Dr. Don Avery, Avid Turner, Passes Away

[note]This message was received via Fred Holder[/note]

Just a word to let the club know that Dr. Don Avery has passed away and
they are having an auction of his things on September 11, he was an avid
woodworker and woodturner. Perhaps you can get the word out to your
club. Below is the message from his daughter.

Fred Holder, More Woodturning

Dear Fred,

I was going through my father’s emails yesterday and found your note. I
wanted to let you know that very sadly my father died on July 1, very
unexpectedly of a fast-moving cancer.. He was an avid wood turner and
enjoyed learning about it so much.

I’m back in Quilcene Washington at his house and we’re sorting through
all of the stuff in preparation for an auction next Sunday (Sept 11).
It’s one of those sad but necessary things. There will be a tremendous
amount of wood turning equipment, supplies and tools for sale–I’m not
sure if you are in the area, but if you are, or if you have society
members around that you could let know, please come. The website is
http://www.stokesauction.com/offsite5/offsite5.htm, but I think it
doesn’t do full justice to the quantity of tools and wood that my father
amassed, and I know that he would want it to go to fellow wood turners
who would be able to appreciate it. (And if you have suggestions for
people I should reach out to who would want to know, please let me know.)

Thanks,

Jessica

tools / woodturner profile

What’s Happening at Other Chapters

The Inland Northwest Woodturners will be meeting on September 1st. Agenda was not set yet, but may include finials, Christmas ornaments or finishes.

The Seattle Woodturners meeting on September 8th will feature Avelino Samuel, a turner from St. John in the Virgin Islands. He has been creating wood art for more than 25 years using wood native to the Caribbean, such as mahogany and seagrape. Avelino will also be conducting a day-long class for the SPSW on September 16th.

The Cascade Woodturners meet on September 15th with a demonstration of carving flutes in a vessel by Avelino Samuel. Avelino is conducting an all-day demo on the 14th at Dale Larson’s shop.

The Northwest Washington Woodturners are meeting on September 15th with a demonstration by GVWG member Marco Berera who might yodel, and will turn a canteen.

The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild will be starting up again, also with Avelino Samuel holding a demo on September 17th and a class by Avelino on September 18th. The regular Guild meeting will be on the 28th of September.

The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be starting up for the Fall on Saturday, September 24th.

The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners are also meeting on September 28th with a demonstration by Donald Derry on coloring. SPSW members will remember that Donald did a similar demonstration at our May membership meeting that was well received.

AAW / chapter profile / woodturning events

News From the AAW

[note]The following is from the latest newsletter of the American Association of Woodturners. There is an amazing amount of activity going on in the AAW to advance the state of our craft, so if you are not already a member please consider joining.[/note]

aaw symposium collageOur 25th Anniversary Symposium was a great success and we want to share some of the highlights with you. We had over 1,700 registered attendees, 83 youth program participants, our largest Trade Show, and a rich Instant Gallery.

In addition to photos and highlights from the sypmposium in this newsletter, take a look at the calls for entry, Board of Directors voting information, and upcoming regional symposia.

We hope that you have had a great summer!

Photos from the symposium can be found on our Facebook page or at aawoodturners.blogspot.com

Remember to Vote for the AAW Board of Directors

The Nominating Committee has presented six candidates to the AAW Membership for their consideration. Find out more information about each candidate here.

Voting began August 1, 2011. Your vote must be cast electronically or postmarked no later than October 21, 2011.

You have two ways to vote:

1) Electronically: Visit woodturner.org/boardvote and log-in using your member number and password

2) Paper ballot: Complete the paper ballot, which is included in your poly-bagged August issue of American Woodturner, and mail using the enclosed self-addressed envelope.

All voting is handled by an audit firm; therefore the AAW office will not be able to send replacement ballots. If your ballot is misplaced, you will need to cast your vote electronically. We encourage you to participate in the voting process and hope that you are able to take the time to help make this election turnout significant.

Book Signing Event at Special Interest Night

The Special Interest Night book signing event was an even bigger success than we could have imagined. Attendees patiently waited in a line that traveled into the hallway to have over 50 artists and authors sign their books. Three of the woodturning community’s latest books were available that night; Conversations with Wood: Selections from the Waterbury Collection; The Cutting Edge: Contemporary Wood Art and the Lipton Collection; and Woodturning Today: A Dramatic Evolution. It was a great chance for people to browse the great new woodturning books, and meet the top artists and collectors.

