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Joseph Simmons, 14, of Natchez holds a wooden bowl he created on a lathe at Burnley Cook's workshop in Natchez. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

Joseph Simmons shows his initials branded on the bottom of the first wooden bowl he ever created on a lathe. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

Joesph Simmons, 14, of Natchez turns a wooden block on a lathe to make it into a bowl. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

Joesph Simmons, 14, of Natchez turns a wooden block on a lathe to make it into a bowl. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

These are two bowls created by Joseph Simmons, 14, of Natchez. The bowl on the left is the first bowl Simmons said he had ever made and it is his favorite that he calls a dog bowl. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

Joseph Simmons, 14, of Natchez made these bowls out of a cedar tree that blew over in a storm in the Port Gibson Cemetery. Simmons plans to sell the bowls as a fundraiser for the cemetery. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

Burnley Cook arranges some of the wooden bowls Joseph Simmons, 14, has made on a lathe in Cook's workshop in Natchez. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

These are some of the bowls made by Joesph Simmons, 14, over the past year that he has been making wooden bowls. (Scott Hawkins, The Natchez Democrat)

Joseph Simmons, 14, was visiting his friend Burnley Cook in Natchez last year when he said he saw a lathe in Cook’s workshop.

“He said, ‘What about that lathe? Can we make something with it?’” Cook recalled Simmons saying.

Cook, who is a craftsman who uses his workshop to restore antiques and create arts and crafts, said he had not used the lathe in many years.

“I bought that lathe in 1996,” Cook said. “I still have the sales ticket.”

Cook said he used the lathe to turn some spindles for a project and maybe made a few bowls but then had not used the lathe for many years.

After Simmons asked about the lathe, Cook set Simmons up on the lathe and taught him how to make a bowl. One of the first bowls Simmons made is still his favorite, Simmons said, because it is small and looks like a dog bowl, which is why he calls it the “Dog Bowl.”

Since then, Simmons has made several bowls.

“It can be fun, but it can be dangerous,” Simmons said of his first year’s experience turning bowls and spindles on the lathe and adding that he has not yet had any injuries. Bowls are his favorite subjects, though, Simmons said.

The process of creating a wooden bowl comes down to selecting the piece of wood, cutting it down into a manageable chunk with a foot on one side to attach it to the lathe, removing the bark, then putting it on the lathe and letting the lathe tell him what type of bowl the wood will be, Simmons said.

“It depends on the chisel and the lathe,” Simmons said of the form that emerges from the wood on the lathe.

Simmons, a ninth-grader at Natchez Early College, said his parents, Jennifer and Fred Simmons, and his younger sister, Kadi, 12, all support him in his woodworking efforts.

Cook said Simmons is working on developing design skills for his bowls and improving his art.

Simmons said he creates his bowls to be works of art, and they are not produced to be utilitarian. He is, however, considering finishing some bowls in the future to be sealed for use for eating.

Cook said people are captivated by Simmons’ woodworks.

“I can post a beautiful bowl on Facebook, and people will say, ‘Ah, nice bowl!’” Cook said. “If I post one of Joseph’s bowls, people say, ‘I want one! Where can I get one?’”

Cook said the social media interest in Simmons’ work gave them an idea.

Cook was able to acquire a large piece of a cedar tree from the Port Gibson Cemetery that was blown over in a storm.

Simmons is in the process of making bowls out of the wood, and he hopes to be able to produce approximately 20 bowls to sell as a fundraiser for the cemetery.

“They have an event call ‘Whisper in the Cedars’ in Port Gibson that is like our Angels on the Bluff,” Cook said, adding they hope to sell the bowls for approximately $50 apiece and plan to donate the proceeds to the cemetery.

More information will be available on Burnley Cook’s Facebook page about acquiring the bowls Simmons is creating for the fundraiser, Cook said.

Or call Cook at 601-445-9994.

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