Ribbon sculptures are made from a number of segmented "bowls" which are turned on a lathe,
then cut apart and re-assembled to form a smooth flowing ribbon.
Some of the ribbons are "mobius strips" which means that they only have one side.
No two sculptures are made alike. Each piece is truly one-of-a-kind.
I may make a similar shape in another wood, and I often will use similar wood for more than one shape.
However, I do not make more than one sculpture of a given shape and combination of wood.
For more information on the construction of these sculptures, see the
resources page.
Click on any thumbnail for a larger image.
"Ball of Yarn"
12" Diameter
Wood: Purpleheart and Holly
Chasing a ball of yarn was a favorite pass-time of my cat. There are nearly 600 individual pieces of wood in this sculpture.
"Bow Ties"
17" High
Wood: Imbuya & Holly
Base: Black Granite
Hawaiian woodworkers repair cracks in old calabash bowls with bow-tie shaped stitches.
I thought it would be fun to create the illusion of bow-tie stitches holding a ribbon together.
"Not YoMama's Cello"
46" High
Wood: Pal Dao, Tropical Walnut, Macassar Ebony
This is an ornamental piece (you can't apply tension to the strings).
The tuning pegs are decorated with flower patterns on an ornamental lathe.
"Arches"
14" High
Wood: Leopardwood & Zircote
This is inspired by a recent trip to Arches National Park in Utah, where numerous delicate arches rise up from a matrix of rock.
"Jazz!"
27" Wide
Wood: Quilted Maple, Ebony, Black Veneer
This is a mobius ribbon, with the keys going continuously from one side of the ribbon to
the other side. There are a total of 16 octaves of keys.
"Sphere of Influence"
19" High
Wood: Lacewood & Imbuya
Base: Black Granite
The simplicity of a sphere is always attractive to me.
It's even more interesting when you can make a flat ribbon twist around like a ball.
This shape was inspired by the work of Jeff Hewitt.
"Puzzle"
18" High
Wood: Purpleheart, Wenge, Boire, Quilted Maple
Base: Black Belgium Marble
The sign of an accomplished furniture maker is their ability to make dovetail joints.
Woodturners don't often have the opportunity to make dovetail joints, so I thought
it would be interesting to make a ribbon that appeared to have interlocking dovetails.
"Ezekiel's Vision"
17" High
Wood: Imbuya
Base: Hulien Jade Marble
The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of a "wheel within a wheel". This probably isn't what he saw,
but this does resemble a loop floating within another loop.
"Roller Coaster"
21" High, 18" Wide
Wood: Quilted Maple, Bloodwood Veneer
Base: Black Belgium Marble
Wouldn't it be fun to ride a roller coaster that was a loop like this?
"Tiger by the Tail"
18" High
Wood: Zebrawood & Imbuya
Base: Black Belgium Marble
It's not Tigerwood, but I think that the Zebrawood actually looks a lot more like the
stripes of a tiger than those of a zebra. The darker chocolate wood is the Imbuya.
"Circle of Fifths"
25" High, 12" Wide
Wood: Quilted Maple, Ebony, Black Veneer
Base: Black Belgium Marble
There are 12 octaves of keys going around both "sides" of this mobius ribbon, representing each of the
12 key signatures in music.
In music theory, the progression from one key to the next is known as the "Circle of Fifths".
"Why Knot?"
20" High
Wood: Monterillo
Base: Black Belgium Marble
Three loops, one continuous ribbon in a knot.
I often look to mathematics for inspiration for new shapes.
In math there is a field of study for knots, and this simple shape is known as a "trefoil knot".
"Apple Peel"
20" High
Wood: Imbuya Burl
Base: Black Belgium Marble
The title comes not from the wood, but because the shape reminded me of my mom peeling apples.
This is a mobius ribbon.
"Grapevine"
20" High
Wood: Purpleheart, Black and Maple Veneer strips
Base: Black Belgium Marble
No, it's not made from grape wood. But the natural color of the Purpleheart wood twists
and curves like a wild grapevine.
