Above: A laminated block spins on a lathe to reveal the outside of a helical mosaic chevron bracelet. At right: A bottle stopper and the laminated block used to create it sit on a 2-foot section of Bolivian rosewood, the starting point for the spice mill in the foreground. Texas Valley, to a home and shop she designed and built. While continuing to build custom cabinetry and furniture, she began experimenting more with all manner of “what ifs,” producing and selling a line of bracelets offered in galleries along the West Coast.
Making magic At 1,000 square feet, Collins’ shop, airy with high ceilings and south-facing picture windows, easily could accommodate a small cottage. Yet, she says, “Even if I think I have enough space, I never do.” It may look cluttered, but be assured it’s organized — with every few questions, Collins zeros in on samples of works in progress and an array of finished pieces, bringing them back to a mammoth work table to illustrate what she’s explaining — including bracelets, bowls, earrings, bottle stoppers, spice mills and salt and pepper shakers. “The work itself inspires me — I do it for the beauty of it,” Collins said. “I love the process — I still get totally enamored by it.” She fans a hand of different species of wood, all milled to 3.5 inches by 0.25 inch by 16 inches. “My favorite wood is whatever wood I’ve got. Zircote is a favorite because it’s black and brown with a jasper-type grain. I work with hardwoods because I like the way they turn better.” Her suppliers are Edensaw Woods in Port Townsend and Gilmer Wood Company in Portland, Ore. For a helical mosaic bracelet, Collins will select 12 species of wood — she has on hand more than two dozen from all over the world — plus 11 different colors of veneer she’s hand-dyed. Once stacked in a pleasing order, the block will be 3.5 inches thick. “Beginning with a variety of sustainable woods, both domestic and exotic, I am looking for grain, color and texture — the grain of white oak, the orange color of chatke viga and the texture of zebra wood … there are so many beautiful woods in the world,” Collins said. “I play with it (the stack) until I get them (the pieces) the way I like them. Sometimes I sit with them a couple of days before laminating. Everything comes from the block.” When she’s truly satisfied with the block’s composition, she glues it, layer upon layer, with jewelers epoxy, creating the laminate, which then is sliced perpendicular on the bandsaw 21-30 times, yielding varying thicknesses of veneer — “0.022 of an inch when the bandsaw gods smile,” Collins quipped. These square slivers are reassembled, rotated and re-laminated, reincarnating on the lathe in an incredibly intricate design — An “Ooom” bracelet is secured on the 1,200 individual pieces, some as thin as a fingernail and others machinist lathe, being turned round. the size of a pinhead — as a helical mosaic bracelet. It will be shaped on a wood lathe and “I don’t sketch a pattern out at all. I just build. Turning then returned to the machinist lathe a block from the outside used to be a surprise — but not to be parted off, sanded and finished. anymore,” Collins chuckled. “There will still be block remaining and it will now be sliced 1/16th of an inch thick; 11 slices will produce the linear mosaic weaver bracelets,” Collins said, explaining that pattern “is made of layers of laminate material that’s repeated and folded back upon itself to create a wooden fabric. The bold mosaic bracelet is of a simpler design and strikingly dramatic because of the size of the mosaic pieces. Whatever movement there is makes the pattern.” Collins described her “Weaver 9” design as a “straight stack” or “Indian blanket” weave, consisting of 12 different species of wood, hand-dyed maple veneer, with ebony edges. While at a juried show, the bracelet caught photographer Mark Frey’s eye and it ended up being the back cover of the December 2012 American Woodturner magazine, a surprise and thrill for Collins. Enlarged
24 LOP Summer 2013
At right: This bowl is very small and has 10 different species of wood in its ebony base and rim. The shape follows the lamination design creating a bowl that is reminiscent of the Anasazi. Photo courtesy of Martha Collins
Collins also is enjoying learning how to make threaded boxes on her lathe — this one is in claro maple.