Woodturning Commissions

Yvonne is always happy to take on commissions and has already undertaken many that have not just involved turning but frequently carving as well. Past commissions have included individual one off artistic pieces, tables and multiple turned and, in some cases, carved matching work for both contemporary and period furniture. A few of the pieces Yvonne has been commissioned to make can be seen here.

Sweet Chestnut Table

Yvonne was commissioned to make a bedside table with one main criteria that the table top be made of one solid piece of wood. Normally when making a table several planks of wood are glued together to make the table top from since this gives a much more stable piece of wood from which to work and there is much less chance that it will move.

After visiting several sawmills Yvonne managed to secure a very attractive piece of English Sweet Chestnut with an amazing dark and light swirling grain. The wood was very well seasoned and despite the fact Yvonne turned the table top from the one solid piece as instructed there was virtually no movement of the wood.

With the table top complete Yvonne then turned and carved a triple barley twist central leg leaving the bottom section hexagonal. The final task was to make three matching feet before assembling the table.

"the Sweet Chestnut had an amazing dark and light swirling grain"

Lacewood Egg Box

For this commission the customer, having seen a picture of Yvonne's decorative egg box, had wanted a piece based on it but made to his own specifications.

The design specifications given were as follows:

A box with a slender, decorative stem.
An open barley twist finial on the lid.
The box was to have no contents.
The lid not hinged.
All turned from the same wood, London Plane.

Turned & Carved Parts for Period Furniture

Yvonne has been commissioned to do restoration work for antique chairs and furniture on several occasions. In this particular case the client, a furniture maker, wanted to make replacement replicas of antique chairs that were too badly damaged to be repaired. Yvonne was commissioned to turn the legs, the back spindles and also to turn and carve the arms, all of which had to match the original antique chair.

"all the parts had to be identical"

A picture of one of the finished chairs can be seen to the left and to the right are some of the arms and legs Yvonne made.

Turned & Carved Parts for Period Furniture

The client specified all the components were to be turned and carved from solid Oak. Also they had to be sanded but not finished with anything since he would then make the other parts of the chairs and apply the finish to the overall piece.

Striding Edge Platter

Yvonne was commissioned to make a platter with a picture of Striding Edge carved into it, a place that held fond memories for the customer and his wife and in fact the piece was commissioned for the gentlemen’s wife as a surprise. Finding a way to portray the place using only a mixture of holes carved right the way through the wood and a Pyrography kit to burn the wood in places posed an intriguing challenge for Yvonne. In addition the customer asked that 2 walkers in the distance also be drawn into the picture.

Yvonne carved a pattern of holes to try and emphasis the rugged beautiful features of Striding Edge and then used a pyrography kit to burn the tiny forms of the walkers and also to write the name, Striding Edge, as can be seen at the bottom of the platter.

Finally as per the customers request, Yvonne wrote a personalised message on the back of the platter again using the Pyrography kit.

Heart Carved from Cherry

As well as the carving Yvonne incorporates into some of her pieces Yvonne has also made various items that are completely carved including a snake and a dragon both of which were combined with turned elements to form the final piece of art.

These carved pieces led to a commission to carve a heart with the letter V on one side and E on the other with a star through it. After securing a piece of Cherry, which has a natural warm, rich orange colour to it, Yvonne carved the requested heart with the E, V and star raised.