About
About Me
About Me
Hamilton Wood Artistry is the culmination of a lifelong passion for woodworking. I began my journey decades ago building furniture for my own home, my neighbors and some friends, crafting out of necessity and joy. When life demanded a pause, my tools were set aside—but never my desire. Years later, with the blessing of a well-earned bonus, my wife and I ventured out and I brought home a lathe. That was the beginning of something new. I was hooked.
What started out with pens soon grew into more artistic expression: bowls, boxes and vessels. I brought together skills old and new—carving, scroll work, pyrography, and more. I consider my work to be more than woodturning. It is more wood sculpture, whereby, I use the methods at my disposal to create the look I want. I get the greatest joy out of the more decorative pieces. I am inspired by things I have seen in my travels, mainly to the far east, and by the outdoors. I am blessed to live a beautiful part of our country, the Pacific Northwest. Plus, I am inspired by the works of other artists, never to copy, but to see possibilities of what I can call my own. There is a lot of talent out there. Particular pieces I am most proud of are the sundial and the various pierced pieces. Please see my Gallery. Concepts always start out in my head. I sketch, not knowing where the sketch is going to go. But, that helps with forming ideas. Key questions I always ask are: 1) how is this going to look? and 2) how am going to make a certain piece? I use CAD to help answer the first question. Better to make your mistakes on a computer screen than on an expensive piece of wood. To learn how to approach certain procedures, I do samples or storyboards, sometimes a lot of storyboards. A storyboard can be a carving, a textured sample, a paint procedure, etc. This is really necessary, as, when you get into the real thing, especially with embellishment, there are no “go backs.” When I am satisfied, to the tools I go. The reward is turning a formless piece of wood into something beautiful that is also a pleasure to hold. Yes, woodworks are both visual and tactile. In the end, I want you to be pleased with my work. My intention is for these to last a lifetime.
I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) and a member of the Northwest Washington Woodturners, which is a local chapter of AAW. The people I interact with are wonderful. Sharing and learning opportunities abound. There is always room for growth. This is more than a business—it’s my passion, and I love sharing it through every piece I create.
Sustainability
Sustainability
When people think about wooden objects as part of their home decor, they often think in terms of exotic hardwoods. Yes, many of them are indeed beautiful, especially when turned or carved. However, many of these hardwoods come from tropical parts of the world, such as the Amazon Rain Forest, the tropics in Africa and much of Asia. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of deforestation in these same parts of the world, causing many of these hardwood species to become endangered, thus adding to the climate change our planet is experiencing. This is not a new problem; it has been happening for decades.
For my part, I choose to stay away from endangered species, not wanting to add to the climate problem. Yes, I am small potatoes by comparison. But, a lot of “smalls” add up to a “big.” How do I know if a species is endangered? I rely on the Wood Database (see my Resources tab). This is a vast compilation of woods, where several properties are catalogued. Among the properties is sustainability. If is species is listed as endangered by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) or it is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, I will seek a different species to use. Fortunately, there is still quite a variety of hardwoods to choose from, many from the North America and other temperate parts of the world, and many still from the tropics. Are there exceptions to my rule? Yes. If I see a piece of wood, considered endangered, headed for the scrap heap or otherwise to be discarded, then I will use it, as this does not place any additional demand on existing trees.
Going Natural
Going Natural
Going Natural takes on a couple of meanings. One is using green wood for much of my work, green wood generally being from recently felled trees, and thus having a lot of water content. Such wood needs to be seasoned before going to the final piece. Fortunately, green wood is rather easy to come by. Hardwoods such as maple, madrone, birch, alder and cherry are common in the lowlands of western Washington and Oregon. People either offer such pieces to me, or I get them from my woodturning club. My method is to “twice” turn. The first turning is to get a piece of wood to its basic shape, but walls are purposely left thick. As piece seasons, water content coming into equilibrium with the surroundings, the piece will distort – normal stuff. I check weight often as that is my metric for determining equilibrium. When the weight is stable. verified over several weeks, then I can proceed to the second turning, whereby, I arrive at the final piece.
The second meaning pertains to finishes. While I have used oil-based finishes (e.g. oil-based polyurethane), and still do to some extent, I am moving away from those. The trend is to go to water-based (e.g. water-based polyurethane) and to more natural finishes. Among the natural finishes are oil-beeswax finishes. There are a number of good commercial products out there at my disposal. I have used walnut oil and beeswax, hemp oil with and without beeswax, mineral oil and beeswax, and linseed oil and beeswax. Granted mineral oil is a petroleum product, but, you find it in the pharmaceutical section of the grocery store. The other oils are all derived from plants. The finishes do have a nice sheen once done. But, you will not get the high gloss. I prefer the sheen. It looks more organic to me, which is pleasing. Regarding color, I am going more toward milk paint for items meant to be used. See my Resources page to learn more about milk paint. For more decorative items meant for display, I will use acrylics, both airbrushed and applied with bristle brushes. Either way, color is a wonderful thing to have in my “tool kit.” But, I am careful not to overdo it. If the wood has a beautiful grain, show it off!