Cardiff and Vale College Bench Joinery student Leon Hayward has won third prize in a national competition for woodturning.

Leon, 16 and from Barry, entered the Ray Key Youth Turner Competition, which is part of the Wizardry in Wood. Organised by the Worshipful Company of Turners, Wizardry in Wood is held every four years in Carpenters’ Hall in the City of London.

 “I was really shocked at first when I found out that I had come third as I didn’t think I was going to do as well as I did,” Leon said. “When they told me I thought, “There must only be three people in the competition!” But there were ten others from all around the country so I was very pleased.”

Leon’s tutor Peter Bradwick said: “Leon has his own workshop and is a member of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain and a local woodturning club. He is extremely enthusiastic and has produced many fine items in wood that he sells at craft fairs around the Vale of Glamorgan.”

“I really enjoy carpentry and I would like to do it as a career,” Leon said. “I’ve got a workshop in my mum and dad’s back garden and I’ve been to about four craft fairs in the Vale this year.”

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There’s a rich and warm smell of wood near the vendor tables, where blocks of birch, maple, pear, pecan and others are for sale. The raw blocks sit across from tables of finished woodturning pieces — bowls, spirals, delicate towers, Japanese dolls, tea cups and orbs. The work is impressive and beautiful.

More than 300 woodturners from throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and California are showing their skills this weekend during the second annual Oregon Woodturning Symposium, which began Friday at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center. It continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and runs from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday. Admission is free.

But for all the demonstrations, displays, and aromatic blocks of timber, the art of woodturning, which dates back 3,000 years, is nowhere near as easy as it might look.

“Most people turn really, really badly, they just don’t know it,” remarked Stuart Batty, a United Kingdom native who lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he teaches the art he learned from his father, Allan, a master woodturner who died last July. This year’s show is dedicated to Allan’s memory.

Batty, who has been turning wood for 42 years, is revered as a master, and others marvel at his technique. The common understanding is that proper woodturning requires no sanding at the end to finish the shape. Batty does not use sandpaper.

“Ninety-nine percent of us here will use sandpaper,” said Mark Choiz of Willamette Valley Woodturners. “Only one percent are Stuart. The rest of us keep the sandpaper business up.”

Batty teaches what he describes as the proper European methods for turning, which involve a scraping technique called negative rake scraping, which dates back to the 15th century.
Simply put, negative rake employs a blade with two bevels, rather than the traditional scraper, which has only one edge on what is essentially a blunt face of steel. The negative rake, according to Batty, is becoming more prominent, because its use greatly reduces the potential for a piece to literally explode during the turning process.

That’s part of what the Battys of the woodturning world bring to the table. In fact, the 15th century methods he teaches did not exist in any written form until he learned them and wrote them down himself. But he works to impart to hobbyists the traditionalism and attention to correct technique he embraces.

“Ninety percent of woodturners are hobbyists,” said symposium president Terry Gerros. To look at some of his work, such as a dainty teacup with a lid and an accent made from holly that resembles steam, it’s easy to want to place him outside of the 90 percent. But the Salem veterinarian calls himself “a vet by day and a woodturner by night.” He’s been at it since 1997, but took years off to teach veterinary medicine at Oregon State University. These days, he has a practice in Salem that affords him the time to turn wood.

Asked what his favorite thing is about turning, he answered, “Finding what lies beneath the bark.”

Discovering the pattern of the wood, or where the knots or other features are, will sometimes guide his ideas for that particular project.

And while Gerros counts himself among the ones who aspire to the master level, Choiz puts it in perspective when he describes the alternative when a project goes wrong.

“If one of our projects blows up, we at least have some firewood,” he said.

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More than 300 woodturners from throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and California will show off their skills this weekend during the second annual Oregon Woodturning Symposium at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center.

“There will be a lot of neat stuff on display. It’s an opportunity for anyone attending to bring their wood pieces they are proud of to show off,” said Mark Choitz, a member of the Willamette Valley Woodturners Club.

