Sounding Bowl 310 for the OneOak project by Tobias Kaye

2012 is an exciting year for the OneOak project as the dried timber is now with dozens of craftspeople who are working on making many diverse items. We are building up towards several major exhibitions later in the year, at which we will be bringing together the art, the science, and for the first time, all the wooden products from the OneOak tree.

We are very excited to have been sent this image of a truly beautiful meditative Sounding Bowl made by Tobias Kaye, numbered 310, from the OneOak wood. Sounding Bowls were developed by Tobias over 20 years ago and are now in use in hospitals, hospices, private clinics, care homes and special education situations in four continents. They are used by singers, poets, healers, registered therapists, doctors and nurses in a huge variety of situations. Tobias says that “they assist people in opening up hearts”.

Back in October 2011, Nick Bainbridge from Blenheim Estate, the forester who felled the tree, skilfully wielded his chainsaw to cut two giant discs for Tobias Kaye, whose requirements were demanding. We needed to find a large piece of wood from the tree that contained a crotch or fork, as this would have the immense strength needed in these bowls, which have to withstand the tension of the strings. We had kept all the crownwood in a pile at Blenheim Estate where it has been drying slowly. The photos below show the steps necessary to cut two large discs which were then sent by Courier to Tobias Kaye’s workshop in Devon.

Nick from Blenheim Estate cutting the discs for the Sounding Bowls

Tobias is currently working on a second smaller bowl (numbered 331). We have asked Tobias to write about his work, and we will post this here soon, together with a film of the making and a recording of its wonderful sound.

Sounding Bowl made by Tobias Kaye