Bright Shrink Pot

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

—Mary Oliver, from the poem “When I am Among the Trees”

That poetry excerpt may look familiar.  I shared it last year in this post, and the poem has now inspired this shrink pot carved in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides).  Here it is spinning around in the slideshow below.  If you’re viewing this in your email program, click on the title of the post to open it and see all of the photos.

 

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The shrink pot is 7 1/2 inches (19cm) tall, 4 3/8 inches (11cm) diameter at the base.  I painted it a sky blue with artist oil paint, then carved through that surface with my penknife into the creamy white wood.

The lid was also carved from one piece of aspen.  It fits snugly to give a pretty good seal to whatever you want to keep inside.  It’s interesting that the fit changes slightly depending on the humidity.  On very humid days, the shrink pot expands slightly, and the lid pushes on relatively easily.  On drier days, the top gives a pleasing “pop” when it’s removed.

And here’s another surprise:  My daughter has a string of battery powered LED twinkle lights.  I popped them inside and…

I’ll offer this shrink pot for sale.  Price is $650 which includes shipping in the US.  I’ll also ship outside the US for a bit more.  If you’re interested, leave a comment below or email me at dandkfish@gmail.com.

Hoping you have a chance to take a walk and read some of Mary Oliver’s poetry this week.  She died earlier this year, but she continues to be an inspiration.  I put her on the cover of my latest sketchbook last week:

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