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Looming
Maple & Milk Paint
Flamed Box Elder Bowl
Flamed Box Elder Bowl
Looming
Inside the Rusty Pipe Box
Rusty Pipe Box
"Blue Crab"
Michael Anderson

Looming

Hickory sphere, White Oak pedestal, Niove base, and Betel nut "gem". This was fun piece to put together, a translation of a thought into wood. I turned the sphere quite a while ago, and used it as a sort of practice piece for textures and patterns. I decided to carve the surface away and add a bunch of new texture, burn, wirebrush, paint and stain to transform the sphere into a metal-wood hybrid "thing". The pedestal is repurposed from another piece I made a while ago, and I re-carved/textured portions of it for this piece. More below.
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Michael Anderson
This was my first time working with Niove wood. I originally wanted a plain black base, but decided that a touch of color would work better. So, as I was looking for some sort of bright wood, I stumbled across a small board of Niove at Woodcraft. I may have also found my new favorite wood. Incredibly dense, fairly oily, and very vibrant. I cut out the shape on a scroll saw (slow going given the hardness), and I power-carved it pretty dramatically. It seemed almost impossible to burn the wood. Wild stuff.

I turned the Betel nut and finished with lacquer. It is just a beautiful thing, and this was a particularly pretty example. It amazes me the variety of patterns and colors you get with these nuts. Overall, Looming is 7.25" tall, 8" long, and 5" deep.

Here are a couple of detail shots:

G7WC90S.jpeg

IqYtCsS.jpeg
 
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Paul May
This piece has inherent animation Michael...but you knew that. It looks like a bowling ball about to squash a bug. Where do you find Betel Nuts? I know they are an addictive substance so was just wondering if you had difficulties in sourcing.
 
Michael Anderson
Paul May said:
This piece has inherent animation Michael...but you knew that. It looks like a bowling ball about to squash a bug. Where do you find Betel Nuts? I know they are an addictive substance so was just wondering if you had difficulties in sourcing.
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Haha, thanks Paul! No trouble at all getting betel nuts. I bought a bag on ebay. Something like 25 for $20 or so. Maybe even cheaper. It really is wild, betel nuts as an addictive substance. I went down that rabbit hole (not consuming, but reading). An overlooked global health issue affecting something like 10% of the world population. Pretty wild. Depressing.
 
Russ Braun
Repurposing suits you well Michael! A piece is never done until it’s done! This piece has a dark moody side to it or is it the exact opposite…a bright cheery side, lol!! I like it a lot!
 

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Category
Member Galleries
Added by
Michael Anderson
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Comment count
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Device
SONY ILCE-7M2
Exposure time
1.3 second(s)
ISO
800
Flash
Off, did not fire
Filename
_DSC6885.jpg
File size
753.9 KB
Date taken
Thu, 15 February 2024 8:53 PM
Dimensions
1600px x 1067px

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