Greetings from Nebraska. Very cool! It is too bad that pictures just cant do justice to chatoyance in wood. I'll bet it is gorgeous. Maybe someday I will be able to muster up the bravery to turn something bigger than a pen. - Dave
I think bowls are actually easier to do than pens.... I started on pens too and did them for about 5 years before I turned to bowls and pepper mills... I tell people it took me 5 years to learn to turn a bowl.
One issue was my first lathe was a Home Depot lathe, I forget the brand name now, but it was actually a spindle lathe as the slowest speed it had was 750 rpm and an out of balance blank would cause the lathe to start walking.... I'll turn a bowl at 800-1000 rpms, but only after I get it rounded.... my current lathe is heavy enough to handled a little bit of out of round, but still keep the speed slower.
I've given up on pens because it's more fund to do the bowls and pepper mills. And I don't have to have a magnify glass to see what I'm turning.