My Dad's Beetle Kill Pine Turnings

My father has been funding his retirement by turning bowls and platters out of beetle killed lodge pole pine trees. The beetles leave behind a bacteria that stains the wood with a blueish/gray/black color. To date, he has turned and sold well over 200 items.


Here is what the tree looks like while being reduced to turning blanks:

So far his turnings have ended up in several states and even in a few countries. His largest customer has been the U.S. Forest Service who commissioned nearly a hundred bowls. They have been presented to the Deputy Secretary of the Interior and have been used as awards. They have also featured my dad as someone who is using the unique wood for artistic purposes; instead of say for pellets.

He has items in an art gallery in Grand Lake, Colorado but most of his sales are from word of mouth.

Below are a sample of what he has created. He uses lacquer or Mineral Oil for the furnishes, all the colors you see are natural.