My lifelong friend Jeff Weigant passed away. He was a people person and was much loved by everyone who knew him. Jeff had artistic talent. One of his later endeavors was woodturning.
This splendid sample, a gift to me, I proudly display. A narrative, in Jeff’s words, follows:
Back Story
Box Elder, part of the Maple Family. Red indicates insect damage, which most likely killed the tree. This is common in this tree, to a point. If you buy it in a retail environment, it’s expensive, in the top 10%. This wood is the first Diseased Box Elder I have found in the 4 years I have been turning.
I always tell people, “Find me wood I can use, and I will make you a bowl for free.” At the Green Farmers Market, there was this gal who had a farm. She and her husband split; he took the farm. She took over the organic Soap Tent as the owners headed off to military duty in Texas. Later, I heard she bought a piece of land in Cobb County—two acres along a railroad track, reasonably flat, with a basic house in need of repair. She can make the house her office and soap factory, and if she cuts down some trees, she has enough ground to farm as well.
She called me near Christmas. She had closed on the house and had a bunch of Bradford Pear trees to take down. She said they were big—dang. I’m a bit tired of Pear, but it’s cool wood after you sand it for what seems like two or three decades. The tree removal guy had her call me to tell me about this Elder find—not just Pear, so much the better! I promised my neighbor a Mexican lunch at the most traditional Mexican place in town to take his truck to Marietta and load up wood. Being a foodie, he had no problem with the plan.
So we got there, and it’s not all what we thought. The Bradford Pear had been dying for a while, and I’ve never seen pear with character, so OK, good. There were a few rotted, well-past-their-use-by-date chunks of Elder. Where was the rest of the tree? Turns out, the Tree Dude also knew what this was, took the best for himself, and forgot to tell Soap Girl. I’m not complaining… much.
Soap Girl got a free, better-than-average bowl of Box Elder with knot holes and bark inclusions. I did right by her, took the wood given to me, and did good by it too. And all of it found a very good home.
There are many similar of Jeff’s creations to admire at this archive. All of his works have since been dispersed to far flung places but the archive collection provides insight into his skillful ability, understanding of trees and way with people.