Rustic Hawthorn bowl

Today I had a call from a lady that had seen a Hawthorn Hollow form of mine at Somerset crafts.
She loves Hawthorn but would prefer a bowl to a hollow form.
As I have still got some quite big Hawthorn I offered to make her one.
Her one stipulation was that it had to be rustic.
Things never went quite to plan as the following pics will show.

I had a piece of Hawthorn trunk about four feet long and 12" wide so I cut it into pieces about 12" long and one I cut into the round on the bandsaw.

Click on pics to enlarge

As you can see there is evidence of some bark inclusion.

What I did not expect is what happened next the bowl split in two and one piece whistled past my ear.

The bark inclusion was obviously right through the wood.
I suppose if there is a moral to this story it is always be aware of what might happen Stay out of line of fire if you are unsure of the stability of the blank you are using and always wear a face mask.

Anyway the problem was overcome by turning another piece as the following pics show.
The lady is picking it up tomorrow if she likes it.

She said Rustic she has got Rustic

This is Anne the lovely lady that comisioned this bowl and she is very pleased with it and I think it shows