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LA Arboretum Exhibit

Los Angeles County Arboretum Art Exhibition

Admire and purchase Tom's beautiful tree art at the Los Angeles County Arboretum Forces of Nature Art Exhibition.

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The exhibit runs from December 7-10, 2017

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Read more about one special 150-year-old tree called the Baldwin Tree.

Tazmanian Bluegum --Cypress

"The Baldwin Tree"

The Baldwin Tree.JPG

This vessel came from the Tasmanian blue gum tree next to the Queen Anne Cottage on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Arboretum. The tree was somewhat famous for its weekly TV appearance on the show Fantasy Island. (Yes, the Queen Anne Cottage is where Tatto rang the bell and proclaimed, "The plane! The plane!"

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The tree was taken down in January of 2017, and I personally extracted several pieces from the downed trunk on August 7th.

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I "roughed out" the initial shape at a demonstration for a group of woodturners at the Pasadena Rockler Store on the 8th, and finished the vessel at a fellow woodturners shop in Phoenix on November 7th.

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The "Roots" were a first for me as an artist--a spontaneous inspiration in a moment of curiosity as to "what to do with the base." After I drew the root design in pencil, I had to go buy a carving tool to finish the process.

African Fern Pine

African Fern Pine.JPG

I personally harvested a large branch from an African fern pine on the November 11th at the LA County Arboretum. The tree was on the list of trees to be pruned in the near future. I transformed it on the 15th at a fellow woodturner's shop in Phoenix.

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the roots were only my second attempt as such, and went much more easily than my first attempt on the Tazmanian Bluegum piece.

Australian Cypress - Eucalyptus Sideoxylon

Australian Eucalypus.JPG

This Australian Eucalyptus came from a tree taken down in early November of this year at the LA County Arboretum. I was lucky enough to harvest a piece of it on my Demonstration day there--November 10th. I transformed the piece in a combination of days and places. The "outer profile" was formed at a demonstration for a group of woodturners at the San Diego Rockler Store, Monday the 14th, and the inner hollowing at a fellow woodturner's shop in Phoenix on the 16th.

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The extremely dense bark gave way to a "bridge" on one side of the vessel, making it especially unique.

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Interested in Purchasing?

Pictures of the vessel "in process" will be made available to the eventual owner.

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