#159 Black Walnut (SC) – SOLD
Wood Turning
8 1/2″ tall x 9″ diameter

This tree was growing on a South Carolina Farm and had fallen from a fence line during a storm. Great care was taken in the processing of this tree to be used as turning stock due to the many horseshoe nails that were embedded deep within this tree used to hold fencing to the tree over the years.

#141 Spalted Pecan (GA)
Wood Turning
10 1/4″ tall x 9″ diameter

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The Pecan is a species of Hickory native to the Southeastern United States and Northern New Mexico but has been transplanted around the world for its prized nuts.  This particular piece is from a tree felled in Georgia from a tornado touching down there.  It has some light spalting features and was turned side grain so that you see the very center of the tree on the side of the piece.

#181 Silver Maple with Ambrosia (GA)
Wood Turning
14 3/4″ tall x 10″ diameter

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The ambrosia feature in Maple species has always fascinated me. This piece is turned with the center of the log facing out and the markings that seem to project out from the center are created by a natural symbiotic relationship between the ambrosia beetle and a species of fungus that hitches a ride on the beetles legs. The beetle tunnels through the wood and the fungus colonizes these tunnels and their interaction with the wood creates the unique stains that you see in this piece.

#20 Spalted Wormy Maple (GA)
Wood Turning
5″ tall x 10″ diameter

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Trees are a canvas that nature loves to draw on and I am always in awe of it. Spalting is a part of the decay process in which colonies of fungi work to decompose a downed tree back to the earth from whence it came. The black lines, as well as the blue and grey colors you see are mineral deposits left by these fungal colonies as they work through the wood. I have worked to arrest and preserve their work through form and finish.

Osage Orange (GA)
Wood Turning
5″ tall x 2 1/2″ diameter

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A member of the mulberry family, the Osage Orange tree is also known as the horse apple or hedge apple tree. This tree produces a grapefruit sized fruit that is inedible for humans and rarely eaten by any animals.  Wood from this tree is very hard and resistant to insect activity and the normal decay process.

#146 Norfolk Island Pine (FL) – SOLD
Wood Turning
8″ tall x 6″ diameter

Not actually a pine, this species is endemic to Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia some 900 miles east of Sydney, Australia. Due to the climate of that area, the tree has been successfully transplanted into South Florida, Southern California and Hawaii.  The concentric limb pattern is seen clearly in this piece as well as a beautiful spalting pattern seen in the blue-ish coloring throughout the piece.

#161 Eastern Red Cedar (GA) – SOLD
Wood Turning
7″ tall x 6″ diameter

Actually, a juniper, and not a true cedar, this species is an evergreen and is often used in outdoor applications as it is naturally rot resistant as well as insect resistant.  This piece has a nice contrast between the darker heartwood and lighter colored sapwood. It also has a fissure that formed during the drying process between the first time it was turned on the lathe and the 2nd, finish turning that invited my signature “stitching” method, using holly, red cedar, and black epoxy.

#161 Eastern Red Cedar (GA) – SOLD
Wood Turning
7″ tall x 6″ diameter

Actually, a juniper, and not a true cedar, this species is an evergreen and is often used in outdoor applications as it is naturally rot resistant as well as insect resistant.  This piece has a nice contrast between the darker heartwood and lighter colored sapwood. It also has a fissure that formed during the drying process between the first time it was turned on the lathe and the 2nd, finish turning that invited my signature “stitching” method, using holly, red cedar, and black epoxy.

J. Ruel Martin

Jason Ruel Martin is a self-taught woodworker who learned the craft little by little over 25 years.  During that time, Ruel had been influenced by several master turners across North America and Europe most notably, the Moulthrop’s.

The Process

“My process starts with sourcing the raw wood for my forms, which is truly one of my favorite aspects because its my chance to “hunt” for the prize.  I love riding through the North Georgia Hills anticipating a great “find.”  When I get my hands on something that I believe may hold a rare beauty beneath the bark, I can get downright giddy.  Once I have returned to my shop, I cut the logs into manageable pieces.  These “Manageable pieces” may weight in excess of 200 lbs. when they are first mounted on my lathe so by manageable, I mean that it is within my ability to manipulate it with the help of one or more of my kids.  The pieces I harvest are transported to my back yard where some are “roughed” and hollowed into forms immediately, and others are allowed to be “attacked” by nature’s elements such as types of fungi, beetles, etc. so that the wood may take on interesting characteristics due to the natural process of decay.

Roughing the form is one of my favorite parts.  It’s where the tree gets to “speak”, as it were.  I almost never start turning a piece with a commitment to a shape.  As the bark and then outer layers of wood are removed, the grain of the wood, with its color and character tells me what shape it should be.  From the point that I “rough” out the initial shape, many of my forms will be in the process for over a year before they are finished and ready to sell.

After the rough form is achieved, I force the piece of wood through a series of steps meant to manage how it looses moisture.  Water in a tree is like blood in a human or animal.  As it looses water, the wood is almost tortured as it shrinks unevenly, and begins to split and threatens to undo itself completely.  I work with all the tricks I have learned to make the drying process do as little harm to the form as possible.

Once the form has dried out, it is put back on the lathe again and the shape is “trued up” after the initial shape has changed during the drying process.  At this point, the form is sanded enough to allow the grain to come through with great clarity.

Upon completion of sanding, the inside and outside of the forms are coated with a marine grade, two-part, high build epoxy resin.  Between 6-8 coats of epoxy are applied, sanding in between coats, then allowed to harden over several weeks.  After it has totally cured, the finish is sanded to remove imperfections and then polished to the desired level of sheen.  The finish we have chosen for our pieces is a very labor-intensive finish and extremely few woodturners use it.  We have chosen to go the extra mile, and then some, because we wanted to entomb the wood in the finish ensuring that it will last, in its current state, for generations to come.  Lastly, we will apply a wax finish that helps create a “soft to the touch” appeal.

It seems that I learn a new lesson with every form.  The way I see it, I am not really creating anything so much as I am doing the work necessary for you to see what nature offers behind the bark of a tree.  What often looks like firewood, is hiding a unique beauty.”

Robert Paul Galleries is proud to show the works of American artist J. Ruel Martin.