Choitz, who lives near Lewisburg, said the public is invited to drop in for free and view an “Instant Gallery” of wood products turned by hobbyists and professionals.

There will also be three days of skills seminars taught by professionals from around the country.

Choitz said there are five woodturning clubs in Oregon. The Willamette Valley Club has about 120 members and meets at 6:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at the Senior Center in Salem.

“For anyone who has any inclination of getting into woodturning, this is a great opportunity to meet and ask questions of guys who turn wood for a living,” Choitz said. “Classes will range from woodturning basics on up to some really high-end stuff, such as turning thin-walled vessels, wood carving and wood burning.”

Choitz said the first symposium was held at the Expo Center in 2015. Plans are to hold one every other year, he said.

This year’s event will include the donation of wooden boxes with lids to children hospitalized with serious health issues.

“Hospitals provide sick children with beads to mark special events in their treatments,” Choitz said. “We provide the wooden boxes they can put those beads in.”

He hopes there will be 50 boxes turned in by club members and they will be donated to hospitals in Kalispell, Montana, and Tacoma, Washington.

In addition to seminar instructors, the event will include a number of vendor displays.

A banquet will be held Saturday evening.

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There was much to take in at the recent 27th annual Woodturners of the Goulburn Valley exhibition at Shepparton’s Eastbank Centre.

Woodturners GV president Len Taylor said there were about 40 demonstrations across the weekend.

“We try to have active demonstrations,’’ he said.

“People like to see how things are made.’’

There was an array of skills on show from across the state, along with several items available to buy.

“We try to vary it each year,’’ Mr Taylor said.

Works from Woodturners GV members were available for sale and Mr Taylor said it had been encouraging to see how many female members had pieces for sale this year.

“It’s quite surprising how many ladies we’ve got,’’ he said.

Mr Taylor said they’d had excellent numbers on Saturday with just a few less coming through the doors on Sunday.

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A man whose life was saved after his wife’s childhood best friend donated her kidney will remain forever grateful.

And now, Matthew Botchler has created a new Facebook contest featuring his beautiful wood carvings as a way to raise awareness during National Kidney Month in March and in April, National Donate Life Month — so that the lives of others might be saved.

“I’m hoping to do a giveaway for one of my wood-turned pieces. To enter or be eligible you have to be a registered organ donor in the state you live in. Also show proof of that and, by the end of month, I’ll put all the names in a bowl and do a Facebook live, pick the name, and announce it,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Botchler said his goal for the March contest is to create awareness surrounding kidney disease and the importance of kidney health.

“I wanted to reward those you who help spread this awareness by giving them one of my hand turned woodworking pieces, which is made by someone who has survived kidney disease and a kidney transplant,” he said.

And, he said, since April is Organ Donor Awareness month, “I will be doing another contest in April for which people who are registered organ donors — they must provide proof that they are organ donors— will be entered into the contest to be eligible for one of my hand turned wooden bowls.”

Botchler was facing the most terrifying challenge of his life when he found himself in need of a kidney. He and his then-fiance Megan McIver— the two were married in October — worked to spread the news of his story in a desperate race for time.

And then, her childhood best friend — a lifetime bond was formed in Southold — Alexandra Lawson stepped up to donate the kidney that gave Botchler a second chance and life and love.

In past years, he’s found deep meaning and inspiration in woodturning, or using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut the wood, creating beautiful, one-of-a kind pens, wine stoppers, bowls and other pieces.

Bringing awareness to kidney disease is a mission to which he’s devoted his life, Botchler said.

“It is critical because by raising awareness and educating people, not only can they prevent themselves from getting kidney disease, but they can also be advocates for others. Most people do not know they are in kidney failure until it is too late and must be put on dialysis to live. Regular check ups with your primary care doctor assist in identifying signs that your kidneys might be failing,” he said.

Working with his hands has brought deep peace, even during the darkest of days before his transplant, Botchler said.

