Woodturning and Youth

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Have you noticed at our chapter meetings that a large percentage of our members are, well, mature. Not old, but a good number are eligible for membership in AARP. And how many of you turners didn’t start turning until the kids were already grown and thought to yourself “I wish I’d started turning when I were younger”?

So it is nice to see efforts to introduce young people to the art of woodturning. In the current issue of Woodturning there is an article about a turning club in the UK that has introduced 600 Scouts to turning. The June, 2011 issue of American Woodturner had a story about the Southern Piedmont Woodturners who received an Educational Opportunity Grant to purchase mini-lathes and conducted a three-day workshop for fifteen students of the Albermarle Sr. High industrial arts program. And the AAW Symposium in Minneapolis included a youth turning program for 83 participants which included giving away twenty-five complete turning packages. I know there are many other examples of woodturning clubs providing demonstrations and teaching youth.

And then there is this young man, Alex Harris from the UK who at the age of 16 has been woodworking for 5 years. He started making videos of his processes and in this one he demonstrates a router lathe that he built. Nice to see young people with imagination, motivation and creativity.

demonstrator / Lathes / tools / video / woodturner profile

November Demonstrator – John Shrader

John ShraderOnce again we are fortunate to have John Shrader as this month’s presenter. Many of you probably remember John’s presentation from last November. It was certainly one of the best presentations
of the year.

In John’s words – “I try to convey a feeling of grace and elegance with my work. I love the richness of wood grain and delight in displaying it so others can also appreciate its beauty. While I find perfection admirable, for me it is the siren song leading to being safe, so I strive most of all for excellence. I utilize my background in engineering to facilitate executing difficult projects, but the technology is always subservient to communicating a feeling or an idea. For me, working in my shop a joyful experience. I hope that this joy is communicated to those who acquire my work, and that they share in it.”

This is certainly evidenced by the following:

shrader turning“Fine Wood Artists member John Shrader has won the Carol Duke Award of Excellence at the Bellevue Arts Museum Artsfair July 29-31, 2011 in Bellevue WA for his outstanding woodturnings.

There were approximately 1,000 submissions to the fair for the 325 booths available. From these 325, only ten were chosen for the Award of Excellence. The Bellevue Arts Museum Artsfair was recently chosen as one of the top 100 art fairs in the country, and drew an estimated 330,000 people to the three day event.”

You owe it to yourselves to attend this presentation. I am sure it will again be one of the best of the year.

demonstrator / Membership Meeting

Segmented Turners November Summary

The Segmented Woodturners virtual chapter of the AAW has released the November Club Summary. Here are some of the goings on:

The first chapter challenge has ended. There were twenty-eight entries for this challenge which required that the vessel be constructed out of a single type of wood. There were many creative submissions. And the winners are:

Jatoba Bowl

 

 

 

First place – Jatoba bowl by John Beaver.

 

 

 

 

Curly Maple Vessel

 

 

 

 

Second place – Curly Maple by Robin Costelle

 

 

 

 

Caterpillar Walnut Bowl

 

 

 

Third place – Caterpillar Walnut by David Bettinghaus

 

 

 

 

Segmenting Symposium

Plans are coming together for the next Segmenting Symposium scheduled for October 18-21, 2012 at the Horizon Casino Hotel in Lake Tahoe. Demonstrators have been announced:

John Beaver
Andy Chen
Dennis Daudelin
Ray Feltz
Lloyd Johnson
Bill Kandler
Dennis Keeling
Craig Kirks
Phil Miller
Michael Mode
Dave Peck
Jim Rodgers
Michael Shuler
Malcolm Tibbetts

The forum has had several discussions. Here is just a sample:

  • There was a great and valuable discussion started by Malcolm Tibbetts on the importance of photography is showing your work. He discusses what he feels are the more important aspects to a good photo. There are also contributions from several members as well as a reminder that there are a couple of great tutorials on the website.
  • Last month Malcolm Tibbetts shared a video on Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers. Members Gary Clark and Dvid Grady shared plans for building your own Goden Ratio measuring device.

Upcoming Segmented Woodturning Classes

Dec. 7-8, 2011
Segmented Bowl Turning
Instructor: Jon Ross
The Sawdust Shop, Sunnyvale, CA

Chapter web stats:

The chapter website received 4,886 unique visitors in October and 288,760 page views.

AAW / chapter profile / segmented

Northwest Wood Carvers Show

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Northwest Wood Carvers AssociationSPSW members, have you been looking for an opportunity to display your work in a juried show?

The Northwest Wood Carvers are holding their 31st Annual Show and Sale this weekend at the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington. Carvers compete at six skill levels for ribbon and cash awards. Carving experts will be presenting hourly demonstrations on various carving topics, such as carving human figures, carving caricatures and woodburning, and answering all your questions. There are also raffles, seminars, and an evening banquet and auction (reservations required). A huge sales area can supply all your carving needs from tools and wood to sandpaper or stain. Some woodcarvings are for sale.

The Gallery display has been judged one of the finest in the country. Entries are accepted from Jr. (16 yrs. & under) through Expert in all categories but must be in hard medium only: wood, stone, ivory, horn or bone. The woodworking section includes Intarsia, Marquetry, Woodburning, Woodturning, Found Wood, Fretwork, Scroll Saw Pieces & Woodworking. Chain saw pieces are accepted. Pre-registration of all entries is requested.

You can download a prospectus and registration form from the NWCA website.

techniques / tools / woodturning events

Disaster Unemployment Assistance: Help for Self Employed Artists

cerfDid you know that you might qualify for Disaster Unemployment Assistance if you are an independent artist or other self-employed individual who has lost income due to interruptions from a major disaster?

If there has been a Presidential declaration for a major disaster in your county, and your state has requested Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from the federal government, then you might be eligible for this financial assistance. To receive help, you must register with your state’s employment services office and provide proof of earnings. Benefits usually start from the date of your inability to work due to the disaster, and can extend up to 26 weeks after the Presidential declaration date. For more information about the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program visit the US Department of Labor website.

This article is courtesy of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, CERF+.

AAW / Message

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

The Northwest Woodturners in Tigard, Oregon will be meeting on November 3rd. The agenda features a panel discussion on selling your work, the member auction and election of officers for 2012.

The Seattle Woodturners will be meeting on November 10th with Mark Gardner showing how he makes hollow forms using green wood. If time permits Mark will also demonstrate some of his carving and texturing tools. Also, on November 5th the club will present chainsaw maintenance with J.D. Fernstrom of Stihl Chainsaws.

The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, Oregon, meet on November 17th and will feature Mark Gardner. Mark will also be holding a hands-on class on the 18th and an all day demo on the 19th.

The Northwest Washington Woodturners in Mount Vernon, WA are holding their Holiday dinner and auction for their membership meeting on November 17th.

The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be holding their regular meeting on November 26th with a presentation on spalted wood.

The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild meeting will be held on November 30th. On November 12th Mark Gardner will be giving an all-day demo on how to turn hollow forms without the hollowing, surface embellishments and turning a square bowl using three different axes. On the 13th Mark is holding a hands-on class teaching his hollow turning technique demo’d the prior day. The Guilds “Turning 101” class will be on the 26th. And once again the Guild has published an outstanding newsletter for October.

The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners in Bremerton are also meeting on November 30th and will feature Bonnie Klein.

AAW / chapter profile