Woodbury Woodturners

Sunday was back down to Devon for another full day demo at Woodbury Woodturners.

The club is very friendly and it is enjoyable to attend as there is a wide range of skilled turners .

Some members also attended from the Axminster club from the day before. So I had prepared a few different projects to keep the interest.

Thank you to Keith West for taking and kindly allowing me to use these photo's. All copyright for the photos in this thread remain that of Keith West.

The day started with a wide rim textured and scorched bowl. I enjoy making these as they can be made in a multitude of variants by altering the texture and adding colour.





Followed by coffee and biscuits and a time to chat to members.

The next project covered was a small version of one of my garden sculptures. This seems to go down well when ever I demonstrate it possibly as it is slightly more unusual.

Hoping not to set off the smoke detector.:-)

Lunch was an enjoyable feast of some freshly made pasties from the local butchers. I have to say that normally I am not a huge pasty fan. Probably down to only ever eating the ones you buy from the service station wrapped in cellophane.

But these were to die for and my opinion of this south west food has been greatly changed for the better.

The afternoon was taken up with the demonstration of an offset hole lidded form including colouring and texturing. a variation on the one below. Including gold leaf and colouring to produce an aged metal effect.



Finally I finished up with a stained and verdigris incense burner. Showing a variation of the colouring technique previously demonstrate.




The day I believe was a success and thank you all for your hospitality. There was great exchange of ideas and as always I picked up a few tips along the way. This for me is one of the benefits of meeting so many turners, we all have a slightly different way of doing things and the exchange of ideas is more often than not beneficial.


A few more pics of the day that were kindly taken for me on my camera by one of the members. Thank you.

An enjoyable weekend

Saturday was spent at Axminster Woodturners, Devon for the first of two demonstrations this weekend. Followed by a second full day demo at Woodbury Woodturners Devon.

It was a privileged to be ask to demonstrate at Axminster Woodturners for their 10th anniversary. There are many good turners on the circuit so for me to be ask for this celebration demo was a privilege.

Firstly I want to thank Michael Gent, Chairman and all of the members for a genuinely fantastic and friendly day. The banter was enjoyable and the food was equally welcome. Being the anniversary the members had brought a selection of delicious home made food, I have to say I am probably a few pounds heavier. Especially after the cake, much better than the usual doughnuts that I would munch in my last job I have to say. :-) and there were even olives stuffed with garlic, yumm my fav food.

For a full day demo I generally have 4-5 projects to show. A lot of preparation before the day is needed as I generally make a semi finished item for each project so that I do not have to spend time sanding laboriously, or to spend 20 minutes hollowing that no one can actually see. It is important for me to impart what knowledge I have so that the members can learn and hopefully take away some new ideas.

The processes for each project are explained and practically shown, including discussions about the tools used, and any questions answered. Hopefully if I know the answers that is. :-) . Certainly I do not know them all and I do not think that I have been to a demo where I have not learnt from the members.

The day started with a demonstration of how to make a lidded form.

Part way through the morning a welcome coffee and chat with the members.


The project was then finished and in the time between this and lunch a retro mirror that was recently featured in woodturning magazine was made. No not all 16 spindles were turned just one to show the process the other 15 were turned the day before and coloured, ready to go.


Then lunch and a chance to speak to more of the members. Oh and the view out of the window across the Devon countryside has to be seen.

After lunch it was a textured scorched platter followed by an incense urn with texturing and colour based on the one below.

A great day and it was appreciated the number of members that came up to me personally after the demo to say how much they had enjoyed it.

Thank you all for a very enjoyable day.

And one final thank you to the kind member that took the photographs of me demonstrating.

I will be seeing some of the members from Axminster woodturners on Sunday as they are attending Woodbury Woodturners to watch me again. ! But different projects are at hand to reduce the cross over.


Some pictures of the incense burner being made.











More pics and info to come in relation to the demo at Woodbury woodturners will be updated soon.

Another to work with

This wide rim bowl as with the previous two pieces has been sitting around for some time while I work out how to proceed.

There is a strong Philip Streeting influence in this piece and I became aware of this as I worked on the piece. It was not intentional at all but after some time I realised the more I worked how his textured coloured wide rim bowls have been ingrained in my psyche. So I have put it on the shelf where it has sat now for about two months while I try to decide how to add my own slant.

Still thinking about it :-), it will come to me one day. !

The inside has just been coloured in a singular colour at this stage. But the rest is on hold until I can add my own identity to the piece.

Not sure what the colour for the texture as yet, may be in line for some lichen or other similar material, but will have to see.

Next Piece

Well the last piece received a mixed interest with some liking and some not. This is a good reaction as any response means that people are having to think about what they are viewing.

Each will have a different view of a piece and it is important for me to listen to all and to fold this back into the process.

It is important for me to push my boundaries in both techniques and ideas, philosophies, to explore processes that I have never undertaken or had contact with before. This I see as the only way to progress in my knowledge of techniques and methods. This is guess is the unobtainable "pursuit for perfection" which I know will never be achieved but for me to strive for anything else is a waste of mental and physical energy.

Making what I know is fun if I want to relax or not have to think about too much, thus is a great way for me to clear my mind. But it holds little challenge, this possibly being why I am going off into different variants of work.

Many may not achieve or have the impact that I intend, but for me being too concerned about this can be a destructive process, it gets in the way of how I view my work work. Instead of looking at new ideas with a "beginners mind", it is all too easy for me to allow previous influences to obscure what I may be trying to achieve in a new idea.

