The First Lesson — Eastern Redbud Shot Glass

Story / Provenance

Before I began harvesting much of my own wood, I was buying figured burls through online wood auctions and purchasing premium and exotic species from contacts as far away as Indonesia. Their beauty was immediate and unmistakable—but so was the amount I was spending.

My wife began nudging me to look closer to home. She has since found or helped arrange several of the wood harvests that became part of Gentry Crafted.

This Eastern redbud came from a declining Illinois tree that had to be removed after suffering from natural pests and other issues. I was already making wooden shot glasses when we gathered it, but Redbud was one of the earliest locally harvested species I set aside to dry and eventually explore.

The most striking section was an extraordinary crotch where the tree divided. I wanted to save it, but the decline had progressed too far. There was not enough sound wood left to use.

That loss became part of the lesson.

Working with this tree taught me to look for the figure created where trunks divide and branches converge—not only the dramatic burl figure I had been purchasing. Other harvested woods continued that education: knots in Plains Cottonwood, unexpected grain in species that are rarely treated as precious, and beauty that does not announce itself until the wood is cut and turned.

The Redbud aged for more than two years before this piece was made. Its story marks a change in how I began looking at wood: less attention to what a species was supposed to be worth, and more attention to what an individual tree might reveal.

About This Piece

Hand-turned from Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), The First Lesson carries deep reddish-brown heartwood with narrow orange-red streaks running vertically through its taller form. On one side, the dark grain rises into a flame-like figure framed by brighter natural color.

The wood was stabilized without dye before turning. Stabilization made the aged Redbud cut more predictably while preserving the natural contrast that first made me want to understand the species.

Both tapers are intentional. The exterior narrows gently from its broader base toward the rounded rim. Inside, a Glencairn-inspired profile creates a fuller lower chamber with a more restricted opening. Together, the inner and outer forms reflect a later and more deliberate stage in my shot-glass making—even though the wood itself came from one of my earliest local harvests.

The First Lesson is not made from the remarkable crotch section I once hoped to save. Instead, it represents what that lost section taught me to notice.

Details

Dimensions: Approx. 3½ inches tall × 1⅞ inches diameter
Wood: Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Origin: Personally harvested in Illinois
Construction: Hand-turned and stabilized without dye
Interior: Glencairn-inspired internal profile
Finish: Walnut oil, beeswax, and carnauba wax
Color: Natural—no dye
Availability: One of one
Care: Hand wash only. Do not soak or place in a dishwasher.