This series resulted from a trip to the National Museum to see an exhibit called "The Lost City of Petra". There were no bowls, but there were some chunks of rock from the front of buildings with symbols on them. I got the idea that something similar might look good on a bowl. When I got home, I tried to copy them into wood using a Dremel tool. But the Dremel followed the grain, and I soon had a whole board covered with "mistakes". At first, I was frustrated -- but, then I realized it was a good thing. I wanted the feel of an old language, but did not want to get involved in cultural appropriation. So, I went with my own "language". I wanted the bowls to look like they were from some ancient and lost culture and just freshly discovered at an archaeological site. Thus, some of the shapes are a little unusual to our eyes. Some are turned green so they are slightly warped. Others have defects (like bark and voids) left in them. The "language", hopefully, adds the "ceremonial" touch. It may have religious implications. It might just be family history. It might be something else. It is up to you to "translate" -- or create your own story.

Recently discovered a website called "Omniglot" where there are are alphabets from all over the world.  One section includes alphabets created for special purposes. This one is designed to make English look like an ancient script.  It is called New Ceigean.  It has some Ethopian and middle-Asian influences, but is a new design.  You can translate English into it letter by letter.  The script now has a meaning.  I chose the first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."