Artisan Profile: Peter Bloch

Keep on Turning

Letting the light shine through

BY SUSAN LAUGHLIN

Peter Bloch has been turning wood for close to 40 years and making his signature lampshades for most of them. He was accepted into the League of N.H. Craftsmen on the strength of his bowls and other functional wood products, but he quickly switched lanes and is now considered an expert in the field of wooden lampshades.

At one point, Bloch stumbled upon the use of aspen, which is also called white poplar. The wood is not prized by many, but for him, its most important characteristic is its beautiful transparency. “No other wood, when turned very thin, looks this good,” he says. And creating shades for lights seems the perfect match for the logs he salvages from New Hampshire forests.

Throughout his long career, Bloch has made more than 2,000 shades. “I don’t advertise, exhibit in galleries or attend craft shows — people just find me,” he says. And, lately, most of those folks are return customers, adding to their collection of WoodGlow shades. But Bloch is giving them notice — he expects to retire within the next two years.

It’s backbreaking work to lift cumbersome 200-pound sections of wood, up to 22 inches across, onto the lathe. He eventually acquired an electric winch to help with the arduous process. As the wood spins at 800 revolutions a minute, it gets lighter as he carefully shaves down the outside with hand tools, and then the inside for a thickness averaging 1/10 of an inch. And that is the magic. The turned piece now weighs less than a pound. As a completed translucent lampshade, it glows warm from the light within, revealing all the imperfections of the wood, now prized as variance in color and pattern.

It takes patience and fungi in a process called spalting to create that added interest. Bloch’s workshop is stacked with aspen logs that are aging in place. While they sit around, the logs are attacked by white-rot fungi, which does the important work of creating colorful streaks and pattern changes, and allows for a few insect holes that create pinpoints of light.

To give himself new challenges, Bloch has worked in collaboration with other artisans. His smaller lampshades are suspended over dining room tables via the iron work of David Little of Winnipesaukee Forge. Donna Banfield’s pyrography, or woodburning, can be seen enhancing an edge here and there with dark accents. Bloch also turns his lamp bases using a variety of hardwoods to contrast with the shades.

Bloch’s shades can be see in the dining room of the New London Inn and also the Flying Goose Brew Pub. His work is also usually featured in the Living With Craft exhibition at the League of N.H. Craftsmen’s annual fair, held at Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury from August 7-15. His website is well stocked, and his showroom is open by appointment only. Prices range from $1,000 to $4,000, with collaborative work ranging upward to $12,000. NH

Find it

Peter Bloch | WoodGlow woodshades.com | peterbloch@woodshades.com