This turned sycamore bowl was inlaid with six undulating lines of silver dots. The lines are curved, as if they have been spun out from the centre by the centrifugal force of the lathe. The silver indulges Roger’s love of order, his imposed markings on the surface complement the natural flowing lines of the grain.
Diameter 26 cm
Height 9 cm
© Roland Paschhoff
© Roger Bennett
© Shane O'Neill, courtesy of RDS
© Roger Bennett
© Roger Bennett
 Roger Bennett-Coloured sycamore bowl inlaid with silver dots - Photo by Roland Paschhoff.jpg.jpeg)
 Roger Bennett-chainsawing - Photo by Roger Bennett.jpg.jpeg)
 Roger Bennett-Marking out a pattern for inlaying - Photo by Roger Bennett.jpg.jpeg)
 Roger Bennett-Snipping off silver wire - Photo by Roger Bennett.jpg.jpeg)
Roger Bennett
- Woodturner
- Dublin, Ireland
- Master Artisan
- Recommended by Design & Crafts Council Ireland
© Lafayette Photography, courtesy of Design & Crafts Council of Ireland
Drawn to the magic of woodturning
- • Roger taught English and French before discovering woodturning
- • His vessels are dyed and inlaid with silver
- • He designs patterns for his inlay using a computer programme
When Roger Bennett took a year’s sabbatical from his career as a secondary school teacher in Dublin, he was always intending to go back. But one day he was mesmerised by a woodturning demonstration and the experience changed his life. That very day, he decided he had to try woodturning for himself. He joined an evening class, bought a lathe and set up a workshop in his garden, and soon was selling pieces in a local market. One year turned into four, before Roger finally told his school he wasn’t going back. He now specialises in making woodturned bowls, vessels and wall pieces, turned very thin, coloured with water-based dyes and inlaid with silver.
Read the full interviewWorks
Photo: © Jonathon Cuff
Sycamore bowl
Photo: © Estelle Barrett-Morgan
Maroon sycamore bowl
This sycamore bowl was turned using a lathe and inlaid with eight precisely placed lines of silver dots. To create an added sense of depth, the dots and the spaces between them decrease gradually in size from the rim to the centre. Roger takes great pleasure in his daily interaction with the raw materials and the magic of turning the wood.
Diameter 16.5 cm
Height 4 cm
Photo: © Roland Paschhoff
Blue sycamore bowl
This turned, blue sycamore bowl was inlaid with six undulating lines of silver dots. Sycamore is a wonderful canvas for colouring: Roger loves the subtle variations of lighter and darker shades, as different parts of the wood, side grain and end grain, absorb the dye at different rates. The bowl won the Established Maker Award (woodturning) in the Royal Dublin Society Craft Awards Exhibition in 2016.
Diameter 12 cm
Height 5 cm
Photo: © Trevor Hart
Night Sky series sycamore bowl
Silver dots were inlaid in a “controlled random” pattern on the interior surface of this turned sycamore bowl. It is one of the Night Sky series, where the dots shine like stars. Wood is the most tactile of materials, and Roger loves it when people close their eyes and caress the surface of a bowl, examining it with their fingertips.
Diameter 10 cm
Height 5 cm
Photo: © Trevor Hart
Night Sky series sycamore bowl
Arcs of silver dots were inlaid in a “controlled random” pattern on the interior surface of this turned sycamore bowl. It is one of the Night Sky series, dotted with constellations of shining stars. As in many of Roger’s bowls, the sense of lightness is accentuated by the shape, the walls flaring gracefully from a narrow base.
Diameter 25 cm
Height 4.5 cm
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