Pictures from the demonstration by Bonnie Klein at the April membership meeting have been added to the gallery. Look under Galleries/Demonstrators/Bonnie Klein.
AAW Board Message
We know from AAW surveys that around 50 percent of our members have been to at least one national symposium. My hope is that we can persuade many of the other half to attend – beginning with our 25th anniversary gathering in Saint Paul, Minnesota, June 24-26.
This will be a very special symposium. We have invited all living Honorary Lifetime Members, as well as all of the demonstrators who have participated in past symposiums. These include some of the biggest names in woodturning over the last quarter-century. Nick Cook, Dale Nish, Alan Lacer, Al Stirt, Ray Key, Dick Gerard, David Ellsworth, Albert LeCoff, Giles Gilson, and Jane and Arthur Mason, among many other notables, will be in attendance. A complete list of the outstanding demonstrators and panelists can be found on our web page.
Attendees will see the largest collection of turned art in the world this year. The Instant Gallery will be amazing, and each attendee is invited to bring a turning for display or sale.
The trade show will be our biggest yet. Every major lathe manufacturer will have the latest models on hand for you to admire, try out, and salivate over. You will need to bring your checkbook and credit card to fix the problem with those missing items in your shop.
The demo agenda is ambitious and varied. There will be 16 rooms set up for demonstrations and panel discussions and the classes will go on for three full days. You probably won’t be able to take in all the classes you want, but key demonstrations will be captured on video.
The Professional Outreach Program has pulled together a great exhibition entitled ‘Roots – An Artists Vision’, there will be a retrospective exhibit of work by 2011 POP Merit Award Recipient David Ellsworth. POP has also set up the Emerging Artist program highlighting outstanding new turners during the lunch hours, and slated a full list of panel discussions covering all areas of woodturning. Three other exhibitions will be on site; ‘Turning 25 – A Celebration’, ‘Doing a Good Turn – A $25 Souvenir for the 25th’ and the Return to Community ‘Empty Bowls’ sale of donated turnings.
Bonnie Klein and Larry Miller have set up a terrific schedule for the Youth Room. Bring your kids and grandkids and sign them up for a class, or volunteer to help with the hands-on training on mini-lathes. Every kid who turns during the symposium will get his or her name put in a hat for the drawing that will give away the 25 Jet mini-lathes and related equipment. We’re sure to hook some of them as future AAW woodturners.
And to convince your spouse that this is a vacation for two, we have a full schedule of demonstrations and talks in the Spouse Craft Room. We also have tours set up for our members who want to see the Saint Paul area. Again, the schedule for all these classes and tours can be viewed on the website.
John Hill will convince you to part with your money at the Educational Opportunity Grant Auction after the banquet on Saturday night. The proceeds from the auction are turned around and given out to our members and chapters the following January as financial grants. The EOG program is one of the great benefits of AAW membership.
And, if you are an ornamental turner, segmented turner, or pen turner, you will have lots of options on Friday’s Special Interest Night to meet like-minded colleagues. We also will have topics on First Aid for Woodturners, Antique Lathes, 501(c)(3) status for your chapter, Gizmos and Gadgets, and Bowls. We will have tables set up for book signings, including the AAW’s 25th anniversary retrospective, Kevin Wallace’s book on the Lipton collection, and David and Ruth Waterbury’s new volume on their one-of-a-kind woodturning collection.
This will be the kickoff of a wonderful year for AAW. We hope you will arrange to be in Saint Paul for our best symposium yet – one that you don’t want to miss!
Dale Larson
American Association of Woodturners
Denise DeRose Tutorials Added to Learning Center
Denise DeRose conducted a day long demonstration on April 8th for members and guests of the SPSW. Denise provided us with three tutorials and a list of sources and supplies which have been added to the Learning Center. The tutorials include turning a handheld clamshell handbag, turning a canteen flip top bag with center feature and turning a treasure chest style bag.
You can find them under Tutorials/Denise DeRose Demo.
Cruising and Woodturning
I let you know last month about an event being held by the Northwest Washington Woodturners called the Camping and Turning Rendezvous. This is an opportunity to combine your love of camping and your love of woodturning.
