Paul Yaekle

About the Artist

I never considered myself to be particularly creative. I have always assigned that adjective to my wife with her penchant for painting, pottery and interior design. I have tagged along over the years to the pottery studio and other artistic ventures with her, but most everything that I “created” could be regulated to that old joke about looking like an ashtray.

One of those tag-along adventures occurred several years ago when we decided to get out of Phoenix for a week or two during the heat of the summer with my wife enrolling in a watercolor painting workshop at a craft camp for adults outside of Springfield, MA called Snow Farm. I looked through the catalogue as to what other courses were being offered that week and saw a course in woodturning called “Make a Bowl a Day.” As things turned out, I was absolutely hooked. It was all I could do to figure out a way to be able to continue to create, and fortunately I now have small workshop set up in my side yard that I call my World HQ where I spend a good deal of time.

My creations consist of wood from a variety of sources. I enjoy the challenges of utilizing reclaimed wood like Juniper, Aspen, and Cedar from the burn area of the Wallow Fire in 2011. I have been known to stop and pick up logs from piles that people put out for bulk trash pickup. But of late I have been sifting through the scrap bins at the specialty wood shops around town to put together some variety bowls that create some unique shapes and looks.

Part of the allure of wood bowls is the tactile feel of a finished bowl. The satiny feel comes from utilizing a homemade finish of beeswax, mineral oil, and organic diatomaceous earth.

I hope you enjoy your wooden creation.

Paul Yaekle
Aka “The Bald Bowl Guy”