Shallow walnut bowl, 25"L x 6"W x 2"H.

This shallow bowl or tray was cut from the remnants of a massive black walnut tree that washed up on the shore of the Leon River near Jonesboro, Texas, probably in the flood of 1957. My father rescued the remains of the tree, which had been partially burned, had the trunk sawn into planks, and had the wood made into two solid walnut beds for my sister and me. Happily, he stored the remaining lumber, and 65 years later I used it to carve this stunning piece. The intricate grain pattern of both the bottom and the shallow center of the bowl resulted from the fact that the wood was cut from the outside of the of the trunk’s heartwood. A few tiny wood ant tunnels can be seen on the bottom of the piece.