Olive Wood Bowl

Olive wood is such a treasure. I once gave some wooden implements to a woman from Lebanon. She exclaimed: “Oh, Dr. Smith, olive wood! It is sacred.”

In a hot country it provides shade, stability and enrichment of the soil, a pleasant variation on the landscape, and important food products. When it is taken down by nature (these trees can live for hundreds of years) it produces objects of great beauty.

There is intense color variation in the olive heart wood that makes it so desirable. It is extremely hard and durable and machining it on the lathe is about the only way to deal with it. Hand carving is just about out of the question.

The grain runs in many different directions and when the color follows those wavy grain patterns it is most pleasing to the eye.

This wood was given to me by a good friend in Phoenix, Arizona where the trees grew. Two of trees had to be taken down and he delivered them to my driveway in Albuquerque. I treasure every piece that remains in my wood stash.

Due to the fact that the humidity was very low in Albuquerque and I could not green-turn the wood right away, much of it has small checks throughout the solid wood.

My chances of making a large olive wood bowl are not very good with this lot. Yet the small ones are capable of giving much pleasure.