Woodturning Today: A Dramatic Evolution

The symposium gave us a chance to showcase AAW’s 25th Anniversary book, Woodturning Today: A Dramatic Evolution. The response from members and the woodturning community was great!

This 256-page book is filled with color photographs of beautiful turned art, personal narratives, and a detailed walk-through of the past twenty-five years of AAW. Continue to tell the story of the American Association of Woodturners, and help new turners explore the history of this amazing craft.

We are happy to announce that pre-orders are arriving on the doorsteps of people around the world. Thank you all for your patience. We hope you enjoy your commemorative book!

If you have not yet ordered your copy, please page through this 18 page excerpt from Woodturning Today.

Object Conservation

During the 2011 Symposium, AAW and the Collectors of Wood Art co-sponsored a discussion on object conservation. The discussion was led by conservators, Laura Kubick and Hugh Schockey, from the Lunder Conservation Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC.

The Smithsonian has generously shared their hand-outs from the panel discussion. Two articles are available to view online: Selecting Materials for Wood Art and Preservation of Wooden Objects.

Unseen Pleasures of Turning

Tib Shaw, Curator of the AAW’s Gallery of Wood Art, and Malcolm Zander worked with Vision Loss Resources in Minnesota to organize an event at the symposium for a small group of blind participants to learn more about woodturning.

Follow this link for details and photos from the event.

Thank You 2011 Symposium Volunteers!

On behalf of the entire AAW board and staff, we would like to thank all of the volunteers that worked so hard during the symposium. The 25th Anniversary International Symposium was a milestone in AAW history, and because of the strong support from volunteers, the symposium continues to be a great success! Thank you for all of your dedication and hard work.

Please take a moment to look at the list of 2011 symposium volunteers.

AAW / newsletter

2012 AAW Chapter Challenge

Your SPSW Board of Directors thought it would be a good project to come up with a Chapter Challenge entry for the next AAW Symposium in June 2012. Bill Bender and Mike Hughes have already volunteered to start coming up with ideas for the project, but they also want contributions from all club members who have great and gifted ideas.

AAW Chapter Challenge Guidelines:

The entries may be functional or not, as long as they are turned by multiple memebers and limited only by the imagination of the participants. The best entry in each category will receive a winner’s plaque presented at the banquet. More explicit directions for the AAW Chapter Collaborative Challenge project are specified in the latest issue (August 2011, page 11) of the AAW American Woodturner. Categories are:

  • Artistic
  • Mechanical/Technical
  • Fantasy

In addition to the winners in the three categories, there will be a Best in Show plaque for the best of the best.

For inspiration and ideas, see what entries have been presented at previous symposiums at this link at the AWW website.

For more information, please contact:
Wally Haugan, coordinator
Phone: 253-631-5949
Email Address: hauganwj @ msn.com

AAW / members / symposiums

August Demonstrator – Dan Ackerman

Dan Ackerman boxI started woodturning in 1986 after witnessing a few turners demonstrating at the Bellevue Craft show. The first five years was just a compulsive effort trying to learn tools, sharpening, design, etc.; starting with bowls,, then hollow forms, then boxes, and a variety of other shapes and disciplines. Along the way, I was fortunate to assist David Ellsworth at Arrowmont School for the Crafts and we became friends. He was very helpful in giving me insight and direction. Then I ran for the board of the “National Association of Woodturners” and during the next five years influenced the start of their now active film library! As a board member I got to go to the national symposium for all five years and watched some of the world’s great turners and learn.

Dan Ackerman BoxMeanwhile during this time, I experimented with all sorts of ideas, including starting a rosewood gift business with my wife Kathy and a few employees. We did that for 10 years until I burned out on doing production turning 7 days a week, with no vacations and, it seemed like, no rest. By then we were doing some of the best shows in the country: Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Francisco and New York. But, we weren’t seeing the return we expected and we were both burned out, Kathy on marketing and me on production.

Dan Ackerman boxIn doing all this turning I had become quick and self assured and I had decided to do boxes as the most stimulating form of turning. My “nitch” design is the box within a box which you will see at the demo. It is unique and it stimulated an old hobby of mine, woodcarving, which I combine with my design boxes. I’ll have some examples of carved boxes also at the demo and look forward to seeing some of my friends at the Fife Club. Thank you for having me.

demonstrator / Membership Meeting