Mike Paulson’s hand turned Aspen vases are made exclusively from Aspen trees found at high elevations. He has permission from the National Forest Service to collect these beautiful pieces of wood, and he never cuts down live trees.

Each piece of wood is mounted on a wood lathe and carefully hand carved with wood chisels. Straight and curved tools are used to scrape and smooth the inside. His scraping tools are made from a small sharp scraper tip attached to the end of a long heavy steel rod. Each piece is “nibbled out” little by little until a uniformly thin wall is created. This part of the process is important in order to prevent the cracking of the wood as the piece ages. Once the vessel is hollowed out another heavier tool is used to create a smooth even surface on the inside of the vase. Mike often demonstrates his skills at the Colorado Wood Symposium.