Artist turns wood into array of treasures

COURTESY PHOTO Woodturner Barry Finver displays some of his work. From left are two natural edge (bark rim) bowls, a translucent bowl, a decorative box, a clock and a piece with voids. Apparently North Fort Myers resident Barry Finver can turn just about any piece of wood into a stunning work of art.

The woodturner's extensive inventory of decorative, functional and collectible pieces is of exquisite presentation. "I think that's one of the biggest things, when people walk in and see everything," says Mr. Finver, 53. "They almost can't believe that one person can make it. It's a large volume, but it's something that I've built upon."

No one besides him knows better than his wife, Mary Finver, who assists him by applying to each finished piece a tag identifying the wood species and its origin and including information about care of the product. She also is responsible for packaging items. "I get overwhelmed when I see the amount of stuff he's got and the amount of time that's he's got to do it," she says. "He has to make every single thing personally."

Mr. Finver has been a woodturner since 1997 and is a past president of The Woodturners of Southwest Florida, for which he is advisor to the board of directors. He relocated here from Rochester, N.Y., where his work is featured in the Memorial Art Gallery.

The wood he uses is retrieved from fallen trees during tropical storms and hurricanes and trimmed trees. For instance, Edison and Ford Winter Estates workers save wood for him when they trim trees. He keeps a stash of logs, mostly 6 to 11 inches in diameter, in his workshop. A 15-inch long log takes six months to a year to dry out before it can be turned, he says. "It's easier to turn green wood," he says, noting that he has tapped well into the more than 300 hardwoods Florida has to offer and is partial to mahogany, East India rosewood and Norfolk Island pine

He spends a full day — usually eight to 12 hours — turning a larger piece. It dries out for a few weeks before he starts to sand by hand. He wet sands between multiple lacquer coats until he gets the desired finish. He uses natural finishes, namely oil and wax, for food safe products such as caesar salad bowls. "Whatever movement in the wood, I accept that," he says, "and then once that's to the point where the piece is dried out enough to start to finish it, then I start sanding and playing the appropriate finishes."

When he's focusing on smaller items, he mass produces over a few days' time. For example, he says, he can turn 300 to 400 wine bottle stoppers in three to four days.

Two years after he started turning, Mr. Finver expanded his inventory to its current state of decorative bowls and vessels; functional items such as flower vases, oil lamps and clocks; collectors' products, notably six varieties of writing instruments; and gifts including bottle stoppers, cheese board and knife sets, desk accessories, and women's and men's items.

"When I first started getting into it, it wasn't totally with the intent of doing shows," he says. "It was there for my own personal development. Once I recognized what I was able to do with it, then I just kind of took off with it."

His bowls and vessels range from 5 to 20 inches in diameter, he says. Among his defining creations are the translucent bowls, whose sides are a quarter-inch thick yet still pass sunlight or artificial light. Made of Norfolk Island pine, the bowls have quite unique patterns and silky surfaces derived by soaking the wood in a recipe of oils. In addition, Mr. Finver's natural edge bowls and vessels are distinctive. He hollows out the piece from the bark side of the log, leaving the natural bark for the bowl's rim.

Still other pieces have gaps in the wood — voids as he calls them — and require extra care to turn without them being blown apart. "Where all these voids are, that's going to cause a lot of vibration on the piece," he says. "It's very, very difficult to get a piece that's smooth."

With a diverse product line displayed on www.VisualCreations.org, Mr. Finver has created pieces for young and old. "I like to be able to know that the pieces I'm creating, for the most part, are from recycled wood and have clean, flowing lines and are naturally simplistic. It's a personal way of expressing myself. That's the way I like to see forms."

His work can be seen at the Naples Invitational Art Fest in January and Art- Fest Fort Myers in February.

About the art

Woodturning requires a lathe that spins a piece of wood at a desired rate of rotation. The woodturner applies a tool, such as a gouge, a scraper or a skew, to the wood surface, and shavings depart in long strips. Once the piece is roughed out until smooth and balanced, it is turned to a desired shape, and a finish is applied.