Biography

E-Mail me at
mmickhutch@yahoo.com

Two years ago, I became interested in creating segmented bowls.  Now, many of my pieces are made from more than three hundred individual pieces of wood.  I try to compliment woods which are native to Arkansas with exotic colored woods from other parts of the world.  I never use paint or stain.  The natural wood colors are enhanced with oils and clear finish.  Each piece is cut and glued into mullti-sided rings.  The rings are then stacked and glued to form the rough shape of the project.  Only then is the project turned into its final shape.  I usually complete about twenty pieces each year.  I try to make each piece a unique design and never try to duplicate a project once it is done.  The colors and form are quite durable.  They are not meant to be used with water or any wet medium.  They should be kept  out of direct sunlight and extreme hot, cold, or moist environments.  Dusting or occasional light dustings with Pledge should keep the finish looking good.
Two of my sons have shown some interest in wood turning.  Both have completed several pieces including segmented work.  Their time, like mine was, is limited by jobs and family.  My grandson has completed a few solid pieces.  I enjoy working in the basement with them as my grand father did with me.

As a boy, I used to work with my grandfather in his basement woodworking shop.  He had many of his fathers wood working tools including a treadle lathe.  It took a lot of effort to turn a project on that lathe.  In school, I learned that lathes could be motorized and work became much easier.   I earned enough money during my sixteenth summer to buy a used motorized lathe.  We had a great time turning lamps and bowls.  Soon, came college, employment, and family.  All this left little time for wood turning.  After my grandfather died, the lathe moved to a corner of my basement.  It moved with my family and I over three states and some fifty years.
Shortly after I retired, I cleaned our basement and found the dusty lathe.  It looked like it needed something to do and so did I.  I cleaned and oiled it and turned a couple of projects.  Little did I know that this beginning would develop into a passion.  Although I still use the lathe which is over a hundred years old, there is now a new lathe and other woodworking tools.