There's a hole in my bucket Dear Liza

I have always been fascinated by this type of wood-working. The artist Bob Willis of Willis Wood Works shares the following info about this esoteric art.

"The art of hollow vessel turning is one of reduction. Each vessel begins as
a
solid piece of wood, usually a burl (which is a growth on the tree very
similar
to a tumor). This burl is then mounted on the faceplate of the
lathe. As the
piece begins to turn various tools are implemented to shape
the outside form of
the piece. After the outside of the vessel has been
shaped, specially designed
tools are used to hollow out the inside. However,
unlike the outside of the
piece, the artist cannot see clearly what he is
cutting. To compensate for this
the artist has developed a keen sense of
feel for the vibration of the piece,
and a sensitivity to the sound the wood
makes to know how thin he can take the
wall of each vessel. Since each piece
of wood is different, so are each vessel
produced."

We are so lucky to have his fine gallery here locally in Ouray, Colorado.