About

Hi. My name is Joe Bass and I am a recovering architect…

… and I’m always looking for ways to satisfy my urge to create. Mostly this gets done in my workshop. I’ve worked in the built environment for my entire career. And for over 35 years, I’ve always kept a workshop to test ideas, build new skills, and but mainly to justify why I’ve hoarded so many tools.

For the past three years I’ve fell in love with woodturning. I like making bowls and vessels. I enjoy taking a piece of discarded wood, say a piece of firewood or maybe a fallen tree in the neighborhood, or a tree on a job site that is scheduled to be removed and create a memory. I like making something worthwhile out of something that was destined for the trash pile.

I’ve had the unique opportunity and privilege to learn from David Ellsworth, Stuart Batty, and Nick Cook. My favorite woods are mostly Texas native hardwoods such as mesquite, hackberry, bois de arc, oak, cedar elm, and pecan. But I have a strong love for walnut which I often import from a source in Iowa. Walnut is the only raw material that I routinely buy. Everything else is either free for the taking or timber someone gives me. If someone gifts me a log, they always get the best bowl in the log. I post regularly on Instagram but I’m hoping that this site can help me grow my habit and maybe sell a few bowls in order to (of course) buy more tools.

Thanks for visiting.