Scott and Ellie started collaborating in the woodshop in 2016 when Ellie, then age 11, announced she wanted to go on an student exchange program to China, and we told her that she would need to earn half the cost of the trip. She started out making pens, but later decided she didn’t like the production aspect of that. After attending an inspirational woodturning symposium session with wood artist Dixie Biggs, Ellie turned to pyrography, and the #HeTurnsSheBurns collaborations began. Ellie spent two weeks in China in June 2018, loved it and hopes to spend her life traveling the world. Her earnings helped pay for a monthlong language immersion program in Madrid in Summer 2021, and she is now hoping to fund a similar program in Argentina for Summer 2022. All proceeds from the #HeTurnsSheBurns Collaborations Collection will go toward funding that trip. Any excess funds will be saved for college in the Netherlands, where Ellie plans to study psycholinguistics.

Scott turns each bowl and vessel on his lathe before passing it onto Ellie to burn a design onto. She freehand draws the design with pencil before picking up her woodburner and putting each line and dot on by hand. No lasers or computer-controlled devices here! Most of the bowls and vessels are finished with many layers of lacquer until each bowl is glossy.