It certainly was a fine piece of timber, and the natural features simply add to the character.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but by choosing that shape, you've made a rod for your own back! Any bowl with steep sides and a flat bottom is going to be more difficult to finish because it's so difficult to sweep the gouge through the shape when you're hollowing the bowl. I'm guessing that you were ok on the walls, but then got into problems finishing around the radius and onto the bottom. Try making your bowls with more of a continuous curve, down through the wall into the bottom, unlike the two distinct planes that you have created. This will make for a much more harmonious and eye-pleasing curve, and it's much easier to swing the tool-rest into the inside of the bowl and get a good finish on it.
Les