If you prefer something a little higher end, then your event is coming up in August.
The “world famous” Woodturning CruiseTM is scheduled for August 15 through 27. You can sail on the M/S Gann from Stavanger, Norway and visit 12 cities along the way including Bergen and Trondheim. You will experience the Land of the Midnight Sun as you approach the Northern most point in Europe that you can visit.
Along with the cruise experience, you will also be able to attend demonstrations by world class Woodturners. Those who attended the last SPSW membership meeting were able to see Bonnie Klein, one of the eight turners demonstrating on the cruise. Other turners include:
- Richard Raffan – one of the most sought after demonstrators in the world
- Jimmy Clewes – amazing teacher and demonstrator known throughout the U.S. and U.K.
- Mark Baker – turner and editor of Woodturning Magazine
- Åsmund Vignes – expert on ring tools
- Glenn Lucas – production turner specializing in salad bowls
- Nick Agar – well known for decorating turnings of all sizes
- Rune Hjelen – woodturner and carver who creates traditional styles in modern forms
There will also be several other demonstrators and courses on the cruise covering chip carving, wood carving, pyrography and knife making.
On top of this, passengers will get free tuition and lathe use on the cruise. Three expert Woodturners, Stuart Mortimer, Knut Andreas Lien and David Muckle, will provide woodturning instruction at all levels.
There is no way to detail all of the events and activities that are planned for this cruise. You can get all the information by visiting http://www.woodturningcruise.com.
What’s Happening at Other Chapters
The Inland Northwest chapter in Spokane Valley has their membership meeting on the 5th of May featuring SPSW Board member Jack Wayne as their demonstrator. Jack will be demonstrating making a bowl from a board. Jack is also conducting an all-day workshop the next day.
Inland Northwest is also conducting The Great Russ Fairfield Memorial Tool Sale at Russ’ shop in Post Falls, Idaho.
The Northwest Woodturners is moving to their new meeting location at the Rockler Woodworking and Hardware store in Beaverton, Oregon. Their May meeting is scheduled for the 8th and their demonstrator will be Don Derry who will be the demonstrator at the May SPSW meeting.
The Seattle Woodturners membership meeting is scheduled for May 12th where John Schrader will demonstrate metal inlay.
The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, Oregon will hold their regular membership meeting on May 19th with Merryll Saylan as their demonstrator. Merryll will be conducting an all-day demonstration for the members of the SPSW on May 26th at Nancy Sweazey’s shop.
The Olympic Peninsula Chapter will be holding their membership meeting on May 25th. Their featured demonstrator will be SPSW Vice President Eric Lofstrom.
Message From SPSW President
[note]The following is a message to members of the South Puget Sound Woodturners from SPSW President Dan Stromstad[/note]
Last Thursday, April 21st, we took a vote and the vast majority of those in attendance wanted the club to improve our lathe and sound system. At the board meeting on Tuesday evening, April 26th, it was approved to purchase both items. Your board of directors donated enough to purchase the sound system which totals $1500.00. Jack Wayne was authorized to finalize the purchase of a Powermatic lathe. We were assured that transporting the new lathe would not be a major problem and we already have a power source at the Fife meeting hall. We will no longer be embarrassed by malfunctioning lathe issues. We will no longer have complaints from our demonstrators regarding the sound system or the lathe. We also saved around $2000.00 off of normal retail on these two purchases. We are working hard to improve the club experience for everyone.
Last Thursday it was mentioned that we would like to have you consider donating to the club so that we can make all the improvements to enhance our meetings. Now is the time for you to step up to the plate and help the club. All donations are tax deductible. Any amount will help, whether it is $20.00, $50.00 or hundreds. We are taking bold steps to improve our meetings.
Our next area of improvement is the video system so that all will be able to see the demonstrators much better. We hope to improve the lighting as well as the projector and camera system. We are planning / hoping to test systems before we buy.
We also have many items for raffling including the signed egg made by Bonnie Klein at our last meeting. All raffle proceeds will help us improve your meeting experience. We are giving to ourselves.
Dan Stromstad
Send donations payable to SPSW to:
Les Johnson
915 Milton Way
Milton, WA 98354
