Dorothy's Inner Struggle for Self-Awareness

Year: 2005

Dimensions: 14"D x 3"T

Materials: Curly bigleaf maple with inlaid colored calcite crystals. Finished with metal-acid dyes and musical-instrument lacquer. Featured in the American Association of Woodturners juried exhibit Return to Oz.

Comment: This piece was inspired by an on-line interpretation of the tornado in Wizard of Oz as a metaphor for Dorothy's teenage angst. This piece was my first successful translucent piece and was acquired by a buyer on the exhibits opening night, a favorite story of mine. The buyer was not a collector but was so taken with the piece that she sold her car to buy it. I received a message from her recently that she enjoys it daily still.