About Gordon Browning

I have always collected wood and worked with wood, but for twenty-seven years my day job was teaching French language and literature (19th and 20th century poetry) at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. When I was younger, I spent several years in France and traveled extensively, including a hitchhike trip around the world. I now live with my wife, Olga, on a farm (180 acres of fields and wooded hillsides) in southwest Wisconsin. The Caribbean and Wisconsin are excellent sources of wood: tropical exotics (Cuban Mahogany, Jamaican Dogwood) and native hardwoods (black walnut, maple, black cherry).

I have been making lathe-turned hollow vessels since 2001, using the tools designed by David Ellsworth. Most of my wood is salvage; the shapes naturally vary with the wood I collect. I strive to combine clean controlled curves with a full-bodied look that hints still at the original log beneath. The vessel walls are uniformly thin for lightness and balance, and the hole at the top is finger-tip small. The tung oil finish has a natural look and invites touch.

I exhibit in about four craft shows a year.

I also make sculpture (see gallery) and I take lots of outdoors photographs, mostly of trees.

Contact Information

For current inventory, send email

Email: gbrowning@miami.edu

Address: S 8160 Drake Rd, Viola, Wi 54664
Phone: 608-538-3155 (home); 305-744-1808 (on the road)

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