Meet Matt Moulthrop, Woodturner: One of the Men Behind The Columbus Museum's Moulthrop Bowls

Matt Moulthrop is a third-generation woodturner whose family is known across the nation for their exquisite artistry. Most recently, Matt and his father Philip created a series of bowls for The Columbus Museum made from the wood of a stately oak tree which stood at the Museum's entrance until 2021.

Now, the bowls are up for auction to benefit the Museum. Read on to learn more about Moutlthrop's artistic heritage, the way he approaches his work, and the story behind the Moulthrop Bowls created for The Columbus Museum.

Q: What led you to becoming an artist that works in this medium?

A: I was born into it – I am the third generation of my family to pursue artistic woodturning as a profession. Being a third generation wood turner, it seems I have spent my entire life surrounded by wood. As a young adult, I learned that the artistry of wood turning comes not from the hand, but from the eye. Being able to “see” the shape of the bowl has been a legacy and a gift I have tried to improve upon with my own vision and version of style, form, and texture. In my quest to create, I strive to blend both tradition and innovation into an art form that honors my legacy and creates a new one. Each piece I create is a unique experience for me and hopefully, for the viewer. I endeavor to inject into each one a balance of color and form, shape and substance that fully displays the beauty and richness of the tree. Each tree has a story to tell. Worm holes convey past life, rings communicate growth, and certain colors tell the story of death by lightening or blight. My job is to tell the story in picture book fashion, showing rather than talking, lengthening the life of the tree rather than ending it. Between the natural and the artificial, there is a bridge made by fusing the innate beauty of the material with the more modern techniques and designs that accentuate the splendor that is turned wood. My hope is to build that bridge for you.

Q: What does it mean to you to work with a historical element such as the wood used to make these bowls?

A: I love working with wood that has a historical significance – most of the commission work I do has that aspect. I enjoy that element of the work and sometimes it can be a challenge, because the wood may not have the character as strong as its history, therefore I have to approach the piece with more intension.

My father and I were given the opportunity to create a piece from the Carson McCullers tree, which I fondly look back on and it embodied both great character and significance.

Q: Can you describe your process? What did this process look like?

A: I always describe our process as a revelation because we are removing not adding – once I make a cut I can’t go back. A piece’s character is only as good as what nature provides, so the orientation of the wood is crucial. Orientation meaning – a tree grows vertically and I can create a piece on that vertical access. I can also orient the log horizontally and create the piece on that axis as well as any of the axises between the two degrees. Another aspect in the process is the shape of a piece, so in addition to manipulating the axis, the shape of the piece is the other facet of the approach. I can make a piece sphere shaped or elliptical (when a sphere is geometrically flattened it becomes an ellipsoid) as well as any geometric shape between the two. The final detail is the selection from the tree – I can make a piece out of a round trunk, but also dissect a piece out of tree, isolating an area of great figure.

Q: What do you hope people know about these bowls? Why, in your words, should someone invest in these at the Museum?

I hope people enjoy and appreciate the natural beauty of each piece while preserving a piece of historical significance. They are also the first Live Oak pieces my father and I have ever worked with from Columbus.