Alabaster Bowl #705 Sculpture

Alabaster Vessel # 705, Colorado Alabaster, turned, carved, textured and painted, 4.8” high x 8.5” diameter with an attached base of Bloodwood. This is another in the series of bowls with heart shaped openings. Inside, it’s pink alabaster, outside, I can’t even begin to tell you what color it is, it’s so many, all at once, pinks, blues, greens, golds, all shifting as the light or one’s viewpoint changes. It’s a combination of turning and carving and for my work, a fairly weighty piece (but not uncomfortable to hold in your hands). All in all it is a tactile and visual delight with the smooth, fleshy stone inside contrasting with the rough and sparkly exterior. Put this one on the nightstand of the light of your eye and see what happens. The piece is fragile and should be considered for decorative use only. It has a very thin finish of polyurethane and can be cleaned gently with a damp cloth, but it should never be submerged, and never, ever, please no, be put in a dish washer. It will dissolve and leave spots all over your glassware. About the Artist - Max Krimmel: I started turning alabaster in 1985 and since then I’ve written articles and taught workshops about alabaster turning all across the country. Many private and public collections include my work. You can see my work at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, the Frick Collection in New York City (it’s the socle underneath the Clodion/Lapute clock in the Fragonard room) and the Vance Kirkland Museum in Denver. If you want to see how to make one of these yourself, check out the tutorials on my website: . About Alabaster: There are several sources of alabaster in the USA, but the Colorado alabaster, from which this piece is made, (from a quarry near Ft. Collins) is not currently available and may never be again. Once my stock is used up I won’t be turning any more of it. It is confusing, because the word “alabaster” is used as both an adjective and a noun. An example as an adjective might be “This vase is available in Clear, Frosted, Rose, or Alabaster”. All the vases may be glass but the color varies. If someone refers to a piece of sculpture as “alabaster” that could mean it’s an off-white color with swirls in it and made of acrylic. Or, it could be made of the mineral we call alabaster. As a noun referring to a type of stone it’s still confusing. Currently, in the USA, “alabaster” - the mineral - usually means it is hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4.2H20) a crystalline form of gypsum. But the English, in the 1800s used the term "alabaster" for the stone we usually call "marble" (calcium carbonate). So the Pyramids of Egypt are sometimes described as having an outer layer of alabaster. Alabaster is also commonly confused with onyx, which is parallel banded chalcedony. And again, "onyx" is also used as a descriptive term. Ugh! What an onomastic* mess. This piece is made of stone, alabaster, hydrated calcium sulfate, from a quarry near Fort Collins, Colorado. By the way, the "hydrated" part of the name refers to water mechanically bound into the stone. That's what makes the stone translucent. Heat will drive the water out of the stone and it will no longer be translucent (and you can’t put it back). At normal home temperatures this process would likely take thousands of years. But if you put alabaster in a 400° oven it will take about 30 minutes. So don't let your alabaster get too hot to touch. About Lathes: A lathe is a machine for rotating. It's like a potters wheel only the axis is horizontal rather than vertical. I attach a block of stone to the lathe, it spins, and I use a scraper to remove everything that doesn't look like a bowl. Unlike clay on a wheel, I can only remove material. I can't push it around and shape it. The process is called turning. Thanks for looking and reading all this. If you have questions please contact me. *onomastic: adjective - relating to the study of the history and origin of proper names. Hey! Give me a break, I could have used "ycleptic".