Handmade Wooden Homeware

The grain on this burr elm bud vase flows in long soft waves. Instead of dense eyes there are a handful of dark pips scattered throughout it.

It's slim and straight sided in a warm brown, with more of the dark inclusions gathered low down near the base.

The bark at the top is broken into a row of small jagged teeth, and one piece of it leans inward over the opening.

A few dried stems or a couple of grasses suit the 32mm opening. It's not watertight and isn't meant for fresh flowers or water.

Bark edges are naturally uneven and rough to the touch, and burr carries voids and dark inclusions.

Burr elm. 12.5 cm at its tallest point, 4.2 cm across the base, 32mm opening. Finished with a blend of beeswax, plant-based linseed oil and aromatic orange oil.

There's barely a straight grain line anywhere on this one. The eyes are packed across the body from the base up. Tight enough in places that the wood looks stippled rather than grained.

It's a small straight sided piece, 14.5cm, in a soft brown that goes paler where the burr thins out near the top.

A few dried flower stems or a couple of grasses suit the 32mm opening. It's not watertight and isn't meant for fresh flowers or water.

Bark edges are naturally uneven and rough to the touch, and burr carries voids and dark inclusions.

Burr elm. 14.5cm at its tallest point, 4.8cm across the base, 32mm opening. Finished with a blend of beeswax, plant-based linseed oil and aromatic orange oil.

Slim and straight sided at 17cm, so it stands up on its own without needing much in it.

The burr figure swirls in tight bands the whole way up, and there's a bullseye knot low on one side. A near perfect ring with the grain flowing round it. The wood is darker and cooler in tone than most of the elm I turn. At the top the bark rises into a single peak on one side. With the opening scooped out below it.

A few stems of dried flowers or a couple of grasses is plenty in the 32mm opening. It's not watertight and isn't meant for fresh flowers or water.

Bark edges are naturally uneven and rough to the touch, and burr carries voids and dark inclusions.

Burr elm. 17cm at its tallest point, 4.6cm across the base, 32mm opening. Finished with a blend of beeswax, plant-based linseed oil and aromatic orange oil.

A small bud vase, turned thin, which would look elegant on a shelf or a windowsill.

The wood is warm red brown, and the burr runs the full height in tight knots and swirls, with darker eyes clustered around the middle. At the top the bark is still on and broken open, standing up in two ragged peaks with a deep notch dropping between them.

A few stems of dried gypsophila or a couple of seed heads sit well in the 32mm opening. It's not watertight and isn't meant for fresh flowers or water.

Bark edges are naturally uneven and rough to the touch, and burr carries voids and dark inclusions.

Burr elm. 15cm at its tallest point, 4.8cm across the base, 32mm opening. Finished with a blend of beeswax, plant-based linseed oil and aromatic orange oil.

Burr elm live edge vessel – the 18th one made. Just as unique as the ones that preceded it.

The rim on this one drops away in a long scoop on one side and rises into points on the other. So you're looking down into it from one angle and straight at a wall of burr from another.

The body is close to a sphere, sitting on a small foot that keeps it from rocking and raised slightly. Adding a nice shadow contrast between the vessel and the surface.

The wood is pale honey and warm brown, and the burr eyes are scattered rather than packed tight, with short dark fissures running down between them where bark got trapped as the tree grew. There's a lot of clean flowing grain between the eyes.

Bark edges are naturally uneven and rough to the touch, and burr carries voids and dark inclusions.

The burr for this one came off an elm in Pitlochry. Possibly one of the densest figure I've had on the lathe this year.

The form is round and deep, curving in at the base so it sits low with a strong weighted presence.

The outside is a warm hue with a pale sweep of clear grain running across one face. The rest is packed with tight clusters of burr-eyes. Some of them are dark right through.

The rim features the bark of the tree. Dark and craggy. It drops in a deep dip on one side, so the wall is much lower there than on the opposite. The vessel has a small foot which helps to elevate it ever so slightly - and create a shadow line.

It's a piece to leave out and admire as the day's light shifts in the room. Bark edges are naturally uneven and rough to the touch, and burr this dense carries voids and dark inclusions running into the wall.

A burr elm vessel with the tree's bark left in place around the rim.

Burr elm is the wood I look forward to most. This piece is a warm reddish brown, covered in tight swirling eyes and small dark pips. The contrasting bark sits against it. The figure runs right round, so there's no back to turn to the wall. Turn it a quarter and it's a different piece.

It suits a shelf, a table or a mantelpiece. Bark edges are naturally uneven and a little rough to the touch, and burr wood carries small voids and dark inclusions.

Both are part of the tree and neither affects how the piece holds together.

An ash bowl with figure. One to leave out on the table rather than shut away in a cupboard.

The grain reads as wide bands sweeping right round the outside, pale cream through to soft honey, and it shifts as you turn the bowl in your hands. Near the rim there's a paler fleck, with fine speckling scattered through the grain below it.

Low enough to sit on a table without getting in the way.

Marks like these come with the timber rather than anything done to it. They're natural to solid wood and don't affect how the bowl is used or how well it holds together.

Approx. 14.5 cm diameter x 7 cm height.