H. John Thompson

I sensed immediate joy in the humor I found in Garry Knox Bennett’s ham-fisted Pre-Turned Wood Object that likewise intelligently points to potentials of success and of failure. Realizing a history of objects and a lineage of makers, my research funneled directly to Bob Stocksdale. Garry Knox Bennett famously ‘repaired’ a Stocksdale bowl and this inspired further thoughts of conversation through objects and their maintenance.

Stocksdale’s Untitled bowl from Douglas Fir appears to be an anomaly. Most Stocksdale bowls are turned from exotic woods while this one is from the same species of wood used for dimensional lumber found at The Home Depot.

David Pye’s Bowl, again, refers to a lineage of makers, as he is simultaneously an author on workmanship and an instructor. The grooves in his bowls are developed through a carving mechanism of his own making.

This idea of maintenance, conversation, and ‘the block,’ of wood subsequently led me to the idea of an ‘engine block’ and the image of shade tree mechanics machining their own engines. ‘The Blocks’ here are constructed of dimensional lumber, fir, and milled with my own mechanism, swinging a router like a pendulum to create the bowl forms in the blocks.