Zigzag Elm Bowl

Elm is no friend to wood splitting folk.  Its interlocked grain fights down to the last thread of wood.  But this same tenacious grain gives rise to some beautiful patterns in a finished bowl, such as the relatively large one featured here, with the growth rings zigging and zagging and layered one upon another like layers of the earth’s surface.  The way in which this bowl came out of the tree — it is aligned with the up-down direction of the trunk — accounts for lighter wood at the rim and darker wood toward the base.  At about 9″ across and 6.5″ high, this bowl would make a lovely centerpiece.