Spooky Figure Inside a Sugar Maple Burl

Who would suspect that a ghostly figure was hiding inside this large sugar maple burl.

The full 17" diameter burl is shown to the left above. The burl wrapped about 85% around its log, so I cut it in the center perpendicular to the axis of the log to give two halves. Top views of these two pieces are shown in the second image. The one to the right was attached to a lathe as shown in the image to the right as a side view. This piece is set up for an end-grain turning. These pieces already show some kind of bird like figure with wings extended. This motif is not unusual for sugar maple burls that come from the UP of Michigan.

The next gallery of images shows the finished bowl that was turned from this piece. The bowl has a maximum diameter of 17" at its top and 4" at the bottom base of the bowl. The first image in this gallery clearly shows the spooky figure. It has a horned head, one eye, two legs and out stretched arms holding two dragon like figures. This is a very unusual and beautiful bowl.

I have now completed the second bowl from this burl. This bowl is very similar in size and is shown in the following photos. Both of these bowls have been sold. It is great they were purchased as a pair, sort of like book ends. The last image shows the two bowls together.