Blue crabs, bioluminescence and… wooden bowls?
A strange combination, but Professor Richard Forward of the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C., manages to incorporate all three elements into his work.
Forward has been at the marine lab for 35 years, teaching courses such as “Physical Ecology” and “Physiology of Marine Animals.” He has published numerous papers in his scientific career, and he is primarily noted for his work with fish larvae and blue crab migration patterns.
But when he has a spare moment away from his laboratory, Forward enjoys a hobby he took up just five years ago: woodworking.
As an active researcher, Forward built much of his own scientific equipment for years, but he worked primarily with metal and plastic. He sometimes crafted wooden objects as models for his wife to use in her paintings.
But some unexpected inspiration came when a leak ruined the entire kitchen floor of his historic house during a hurricane. In the process of rebuilding the back of the house, Forward decided to include a woodworking shop as a place to store his equipment. It was then that he seriously began to pursue his artistic interests.
Forward carves various wooden items, including flatware. The inspiration for Forward’s pieces usually comes from the wood itself.
“A lot of times the piece will dictate where you go because it will have a crack or rotten area in it and you will have to reshape it as you go,” Forward said.
The unpredictability of the wood stems from the fact that Forward rarely buys his own unless a specific item requires it; most of his wood is taken from trees either felled in hurricanes or cut down by neighbors in their yards.
Each piece he carves has a story associated with it. Perhaps the most interesting pieces Forward makes are the ones that also carry some of Beaufort’s history with them, such as bowls carved from downed trees or candle sticks made from an old ship’s mast.
Some local woods have a tendency to crack, and many of Forward’s pieces display unusual, dark colorations known as spalting.
“Spalting is the first stage of rot. Insects burrow into the wood and carry with them a fungus that grows through the wood,” Forward explained. He added that he uses these characteristics to his advantage as he creates uniquely figured pieces that show off the wood’s “personality.”
In addition to bowls and plates, Forward’s works include more unusual pieces such as a “weed pot”—a decorative piece with two small holes in the top to hold dried flowers or feathers—and yo-yos made of scrap wood.
“I enjoyed yo-yos as a kid. I give them to all my grad students because it helps them think,” Forward said with a smile.
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