 

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A few months ago Ken Owens was looking for a project to bring to the Lockport Woodworkers meeting. In his quest he came across an idea in a post on the American Association of Woodturners website: Treasure boxes for children suffering from serious illnesses. These chests wouldn’t hold gold but would be brimming with a different treasure: Beads.

The wooden boxes were needed for beads collected by sick children participating in the Beads of Courage program. The program was started at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 2003 by Jean Baruch, a nurse working on her PhD at the University of Arizona. In the years since it has expanded to include over 100 hospitals.

In world history, beads have served a variety of purposes. They are considered by some to be amongst the earliest form of trade. During the Qing dynasty in China, beads were used to signify status. Beads of Courage members use them to show bravery and accomplishment.

Children participating in the non-profit program are first given a string of beads spelling out their names. Throughout their courageous journey, the children receive more of the colorful beads in commemoration of the different milestones they achieve in their treatment. Some Beads of Courage members receive thousands of beads. The thought behind the beads is they allow the kids to cope with their illness while retaining a tangible reminder of the challenges they faced.

“It gives them something to look forward to,” Lockport Woodworkers president James Nelson said.

After learning that Roswell Park Cancer Institute is a participant in the Beads of Courage program, Owens successfully pitched his idea to some of the members of the Lockport Woodworkers and Woodturners club. They would make “treasure boxes” to hold the beads.

Owens made his box from black walnut wood, deciding to turn it using a lathe.

”You start off with a block of wood … you turn the outside into a shape and then you hollow out the inside,” he said.

Before Boxes of Courage, Roswell Park’s pediatric patients were keeping their beads in bags, according to Owens.

Last week, after close to six months of work, Owens and Nelson delivered 26 boxes to Roswell Park.

While most club members made one box apiece, a bit of online research inspired one woodworker to make more. While searching Google, Jim Norton stumbled upon a heartwarming CBS story about Beads of Courage. “It was a real motivator,” he said.

Norton made a dozen boxes.

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We are pleased to announce the jury selections for the 2017 AAW Member Exhibition, Waves of Grain. This annual exhibition celebrates creativity and technical excellence along the full spectrum of turning from traditional to contemporary.

Our 2017 jurors were Michael Wilkerson, Associate Professor and Chair of the Kansas City Art Institute’s sculpture program; professional artist and turner Hayley Smith; and collector and turner Mark Wollschlager. Using a blind jurying process, they selected 18 out of the 60 pieces submitted, initially evaluating each piece in four key areas: aesthetic appeal, originality, interpretation of the theme, and craftsmanship, and then selecting the final pieces with the overall balance of the exhibition in mind.

Waves of Grain will premiere at the 2017 AAW International Symposium in Kansas City, June 22-25, with an opening reception Thursday evening.

Congratulations to our juried artists:

John Beaver | Sally Burnett | Kip Christensen | Luc Deroo | Jeanne Douphrate | Dewey Garrett | Michael Gibson | Robert Glibbery | Jan Greenwald | Stephen Hatcher | Gerard    Hennessy | Kalia Kliban | John Lutz | Pat and Karen Miller | Joshua Salesin | Jay Shepard | Justin Stephen | Niel Stoutenburg

And to our invited artists:

Dixie Biggs | Trent  Bosch | Marilyn Campbell | Janet Collins | Anthony  Harris | Glenn Lucas | Harvey Meyer | Tania Radda | Richard Raffan | Mark Sanger | Al Stirt | John Wessels

When the small group of veterans rolled into the room full of wood-turning lathes at North Little Rock’s veterans hospital, they saw a distraction, a change of scenery from their hospital beds.

The medical professionals saw something else: treatment.

With the smell of freshly shaved wood in the air, stroke patients re-honed their lost motor skills. Amputees rebuilt some of their lost confidence, and Alyssa Welch, a Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System recreational therapist, watched with a smile.

“This is not just a diversion activity,” she said. “It has a treatment-oriented goal.”

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals use art and recreational therapy to help more than 115,000 veterans cope with physical and emotional disabilities each year, according to the department.

