Recent Commissions
Some recent commissions that have been particularly rewarding are shown below. Please click on the images for more details, some may even have a video available.
303 is a Heart Bowl in Walnut. About 11” across this is the first Walnut Heart Bowl ever made. Heart Bowls have a softly intimate tone that rings on, firstly in the bowl itself and then within the heart of the attentive listener. Made from a local, windblown tree this seven string instrument went to a therapist in Gloucestershire. She finds it effective even in her own self care. Though she works with Sounding Bowls most days she has found it possible to rejuvenate her own energies using this deeply tender sound.
Walnut is a rich looking and sounding wood with deep, quiet undertones of wisdom, giving me a feeling of the wisdom of age. This piece, No 288, a 15” Twelve-string Bridging Bowl has a totally wonderful voice, bright and clear and strongly enriched by the overlaying strings. It is now working with a healer in South West England.
285 in Holly is another remarkable piece. Our new understanding of making Heart Bowls developed with two we did in Yew 226 and 270 revealing a whole new world of intimate sounding resonance. In this Holly Heart Bowl the scintillating, starry sound of Holly’s resonance combines with the soft glow of the Heart Bowl sound to create something very special indeed. It’s use in a special school has brought results that apparanetly had the teachers popping in and out of music therapy sessions to witness the unbelievable transformations in their charges. See this one on YouTube, Click here
283 in Cherry is a Ten-string Bridging Bowl whose tone was so sweet and delightful it put me in mind of a maypole dance, flower meadows in late spring sunshine. It sold so quickly we immediately made another like it which also sold within a week. If there is not one on the stock page we would be happy to make you one. Just click here to request.
Number 229 this unusual Bridging Bowl in Yew was commissioned by someone for whom 13 was a special number. Regrettably they were unable to complete on the purchase and are now offering the bowl for service elsewhere. Yew wood is very strong in colour and tone, associated with deep rooting strength. The tuning pegs are specially made with dimpled tops to facilitate using crystal energy in healing. By placing the crystal into the dimple it’s energy may be closely tied to that note..
Number 226 is a Heart Bowl in Yew with a remarkably plangent tone the natural holes in the body combine with the light weight to make a rare and powerful instrument. Please click here to see it being played on You-Tube.
This Lyre Bowl is from the same tree as the one pictured above, the grain is full of interest and action. The tone is clear, strong and warm. It was commissioned by a child behaviour therapist in the Netherlands who is making a reputation for herself with novel and effective techniques based around movement co-ordination. Re-establishing harmony in the bodies movement capabilities affects inner wellbeing, emotional and mental agility and abilities.
This Ash wood Lyre Bowl is unusually light in colour. I had planned to contrast this with red and black, thinking of Alchemical imagery when my six year old daughter called it “Snow White” I think she was right on the spot there. You will remember how that tale begins with the young queen sighing over red drops of blood on the snow against a black window frame. No.224
222 has more strings than any I have yet made. At 27 inch I managed 20 strings in a Bridging pattern. A beautiful piece of Ash wood from Wales provided the body and an extremely rich tone, cathedral-like in it’s timbre and fullness. It now lives with a Harp Orchestra in New Zealand.
Sycamore can be a very calm wood, the Silvery light of this one, number 218 and the berry style pegs reflect a clear, strong tone that was particularly appealing to the autistic gentleman who chose it. His visit to the workshop was a highlight of the month as his normal disengagement with the world and total deafness to it’s voice was replaced with a quiet reaching out and very warm smiles at this one and two others that he played. His carers, mother and brother were particularly delighted when he responded to the question of making a choice with an active gesture towards this Sounding Bowl.
It is fun to play with colour sometimes, it can bring a little light relief in life. Ash respond very well to woodstains, in this Hermetic Bowl, No215, the light in the wood glows through beautifully. For me maroon and green are tree colours, berry and leaf. The coloured ones have been popular, most woods can be coloured to order though Ash is the most responsive.
Number 210 is exceptional for it’s depth. The client listened to many and decided on a particularly deep Melody Bowl. Luckily I had just such a piece of Ash drying for two years in preparation. The pentatonic tuning was also an important part of the spec.
The Blue One. A mix of different types of blue stain intensified the colour in this pentatonic Lyre Bowl. This was one of my Austrian apprentice, Ramon’s finale pieces and is deeply loved by the client who calls it "Bella".
