Larry has found one of his niches to be the turning of beetle-kill ponderosa pine bowls enhanced with Cripple Creek turquoise. After the pine beetle has attacked a ponderosa pine, the tree tries to fight the ensuing fungus by drawing up minerals from the surrounding soil. It is a combination of these minerals and the pine beetle fungus that turn the normally yellow wood in various shades of blue-green colors which are sometimes laced with red, orange, purple or gold hues. Larry then adds the blue green Cripple Creek turquoise to the edge or in various inlays. These two mediums complement each other with an exquisite beauty of color and form utilizing Colorado produced raw materials.
Unless chemically sprayed, the pine-beetle always wins this battle of nature and the tree eventually dies. The tree is then harvested, allowed to "age" for several years before Larry turns them into his turquoise laden bowls. Thus nature's unending cycle of life, struggle and death become our objects of creativity, beauty and art.
It is Larry's hope that your unique piece will give you years of eye pleasing pleasure and hours of delightful conversation.
