Saguaro's involvement in teapots

Living in the land of the Saguaro, it is only natural that I would explore ways to create teapots involving these giant cactus.  When a saguaro dies as they all do sooner or later, they shed the pulp and skin and expose the internal wood structure. This maze of sticks called ribs are joined to form the tube shape of the cactus with joints and extensions where arms protrude from the main body,  The wood is fibrous and strong and works well with woodworking tools.  I have been fortunate to posses an adequate supply of this wood that friends have shared with me and I have harvested on my own property as these giants have expired.

In this post I will show you two teapots constructed from sections of smaller saguaro arms with ribs left in tack as they were grown together.

This teapot is called "Saguaro Tea" and contains the fascinating joints in it's growth where the arm separated from the main body of the cactus.  The inside of this arm section was lined with fiberglass and a core of Styrofoam was shaped and placed in the top of the project to attach rib segments to. This surface was then sanded smooth being careful not to destroy the texture of the ribs as they receded back into the base of the piece.  The base, spout, handle and lid are all cast tinted resin.

The teapot shown above also uses a section of connected ribs from an arm of a saguaro.  This is a straight section taken from the middle of the arm so doesn't have the divergent pattern of the joint structure.  I used copper tubing in the resin of the handle and the spout.  The inside of this saguaro section was coated with fiberglass to seal the surface and give it strength.  The top and bottom were then cast to close the container except for access through the lidded hole on top.  The whimsical bird was added to break up the serious atmosphere of the piece and it realistically does represent the woodpeckers who riddle the saguaros with holes to serve as their homes.  That topic will be the subject of another post.

More detail can be found on my art at my website <www.apatchablue.com>