Wood--I work with storm fallen or diseased trees only

Maple Burl Vessel

Primarily, the ability to bring the natural beauty out of the wood

About

Perry Shaw / Shaw Studio

Perry is a woodturning artist living in Seattle, Washington. He began his woodturning journey in 2018. Perry is passionate about trees and forests and--in an effort to honor the beauty of trees--works almost entirely with wood from storm-fallen or diseased trees. Perry uses a lathe to make bowls, lidded boxes and other wood products but his passion and main focus is hollow form vessels (vases). Since 2018, Perry has made a few thousand vessels . Simplicity is his focus and he aims to create beautiful forms that incorporate some of the figure, knots and imperfections of the trees with which he works.

Perry Shaw / Shaw Studio

describes their creative process

My hollow form vessels begin with a log. I use a chainsaw to cut a chunk of the log and ultimately reduce it to a 9 inch x 9 inch cube. I take the cube and affix it to my Robust American Beauty lathe and use sharp gouges to shape the outside of the vessel. I then flip it around and begin hollowing it out. When I have shaped and hollowed the vessel to the desired shape and thickness, I'll remove it from the lathe and set it aside to dry for a few weeks before I hand sand and apply a finish. you can learn more about my story and process through the following video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/EEZlFoX5OJs