As part of that program, local VA hospitals call for submissions to their annual Veterans Creative Arts Festivals at the beginning of each year, and the winners of the local competitions move on to the national competition in Washington, D.C.

Veterans from central Arkansas have made a name for themselves in the national contest, winning three gold medals and one bronze medal in the past two years.

There’s a variety of categories including woodworking, painting, knitting, music and dancing.

On Tuesday, veterans crafted writing pens from cylindrical pieces of wood at the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center in North Little Rock.

John James, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran from Pine Bluff, was at the hospital for an extended stay because of diabetes complications. The big, bearded man, who looks like he’s worked with wood his whole life, was laser-focused on finishing his sixth pen.

“I don’t care for bingo,” he said. “But I can do this. Here, I make something. This is more beneficial.”

A past gold-medal winner, Diane Bishop, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, watched her fellow retired service members work.

She was only there to watch. Wood-turning doesn’t interest her as much as knitting.

In 2015, she won the national gold medal for a red-and-black vest she knit.

“I never even thought I could win a national competition,” Bishop of Shannon Hills said.

She had happened upon a competition poster at the North Little Rock VA and submitted the vest. Her gold medal earned her a weeklong trip to North Carolina with all the other winners.

“It was wonderful,” she said.

This year, she’s entering an elaborate rug, which combines different colors of yarn to form the image of a stream winding through the mountains.

Any veteran who receives care through the VA can submit an entry to a local competition.

The John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock will hold its competition March 13; its North Little Rock counterpart will have its competition March 8. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday.

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In celebration of Wailoa Center’s 50th anniversary, the Big Island Woodturners Club will feature entries from woodworkers throughout the state during its 19th annual invitational exhibit from March 3-30 at Wailoa.

 

Participants will range from dedicated hobbyists to master artisans.

 

Wailoa invites the public to a free “Meet the Artist” reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday at the center, 200 Piopio St. There will be refreshments, a silent auction featuring turnings from club members and the presentation of awards.

 

The exhibit will be open for viewing from noon-4:30 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays March 4-30. Admission is free.

 

On Saturdays, March 4, 11, 18 and 25, stop by from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for woodturning exhibitions.

“There will be drawings for gift certificates from our exhibit sponsors at each of the demos, so come on down for a fun day of woodturning,” said club exhibit coordinator Doug Keown.

 

“In 1997, the Big Island Woodturners Club became the first chapter of the American Association of Woodturners in the state of Hawaii,” said Keown, paying tribute to founders Jack Straka, Elmer Adams, Doug Leite, Barry Ching and Kelly Dunn.

 

More than 70 members now turn out for meetings every other month at various woodturner studios in East Hawaii.

 

“It’s a volunteer-driven organization. Our club is vital and active,” Keown said. “At our meetings, members share their experiences and learn from one another. A club challenge encourages members to try something new and the meetings are always a fun affair.”

 

Membership in the club is simple: “Just attend the meetings,” Keown said. “There are no dues to pay, the only requirement is participation.”

 

Members of the West Hawaii Woodturners Club will be among the participants in the show, with more than 100 pieces featured. The show is sponsored in part by Woodcraft Hawaii, HPM Hilo and Ace Hardware.

While some friendships can be fleeting — taking place only within a specific time frame or context — other friendships can be lifelong relationships that span decades and transcend even the most traumatic life events.

These established friendships provide stability and comfort throughout our lives and especially while regaining equilibrium after life-altering events.

It is such a friendship that has helped 72-year-old Dennis Johnson following a stroke in 2009 that left him with paralysis on his left side.

“I’m fortunate that I’m right-hand dominant,” Johnson explained.

Taking a medical retirement from his career as a sales representative for Nalley Fine Foods, Johnson found himself facing a retirement much different than he had planned.

“I had looked forward to retiring and doing different things, but I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Dan really filled a need for me.”

