My name is Rick Urban, and I am a Shaper of Wood.  I began doing that regularly with a wood lathe in 2003, experimenting with all manner of tools, techniques, styles, and designs for the next decade and a half.  At some point I realized I was spending as much time off the lathe as on the lathe, so I became a wood shaper.  

 

Today I am as likely to find myself in my northwest Georgia shop embellishing the rim of a platter with a rotary carver, burning or branding a design on a closed form, finishing an heirloom salad bowl, adding some color to a pierced sphere, transforming a flaw into a feature, or sharing what I've learned with others through woodturning demonstrations and classes.

In any case, if my work successfully integrates the qualities in nature that resonate in all of us, I am confident you, too, will appreciate the results.