OLD ELM WOODTURNING
Beautiful hand turned bowls and containers
by Denny White
Denny White restored antique furniture for a living and spindle turned all kinds of furniture parts over the years. However, his passion for turning came to full fruition in the summer of 2024, when he began turning bowls and containers at the age of 78. His years of woodworking steeped in historical tradition, left him with a love of wood and an intuitive sensitivity toward simplicity and economy of form. In the making of these containers his full artistic talent finally had the opportunity to flourish. His work bears testament to the fact that old age can be a time for new accomplishment.
In 2022, Denny and his wife Arena Heidi moved from the Newfane and Brattleboro area, deeper into the wilderness of Vermont. They reside now on Danby’s majestic marble mountain and thrive upon the pastoral beauty of the area. Most of the wood that Denny uses for his work is gathered from deadfall on the land that surrounds them. However, some highly figured and exotic wood that he turns are leftover remnants from his years of cabinetry restoration. Also, if one looks closely, beautiful wood may even show up in a delivery of firewood!
Many of Denny’s pieces are turned from spalted wood. As wood begins to decay on the forest floor, unique varieties of fungi leave nuanced colors and whimsical black lines within the wood as they flourish upon it. Like breaking open a geode, it can be a surprise to see what’s inside nature’s wooden canvas. Sometimes beautiful landscape-like patterns emerge. The lines and coloring are 100% natural, with each turned piece capturing and retaining the beauty and some of the life history of the tree that formed it.
We do not recommend washing the spalted bowls or containers as they may crack or warp. Denny uses polishes and finishes that are nontoxic, but sometimes a glue or grit may have been used that has not been labeled as food safe. Therefore, we do not recommend using these pieces for eating. However, they are likely safe for holding dry food items like salt or whole fresh fruit.
Where to Buy Denny’s Work
We are currently selling all of Denny’s lower priced bowls and containers at Muzzy’s Shop, located at 12 North Main St in Danby. Muzzy’s is a charming Vermont gift shop that offers local artwork, rustic home goods and cozy nature-inspired decor. They are a combination gift and consignment shop selling a vintage mix of used housewares, small furniture and unique items for reasonable prices. Muzzy’s Shop is open Thursdays from 10:00 to 4:00 and Saturdays from 9:00 to 3:00, but check their page before you come as their hours may change.
I also list items for sale on my Facebook Marketplace page and hope to feature and sell individual items on this website. Once Denny has built up more inventory, we will also sell higher priced items at an art gallery in Manchester, Vermont.
Other Ways to Connect
I wrote a longer bio about Denny many years ago that you can find here.
Denny posts videos, primarily of wildlife from our game cams, on YouTube. Here’s his old YouTube channel and his new Youtube channel.
He has an old Instagram page, which I hope to revive soon.
We also recommend the beautiful turning of our good friend, Walt Sadakierski, whose website is Turning Elegance.
For more information about Denny’s work and what is currently available please connect with us via a listing on Facebook Marketplace or the contact page of this website. Thank you for your interest in his work!
