturning website.

Ed Supik's Pine Tree

2010-09-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Many of you have been curious about The Tree. Well, here's a photo of the original pine tree from Ed & Linda's house in Forest Hill, Maryland . The tree was planted in 1985. It had been the family Christmas tree that season and after the holidays, it was planted near (as it turns out, a bit too near) their house. This photo was taken the day tree was cut down. Ed's looking through his family albums for us to see if he can find a photo of the tree as it looked on Christmas morning in 1984.

Sue Puts the Finishing Touches on Bowl #52

2010-09-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Sue sent us a photo of Bowl #52 turned in the shop on the very hot afternoon of July 24th. Nice finishing job, Sue! We have a beginning bowl turning class scheduled for Saturday, October 23rd and one on Sunday, November 21st. Those will probably be the last few opportunities for new turners to be part of the for the One Tree, 100 Bowl Project. If you've take a bowl turning class with Mark, we have an open studio day set for October 9th and we'll have some pine bowl blanks ready to go. More about all of this on our website.

Bowl #9, All Aglow!

2010-09-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

Bill, thanks for the photo of Bowl #9. Bill turned this great bowl on April 18, 2010 in the bowl turning class. And what a beautiful photo with the sun shining through those amber pockets!

Bowls 23, 24, 29 & 30 -- Looking Good!

2010-09-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Brian and Stacy, for the photo of bowls 23, 24, 29 and 30, all turned on June 12, 2010 in the beginning bowl turning class. Amazing work for first time woodturners! Congratulations. Hope you'll bring the bowls (and yourselves) back to Baltimore for the bowl reunion party.

The Last of the Pine Tree

2010-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Ed & Mark brought the last logs from the tree down from Hartford County last weekend. Mark & Joe got the chain saw out and sawed them into somewhat manageable logs. Counting the 70 bowls we have turned, we should have plenty of pieces left to meet the 100 bowl goal. A few of those bigger logs might have to be group projects. It will take a team to lift them up onto the lathe. Any volunteers?

Kini's Hand Sands Bowl #51

2010-08-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

Kini brought bowl #51 by the shop this week. The hand sanded finish is beautiful! Hope she'll bring it back for the 'end of the project' party/show. This one needs to be seen and touched to be fully appreciated. The photo doesn't properly show-off those natural features (worm holes). Congratulations, Kini!

Big Pine Bowl on the American Lathe

2010-08-26T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of Mark roughing out a big pine bowl (#58) on the old American lathe.

Dan's Granddaughter Decorates Bowl #49

2010-08-25T11:40:00.001-07:00

Dan sent two photos of bowl #49 along with this story about the bowl's new owner. Thanks, Dan. Looks like bowl #49 is in good hands.

Nancy, I’ve sent you two pictures of bowl #49. I got the bowl home and put a number of coats of poly on it but the pine wood was very porous and just sucked up everything I put on it. I also wasn’t totally thrilled with the basic shape of the bowl and was considering tossing it. However, it just so happened that one of my granddaughters just returned from two years out of the country with her parents and had just painted her room (purple—she is 13) and she wanted a bowl to put some of her things in. So, I offered her the bowl and allowed her to paint it however she wanted. The result is the painted bowl you see in the picture. So, we are now both happy. Warmest regards, Dan

Need Sandpaper?

2010-08-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

Tom asked about final sanding, once the bowls are dry. We've got sandpaper here at the shop if you want to stop by and pick some up. You'll need more than one grade. You're also welcome to stop by and put the bowl back on the lathe and sand it that way. Frank & Stacy both did this with their bowls and found it to be a big time saver.

Tom Puts Bowl #20 to Use

2010-08-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Tom, for sending the photos of Bowl #20. This was Tom's first bowl. It was turned in May's Basic Bowl Turning Class. We look forward to getting photos of other bowls as they find their new homes.

Turning Bowls on this Summer's Hottest Day

2010-08-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we picked the hottest day of a very hot Baltimore summer for our bowl turning open studio day. But in spite of the >100 degree thermometer reading, 13 bowl turners joined Mark in an effort to boost our bowl count for the Pine Bowl Turning Project. Thanks Bob, Frank, Donna, Tim, Stacy, Brian, Gretchen, Mike, Dan, Kini, Sue, Dan & Joe for adding bowls 41 to 54 to our count. We didn't even have to toast those bagels.

All Set for Tomorrow's Bowl Turning Party

2010-07-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Mark is getting the blanks ready for tomorrow's pine bowl turning party. We have 14 turners signed up to join us. I'm heading out this afternoon to get plenty of ice for those ice-cold drinks. It's a bit on the warm side in the shop these days. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Hope we can add 14 new bowls to the count! Nancy

2010-07-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

We're Having a
Bowl Turning Party!
(because we've got a lot more bowls to turn and could use some help)

When: Saturday, July 24th

Who’s invited: Any one who's taken a bowl turning workshop at Mark Supik & Co (and their guests)

When: 9 AM to 2 PM (give us a call to reserve a lathe for a 2 hour time block).

What's the plan? Mark will give a quick refresher course on bowl turning and then everyone will get a section of our pine tree for their bowl. We hope to get all the turning done in the shop, but the finishing can be done at home (we'll want you to send us a photo of the finished bowl).

Why you should join us:

Great chance to catch up with fellow woodturning students and meet some new ones
We'll have a bagel brunch buffet
You'll be part of very cool project
You can impress your friends with your bowl turning skills!

RSVP to reserve your lathe time: 9-11, 10-12, 11-1, 12-2.
(room for 7 turners at once)
Call Nancy 410-732-8414

June's Bowl Turning Class Turns Out 12 Bowls!

2010-06-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Brian, Stacy, George, Donna & Tim set a new class record turning out 12 bowls in one class. Thanks for agreeing to let us post your class photo.

Mike Blair's Bowl #8

2010-06-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Mike, for sending us the photo of your finished bowl. Great photograph! Mike sent this bowl to his mother in Florida as a gift. Anyone else from Mike's class have their bowl finished? We'd love to have photos.

The Planet Bowl

2010-06-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here's one of Mark's bowls with the finish on it. Danielle named Bowl #4 "The Planet Bowl" because of the six tiny orbiting pine knots. I'll put up a photo of Bowl #12 when it's finished, because it actually has 8 knots!

Amber Glow

2010-06-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

The amber pockets in the pine a beautiful in the right light, even if the light is Mark's desk lamp. Here's Bowl #15, fresh off the lathe.

6 New Bowls from 6 New Woodturners

2010-06-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our students on Sunday who agreed to participate in the 1 Tree, 100 Bowls project. Dan, Gretchen, Tom and Melissa started with chunks of the pine tree and ended up with bowls #16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21. We’ll look forward to seeing photos of the finished bowls. Mark turned bowl 22 as a demonstration bowl.

One Tree .....

2010-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

In March of 2010, Mark Supik, brother Ed and nephew Joe felled a storm damaged pine tree that was unstable and too close to Ed’s house in hickory, Maryland. They brought the pieces to Mark’s Baltimore City shop with a plan to use the wood for turning bowls. Some of the bowls Mark plans to turn himself and some will be turned by students in his workshops. Expecting that there was enough wood to create 100 bowls, we decided to document each bowl as it was turned. We’d like to follow the story of each bowl after it leaves the lathe and reaches it’s new home.