I haven’t written any posts featuring artists I like in a while so it’s time to pick it up again because there has been an explosion of art works in my favorite medium, wood. Bert Marsh is an English based wood turner that caught my attention recently for his simple vessels that are exquisitely turned and finished.

Wood turning is unique in the spectrum of woodworking because it is more art than function and also because the entire process of creating a vessel like the image below can be done from start to finish on one machine, a lathe. This is in stark contrast to furniture making and other disciplines which rely on an entire shop of equipment and/or hand tools to accomplish. I should also point out that wood turning is extremely demanding from a skill standpoint and what you see below is the result of years and years of skills being honed.

Images don’t do these three dimensional objects justice, mostly because turnings like this are created from woods that have fantastically intricate figure in the wood itself and the delicacy of the work almost demands the question “how did he did he do that?”. I also like the fact that these pieces are always unique, no two will be alike, and they are very affordable with a turning like the one below selling for $700-$1,000, a fraction of what a good painting, sculpture, or bronze will cost.