The recent passing of our wonderful and talented member, Joyce McCullough, inspired Joe Seltzer to bring in some of Joyce's work from his collection. Among the pieces Joe brought in from his collection was this beautifully turned, pierced, and carved Walnut bowl (above) made by Joyce in 2010. Some of the work shown below was done in collaboration with other artists, something Joyce was so great at!
Andy DipPietro bought in a new piece, Waves of Grain, that draws inspiration from a combine harvester. The piece is made from quarter sawn oak.
Gerald Brenner showed us an Abrosia Maple bowl he turned. Take a look at the boarder he has carved. Turning a carving a bowl that big is a lot of work!
Speaking of large bowls, Nate never disappoints! Nate Favors recently turned this Walnut crotch and filled the inclusion with his iconic inlay. Also, check out the new feature his bowls sport- a newly minted coin to coin his work!
Mike Conner was busy with some vessel making and a HOW class he took from Mike Kehs. His ash vessel has a fantastic curl and an inclusion that didn't stop him. Mike brought in the ornament he worked on at Mike Kehs' shop. You can see the final result (a little more carving and dry brush painting) in a photo Mike took after the meeting. Nice work, INDEED!
Jim Ruocco brought along some nicely turned natural edge bowls and two calabash style vessels- one of Holly, the other Spalted Maple. The form and finish on all of Jim's bowls is equisite.
Michael Sivitz, new to the club, brought in a very nice Spalted Maple bowl. He mentioned that he sanded it to 600 grit and then used white diamond buffing to finish it off.
Linford Sine gets an A+ for combining flower arranging and turning. Take a look at the two pieces he brought in- one of walnut and the second of magnolia with an inlay of turtle stone.
Lise Bauman took Bud Hohlfeld's Turning a Sphere in Three Easy Steps HOW. Lisa was very pleased with the result, and we agree, too.
Careful, that's a Puffer Fish! Litton Frank used some wood, modeling clay, rose thorns and a little epoxy to form this very realistic fish. Each one of those stickers was sanded so it would conform to the body! The eyes were made from turned ebony irises embedded in epoxy, using a clay mold for casting. The fins were epoxy cast on wax molds. An American Chestnut burl colored with ink and three coats of flat finish was used for the base.
Tom Barnes had a lot of fun at Mike Kehs' HOW on Ornament turning and decorating. The body was dry brush painted and the cap and finial were ebonized with black paint. It's a beauty!
Here's Bob Crowe's ornament from the same class. And a mallet he made from Ipe. Now that's a hammer.
Stephen Hillerman, along with, Tom, Mike, and Bob Crowe all praised Mike's teaching and the fine time they had. Another great ornament.
Here's the teacher everyone was talking about- Mike Kehs. Mike brought in his very first turning, a mahogany bowl he made in 1976, along with his latest turning, this very clever coffee scoop mad from Osage Orange and Ash. He clearly showed his talents at an early age.
John Manura continues his work with his invention, the Accu-Slice. This month he made the ornamental bells shown here. He's been working with slices less than 100 thousandths thick, no sanding required! John also impressed everyone with the jewelry box he made. In fact, he made ten of these for this relatives. That immediately prompted the question from the audience: "How do I get to be your relative?" John also brought along the book he had put together documenting its construction.
Bob Collins was up next and presented his color wood pepper mill as an advertisement for Matt Overton's upcoming HOW. Bob made this one last year at a HOW class.
Ron Durr brought an number of interesting items. He first talked about his admiration for Bill Smith's book on segmented turning and how he used it to make the open segmented bowl and ornament. Made from Osage Orange, cedar, holly, walnut and mahogany, Ron assembles 3 rows, turn them, and then assembles three more. When he is done, he uses a clear lacquer finish. Ron turns many of the birdhouses shown here since they are big sellers at his shows. He let us in on his secret for the minature birds: they are available on-line in packages of 12. His Hogbin style bowl is made from quarter sawn Oak and Black Walnut. Ron's pepper mill is made from spalted English Walnut. Ron also made natural edge bowls from a Cherry burl and a piece of spalted Willow.
Phil Hauser also brought in some natural edge bowls. He told a funny story about finding some cheap Mesquite in Arizona, that suddenly got very expensive when he had to ship it back home. What we will do for wood! On the other hand, his second piece was from a local Oak burl he rescued from a chipper.
Tom Gall is famous for his egg Christmas ornaments- these photos show why! He draws out his patterns free-hand, pierces them, and then uses metallic paint to decorate them. These are finished off with Holly caps.
Andy Postlewaite finished up the show, and the exploration of natural edges, with a bowl he made from a root. This was a labor of love- he encountered so much grit while turning, he needed to resharpen his tool every 15 minutes of turning! Glad he stuck with it!
