In 2009, I purchased a large black ash burl from one of my many wood suppliers.  Immediately I knew I had to make the most of this unique piece of wood. 

Not being a wood turner myself, I took the burl to a local wood turner and had him core it for me.  This is a process in which many bowls can be taken out of a single piece.

The rough-turned bowls were then dried slowly in my shop over the next year.  As fate would have it, my Dad invited me to join him on a trip to Colorado to visit an old family friend, who just happened to be a master wood turner.

We spent a wonderful week out in the Rockies, and the bowls were left behind for the final turning to be done.  Another year and a half went by before they were finally turned into this set of 5 stunning bowls. 

Once back in my possession, I put the final touches on, by hand rubbing them with two coats of food-safe penetrating oil.  Although I only had a limited amount of hands-on involvement in this project, I feel I was able to help do justice to such an amazing piece of Mother Nature by collaborating with two other talented artists that I greatly admire.