Dan Stromstad, 70, and Johnson have been friends for more than 35 years, beginning at their church, Harbor Covenant, where Johnson taught Sunday school to Stromstad’s children.

“One day (Dan) said, ‘You need something to do other than sit around and watch TV, (and) I’m going to teach you how to do it,’” Johnson said.

Stromstad is a woodturner — and owner of both Harbor Optical and Turned Wood Wonders — and was first introduced to the art form in eighth grade, picking it back up again 15 years ago.

Woodturning is performed by turning the piece of wood on a lathe and using hand-held tools to cut a symmetrical shape around the wood. Items often crafted by woodturning include furniture legs, bowls, candlesticks and pens, among other items.

RStromstad has taught woodturning before and knew that — with some dedication from both Johnson and himself — this was a hobby his friend could successfully learn, despite Johnson’s paralysis.

“For me, this is a piece of cake. My whole business is in hand-eye coordination,” Stromstad explained. “For Dennis to do this with one hand is very difficult. It’s a real challenge.”

Stromstad introduced the idea to Johnson and invited him to attend a meeting of the South Puget Sound Woodturners club, where Stromstad is a member and where Johnson could hear from other woodturners, watch a demonstration and see examples of other members work. Soon, Johnson was ready to try himself.

The first obstacle to overcome was adjusting the lathe down to where Johnson could use the tools required to turn wood. In his own workshop, Stromstad took his own lathe and set it into a specialized mount that he designed to bring the wood to the right height and angle for Johnson to work.

“The normal techniques that I teach didn’t work,” Stromstad said of introducing Johnson to the craft. “I had to figure it out for him.”

As Stromstad figured out how to make woodturning accessible for his friend, Johnson struggled to adjust to his new range of abilities.

“It took me awhile to get used to it … I had to change my thinking. I tried to keep my mind positive, instead of looking backward at what I used to be able to do,” Johnson said. “It would be so much easier to do with two hands … (but) you can’t focus on what you can’t do. You have to be focusing on what you can do.”

Adjusting the lathe and familiarizing himself with the tools, Johnson was able to turn several pens with Stromstad’s guidance, and finally a bowl that he gave to his wife, Barbara, for Christmas last year.

Watching Johnson take to woodturning, Stromstad’s next goal was to set up a home shop area for his friend. With support of the Woodturners club, Johnson secured a donation of a lathe and hand tools for Johnson, surprising him with the items during a dinner hosted by him and his wife, Gail, in November 2015.

“I’ve been the stimulator, but Dennis has to do everything,” Stromstad said. “I look at these guys and say, ‘These are the overcomers.’ These are the guys who have the guts and skill to overcome.”

With a woodturning area now set up in his garage, Johnson is able to continue his hobby with minimal help, but prefers working alongside Stromstad.

“Most of the time when I’m (woodturning), Dan’s around,” Johnson said. “I’m a people person. It’s very nice that Dan comes and hangs out with me while I’m doing this. I don’t like doing things by myself.”

With woodturning as a hobby, Johnson also visits the YMCA to exercise (and socialize) and uses his powerchair to attend church and visit with friends in a nearby coffee shop.

“Gig Harbor is a great place to live. The nicest people live here,” he said. “Everybody that I run into are always helpful.”

This comes as no surprise to Stromstad, who knows Johnson to be a popular figure with all ages.

“A lot of people know Dennis because he’s such a nice guy,” he said.

In the years following his stroke, Johnson realized how many other people were in a similar circumstance and was surprised with how often people approached him, whether at the YMCA or around town, to tell him what an inspiration he was to them.

“I just wanted to be normal,” he said. “I sometimes wonder what my purpose is in being alive. People at the (YMCA) say to me, ‘You’re an encouragement to me.’ So I guess it’s to encourage them.”

As Johnson encourages others, he remains supported by those closest to him.

“I have really a wonderful wife. She is living out her marriage vows, in sickness and in health,” he said. “I’m thankful to Dan, who’s helped me turn wood. I’m thankful for my friendship with Dan and Gail.”

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