To fully appreciate the current forms of Alan's turned vessels, it is
important to understand the influences that played a part in his earlier
years. None was greater than that of the late Liam Flynn (d. 2017) who
Alan says opened his eyes to the possibility of artistic woodturning.

Preferring
to work in unseasoned oak, the title given to this series of works is
Dearcán, which means acorn in Gaelic, the name also guiding the form.

The
process starts with the careful selection of the initial piece of wood
for turning. Often this will be chainsawn from a much larger trunk
section, with consideration given to grain direction, the occurrence of
natural deviations such as branch sections, and sections that may
incorporate some contrasting sapwood or other features.

Externally,
the vessels are worked with a variety of parting tools, skew chisels,
and scrapers. For the larger pieces, the process of hollowing can take
up to twelve hours, with an almost unbroken attention required since the
piece would otherwise start to change shape too quickly, having an
unintended premature effect on the outcome.
The next step is the
cutting and might be termed the slower work of turning, expediency is
required, as the timber will only remain pliable for a couple of
minutes. The folds are made by hand, the artist knowing from experience
how much pressure can be applied, as the fibers of the timber at first
yield to the pressure before signaling, Enough! The bent wood is then
secured and tightened with cable ties and left to dry at room
temperature before attention turns to the finishing process. As with the
gradual, studied exploration of the possibilities of the form impacted
by scale, so too is there a continued dialogue with the possibilities of
finishing each piece. In that sense, Alan is akin to other contemporary
European masters, such as Ernst Gamperl, where a light but
knowledgeable hand is applied, allowing for the natural qualities of the
wood and grain pattern to be seen and admired.
Excerpts taken from the publication American Woodturner Dec 24.

Excerpt from - Alan Meredith, Vessels and Geometries - Essay by Stephen Tierney architect
"The
experience of handling one of Alan Meredith's oaken vessels is one of
surprise - they are strong and light, oak is not usually so weightless,
the pleasure of rotating the vessel between two hands, of feeling the
texture and gentle centre of gravity, is the pleasure of handling a
small boat, a taut ribbed hull - buoyant. At their base, the keel, the
oldest densest core, at the gunnel the recent sapwood, a vertical axis
of time and growth. As one moves the sculpted shell around it reveals
its arrhythmic form, similar to the trunk of a tree, a twisted torso.
But there is a muffled music within the form, a temptation to drum, to
test the warm bright pitch, to even talk into the form and breath in the
workshop aroma within."