The next piece I am working on is pictured above ( is not a new idea but a re-visit). The texture and base colour have been applied but at this stage have mixed ideas about where to take it. The addition of a simple lid, finial and bead may be all that is needed and I may keep it close to a previous format to satisfy my more commercial needs. But time will tell.

Close up below showing the texture and colours.

Taking Time

It has been a week now since my return from holiday. Taken this time to catch up with the emails and enquiries etc for work.

The piece above has I think come to an end.

The idea of this piece was to explore my deep interest in Wabi-Sabi. To embody this as much as possible with this being the reason the piece has taken so long to finish.

It is well worth researching for anyone interested in seeing and thinking from a different angle.

I spend a huge amount of time contemplating over this and other philosophies and have finally yielded that this is the path my work will develop in, perhaps not say solely, as I have a very eclectic mind and tend to work on different projects from contemporary to pure on a daily basis.

This for me though is part of the working in the "here and now" and not forcing what I do just so that I can make money.

Of course I have to answer the phone and fulfil orders but other than this I make what I feel I want to make at the time. However by taking time an initial idea can develop at its own pace and often the piece will change from my initial idea for the better.

The lessons learned from making such a piece and the processes involved often teach me more techniques than I had initially envisaged in making of the piece.

Again I have explore impermanence, and the idea that perfection is held within imperfection. The natural order of things are just so for a reason so who am I to work against this.

On looking for a base texture the initial idea came from my pet dogs nose, as in the picture I took below while in the back garden having a cup of tea. On top of this was placed a second texture found while out walking in my local woodland. Dead branches covered in lichen seemed a natural process/ material to use for the top/final texture to impart a foundation of impermanence, the natural colours also being far to involved to emulate through painting techniques.

After all why bother when nature does it far better than I ever could.

The algae being a natural process of decaying materials and the absorption of structures both natural and man made back into nature/nothingness. However while we may perceived once the item has decayed it appears to absorb into "nothingness" in reality its form has merely changed and is recycled back into another entity, never being destroyed, just continually changing.

I have included below the development of the piece through its various processes.

I am not sure it is finished. Time will tell. It will be left on a shelf for me to observe and over time any more work required will become evident.

Teaching

Well rounding off my week is some teaching at George Foweraker's workshop.

Generally we have four students once or twice a month who come back regularly and build upon the skills that they have been practising, or to look in more depth at any tooling, design issues, colouring, texturing etc.

It is a great day and one of the most rewarding aspects of turning. Interacting with people and passing on my knowledge is very satisfying. Especially when people go away with a smile on their face.

The day involved spindle turning, bowl and hollowing finishing etc. Each student is given the opportunity to turn what they want and to explore their own direction.

Great fun and a good day had by all.

Back to it

Although the last few days have been a resting period, I class myself as a very lucky person, I do not see what I do as work at all. In fact I enjoy it so much that I am one of the few I know that get paid to do what they love. I canlt wait to get into the work shop in the morning.

As James M Barry, Scottish dramatist and poet once wrote " Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else"

(I thought you would like that Lee) But it is true.

So while I was suppose to be relaxing I could not resist returning to a project I have been working on for some months. The lidded form with colour and texture that I pictured some time ago.

It is almost finished but due to it being a relaxation piece it has taken me a long time to decide how to finish it. Even now I am not finding the exact solution, but I will not rush as hopefully I can then get it right.

This process involving wabi-Sabi is now what I see in all work whether we know it or not. So the process for me is as organic as it can be. It is just understanding that it is in front of us all the time which is important. We may not see it but it is there.

Anyway the picture at the top is a close up of part of the project to date.

Hopefully soon I can post the finished item.

Tomorrow it is tidy the workshop, get ready for a demonstration Thursday evening in North Devon and to get stuck into the pile of wood I have to process.

Oh and the usual to get on with too.

What a weekend

Well carrying on with "a week in a life of" I have just recovered from a long weekend travelling to Surrey, Kent and Back to Dorset then to Wiltshire, three demonstrations in total.

Always an enjoyable process as I enjoy meeting new people and visiting new places, but also passing on my knowledge and picking up some along the way as well. There are generally turners present that have been making for many more years than myself so it is also a chance for me to learn from some seasoned makers.

My short career in woodturning has been achievable through the willingness of many far more skilled than myself who have been willing to share their ideas, skills and techniques.

Now I am in a position of being asked to demonstrate the way in which I make my work I feel a priveledged obligation to others to help in their journey and hopefully to ultimately help woodturning in the UK develop. This may sound like a hippy view but I feel that we all have to share and support in a productive open way and the benefits often for me far out weight the work/input involved.

First on Friday was an evening demo at Surrey Woodturners Association. With 170 members and around 120 in attendance it was the largest club I have been invited too. Despite the large number of people watching, I was made to feel most welcome and at home. A very friendly club and thank you to each and all for your time, attention and help getting tools etc to and from my vehicle.

Oh yes and thank you to the member that helped to start my aged horse which developed a flat battery.

The evening was for me a great success with my demonstrating one of my signature lidded forms and carved finial.

It was then off to a members home for the night and up early the very next day to go to Orchard woodturners in Kent.

Another wonderful day with four projects demonstrated.

Then back to sunny Dorset and up the next morning een earier to sharpen the tools and collect materials before the third and final demo at Test Valley woodturners, Wiltshire.

Again I was made very welcome with the day going well. The process of meeting other turners especially those who have not seen me work before means that they often can give me ideas in relation to ways in which to work that I had not thought of before. We are always learning no doubt about that.

Then it was a day off as to say I was fired from driving 8 hours in three days is an understatement. But I could not resist tinkering with a piece I have been working on for the last four months.