Marc Margulies

In 2009, my friend Jim Wayman and I took a weekend “Continuing Education” class on bowl turning at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA.  Our instructor, Rich Friberg, instilled in both of us a skepticism for his wild enthusiasm – how could anyone be so exuberant about taking chunks of wood and turning them into round shapes?  (Jim went on to become a very accomplished glass-blower)

Over the next few years, I became more and more drawn into that same enthusiasm, to the point that it became my daily routine to sketch, plan, study, and dream of bowls.  I tried nearly every technique I could imagine – from simple single-piece bowls to segmented, composite, ribboned, staved, and natural-edged forms.

Gradually I am finding my voice.  I find I want the natural beauty of the wood to be fully expressed, but I like enhancing it with some architectural embellishment.  I prefer a shape that is neither too contemporary nor too traditional.  Both the edge and foot should be elegant and a pleasure to the touch.

I am most often asked about where I source my wood.  The answer, of course, is “from everywhere”.  Much of my maple comes from Western Canada (the internet…) but I really like it when I know the tree itself.  One of the bowls I am most attached to is one I made from a box elder tree (not ideal turning wood) that came from the back yard of the house where my wife Anne’s family grew up.  DJ and Irene’s children played under that tree, as did their grandchildren and great grandchildren;  I gave a bowl I turned from that tree to my father-in-law before he passed away, and I still have pieces from which I will turn bowls for the rest of my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.

I feel very connected to each and every bowl.  I do not sell them, but I do give them away to friends and family who tend to be very non-judgemental, which is great, because my skill still needs much improvement. I continue to learn, with many thanks to my friend and mentor, Jock Gifford.

But the delight is in the process.  Thank you, North Bennet Street School.