57°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Beauty from the trees: Artist turns scrap wood into bowls

Braxton Wirthlin hasn’t met a tree he didn’t like.

“I love trees,” said the Boulder City resident.

When they are alive, trees provide shade and beauty. When they have to be cut down, they can be transformed into something that someone can “love forever,” he said.

And that’s exactly what he does.

Wirthlin is a wood artist. He turns pieces of trees that have been cut down into bowls and vessels or handcrafts pieces of furniture.

Wirthlin said he began working with wood when he was in junior high school. He continued with woodshop when he was attending Basic High School.

“I had a great woodshop teacher. He introduced me to the lathe. It’s a good skill to know. I was fortunate to learn.”

Wirthlin said he was sad to learn the woodshop closed the year after he graduated high school.

After graduating, Wirthlin said he turned more to flat woodworking, making cabinets, tables and large pieces of furniture.

He built tables for Las Vegas restaurants and helped with the renovation of the Mob Museum’s Speakeasy.

In his spare time, he was involved with the Sin City Woodworkers club and took classes with member Jimmy Clewes, who Wirthlin called a world-class wood turner.

“He had a shop in his garage and was offering classes.”

Wirthlin said he signed up immediately after learning about the classes and took as many as he could to hone his skills.

“He really helped me develop my wood-turning skills. He helped me understand form and how much beauty and wood there is around the (Las Vegas) Valley.”

Wirthlin said he works with a variety of woods, including from trees that most people wouldn’t consider suitable.

“There is a surprising amount of beautiful hardwood around the valley,” he said, mentioning trees such as poplar, mesquite and mulberry.

Recently, he salvaged pieces of wood from trees the city had to cut down because they were diseased and in danger of falling.

Using reclaimed or salvaged wood for his art is something he is trying to do exclusively. He said he would rather see it become things of beauty than being chipped.

A native of Henderson, Wirthlin said he began to appreciate the community when visiting to ride at the BMX track. He moved to Boulder City about four years ago and began acquiring wood-working equipment after buying his home.

Now that he is at home complying with the governor’s order regarding the coronavirus, Wirthlin said he has more time to devote to his art. Occasionally, he will demonstrate his wood-turning skills, turning logs into bowls on his YouTube channel.

He also has set up an online store at www.Facebook.com/braxtonwirthlin so that people may purchase pieces of his work.

In addition, he recently joined the Boulder City Art Guild and hopes to display his work in the gallery once it can reopen.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
All that jazz

Saturday, the Las Vegas Jazz Society and Boulder City Friends of the Library hosted an afternoon of jazz music in the library’s amphitheater. More than 100 people turned out for the free concert.

Mitchell proud to be Leader In Me Lighthouse School

It is so great to see our students back in school this week after spring break. As we head into this last quarter of the school year, it is an important time to reflect on the year as we begin planning for next year.

What is occupational therapy?

Occupational therapists ask, “What matters to you?” instead of “What’s the matter with you?”

All Aboard!

This past weekend, the Boulder City Parks and Recreation gym played host to the Spring Model Train Show. There, hobby enthusiasts bought, sold and displayed their trains.

Shorter SBAC test: A win for students

Exciting news for our students and community! The Clark County School District (CCSD) will be implementing the shorter version of the SBAC, Nevada’s state assessment for reading, math, science, and writing.

A busy few weeks at Garrett

Garrett Junior High School was honored for their outstanding STEM education at the state capitol in Carson City. The school was recognized as one of six new schools in CCSD to earn the distinguished Governor’s Designated STEM School distinction, awarded by the state Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology.

Budgeting keeps BC balanced

The Finance Department is in the process of preparing the 2025-26 fiscal year budget. Nevada Revised Statutes require all Nevada cities adopt their final budget on or before June 1. Department directors met with the Finance Department’s budget team last week to review each estimated budget.

What’s Happening Every 15 Minutes?

More than $259 billion dollars are spent on alcohol per year in America. Fifty-one percent of Americans go to the bar at least once a week. Nearly 3% of alcohol is stolen. More than 9% of Americans drink daily, as 29 million people are alcoholics in the U.S. More than 18 million people are impaired while driving, having about one million DUI charges. And every 15 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies in an accident due to those who drive under the influence.

What is a colonoscopy and why you need one

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Cancer Society recommend people aged 45-75 get a colonoscopy every 10 years.