Most people look at a tree and think of things like shade, logs for the fireplace, or all the leaves they'll have to rake up in the fall. Artist Don Duden looks at a tree and envisions artistic possibilities. Don is a wood turner who creates exquisite works of art from odds and ends of wood. 
Don at work on his lathe turnng a bowl
|
What began as a simple handyman's job, (making a table for his wife) turned into a hobby, and then a form of artistic expression. That expression continues to delight and educate Don even more with each passing year. In making the table, Don experimented with an old lathe that had belonged to his Father. He quickly became enamored with the feel of the machine and the results it produced. As his interest in the work grew, he took classes to increase his skill level, and was soon turning out pieces that were more artistic in nature, rather than utilitarian. He now teaches others the craft of turning at the John C. Campbell Folk Art School located in Brasstown, North Carolina. 
Vase of Pierced and Carved Holly
|
Most of the woods he uses are native to Florida and North Carolina, but he has worked with some exotic woods. The most unusual non-native wood he has ever used is called Pink Ivory, and comes from a tree that grows in Africa. The tree looks like any other on the outside, with rough brown bark, but the interior wood is a deep, rich rose color. The trees belong (for the most part) to the Zulu Tribe, and play a central role in their religious ceremonies. Only the members of the tribe's royal family are allowed to harvest the trees. The most significant use for the wood is in the production of spears used in the right of passage to manhood. A young tribesman must kill his first lion, using a pink ivory wood spear, to take his place as a man and warrior in the tribe. The most exotic native wood he has used is called "crab wood" or "princess wood". 
Natural Edge Mesquite Bowl
|
The wood he uses is harvested by loggers, found by friends, or cut by Don himself. Often trees that may have too many imperfections for use as lumber, are just what he is looking for, they tend to have more interesting textures inside. Like burls, the bulbous growths that protrude from trees like giant warts, or wood that has holes from insects that burrowed beneath the surface. Natural holes, cracks and splits are incorporated into the design of a piece; they imbue it with it's unique character. 
Floral Carved Walnut Bowl
|
When asked how he decides what to create from a piece of wood Don said "You let the wood talk to you, it tells you what's inside". Don must be very gifted at "listening to the wood". His work is so distinctive. Each one stunningly reveals the heart of the wood used, with all it's color variations and inherent properties worked into the finished piece. 
Spaulted Sycamore Vase
|
Although he makes some pieces that could be called "functional" (like his salad bowls), he prefers creating work that is artistic and one-of-a-kind. Even his salad bowls vary in type of wood, size, color and shape. His work includes inlay, floral carving, pierced carving, natural edged, and sculpture. Each one is crafted to expose the hidden depths beneath the outer layers of rough and common bark. There is the ivory color vase made from Holly, lathe turned then carved and pierced, that is as delicate as the finest porcelain. The richly aged mesquite wood bowl enhanced with an edge of natural bark. A carved floral bowl that exposes the varied dark tones inherent in the black walnut it was crafted from. The unusual branch shapes of a Norfolk Island Pine that lend a geometric slice of color to another bowl. Each piece does have one thing in common, the loving touch of a master craftsman who has listened to the wood. 
Norfolk Island Pine Bowl
|
Don's work is shown locally at his workshop/gallery, the Natural Experience, on 2nd Street. You can find him there most days, working away at his lathe, releasing the beauty hidden in the heart of the wood. |
