Weekend away…

The gallery & workshop were closed this weekend. On Saturday I was demonstrating at the Thameside Woodturners Seminar Day. They have a great venue in The Fold, and old school house converted into a community resourse which runs as the Billericay Arts Association. It seemed that every room was occupied by a different group doing some kind of artistic endeavour.

I think the day went reasonably well; four projects completed and two of them went away with delegates at the end. That was different!I enjoyed the day, and especially the lunch which was layed on. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts how difficult demonstrating can be because you have no idea what levels your audience are at, and how difficult it can be to cater to all needs. A consequence of this is that you are bound to leave some thinking it was lacking in some way, and others that you’ve raised the bar too high. But there’s little you can do about that. I just hope I managed a happy medium.

It was SWMBO’s birthday on Sunday, so after my long day on Saturday, she wanted me to have a day off to visit our biggest local fair at the Henham estate…so off we went to look at woodturners, bodgers, basket makers and a wide range of other crafts and arts…and a fair amount of tat too!

There were two very good bodgers whom I sadly didn;t get the chance to speak to, my F.I.L. always has a stand there, and a number of friends from the circuit. It was nice catching up with the many I bumped into during the day…although I did get told off for spending time chatting and SWMBO wondered where I knew all these people from! But we had a good day. Ellie had her hair braided, we went on a simulator ride which simulated something you could not actually do in real life (is that possible, even?), watched the old tractor parade and the heavy horses, had some local food, played a few silly fairground games (which I was hopless at!), and had a good day.

Interestingly, or worryingly, most of the traders I knew were reporting a VERY slow weekend…lots of visitors (I think they estimated close to 30,000), but not much money passing hands. I thought the effects of the CC were starting to flag. Maybe not. Oh well…all we can do is carry on trying to eak a living and hope that Mr Brown and his cohorts don’t pozidrive us all into a wall.

A thought occurs…if this was France, would the French artisans put up with it? Non! I think that all the french artists, crafters, makers, artisans would do something on mass…perhaps agree to all lay down tools, brushes Etc.,  one monday morning, and simultaineously go and sign on. I wonder what that would do to the unemployment figures in the UK? How many makers/artists/crafters are there in the UK today? I feel a search coming on…

On a serious note, it does seem an awful shame that a group, artists/makers/crafters Etc., who are willing, through the love or necessity of what they do, to work for a subsistance living, have so little supporting them. I know that the government can’t force people to buy the output, but they could make the circumstances easier for the group by providing free business rates Etc. After all, many provide a valuable local resource for tourism, help to maintain some kind of cultural heritage, help to develop new cultural initiatives, and often breathe life into dying communities.

But who cares.

Back to work.

 

What do woodturners want from a Blog?

My one-time obsession with the “stats” page has long since passed away, but I just looked at the page for the first time in ages. 49 visitors yesterday, coming from links elsewhere, searches, and bookmarks. It does make me wonder what we want from a Blog? What is it that woodturners want from a wood turning Blog? Tips? Techniques? General chit-chat?

If you find your way here, drop me a line to let me know what it is you’d like to see and I’ll try my best to provide some user-defined content.

The search engine history seems to indicate a major interest in bowl coring (which I’ve already covered in some detail), which is interesting. Why the current interest? Maybe the credit crunch is making people think about their wood use? Maybe turners are waking up to the fact that certain woods are in getting scarce (and expensive) and simply wish to get the best from what they buy? No bad thing. And coring is certainly a cost-effective method of using a wood blank. The equipment may seem expensive, but, as I’ve said before, you will recoup the cost very quickly. Happy coring.

 

I actually had a day off today…

and how did I spend it?

Well, I was invited by Gabor Lacko to watch a demonstration by Israeli turner Eli Avisera down in Ilford. As I hadn’t managed to watch any of the demonstrators at the AWGB seminar, and Eli was one of them, I thought I’d drive down and have a Busmans holiday.

Despite the long journey I’m glad I went. Eli is a great turner, and his “tips” could have filled a chapter of a book. I’ll post more tomorrow…or the day after…and some pics.

 

A change is as good as a rest…

Sometimes it’s good to have a change from the norm. Especially when you feel bogged down and listless. Which I do at present.

So I thought I’d get around to making a full-sized greenwood chair. In order that it’s not a total step away from the lathe, I used the lathe to turn the tennons on the rails and stretchers. I could have used the veritas tennon cutter, a great tool, but the lathe also makes things round, and once you’ve mastered turning matching tennons it’s a easy process to repeat.

The chair isn’t completed yet, it needs trimming up, sanding, and oiling, but this at least shows the chair pretty much as it will appear when finished.

It made a nice change, and the process is very relaxing and stress-free…if you mess us a component you simply cut another and start again.

greenwood chair in hazel and cedar

I enjoyed making the first chair (see earlier post), and enjoyed this one even more. And it’s not wasted time, because it leads you on to other thought paths…here’s an example…but first the story!

Many, many months ago I roughed out a large batch of oak bowls and set them aside to season. Time passes and wood seasons, but during this time your turning habits change also. Having pulled down a few bowls and found them to be dry I realised that they would now be considered worthless! Too dull. Too traditional. Too little scope for making them something other than the usual. Disgusted I threw the bowl into a hedge.

Time slipped away once more. Spring and summer came and went, and autumn showed its face with the leaves dropping from the trees. One day, whilst walking by the same hedge, something caught my eye. The hedge had consumed the bowl. Grown into and through it. And a Turning bird had taken advantage and used the bowl as its nest. Sadly the Turning bird must have been disturbed and flown the nest, leaving the eggs cold and alone.

Saddened by such a sight, I cut the bowl free of the hazel hedge and took it into the workshop. The eggs had unaccountably petrified. Which is odd. I placed the bowl on a log outside the workshop, and decided that it was worth keeping as a reminder of the sad course of events that had occured. The result is the Turning Bird’s Nest…

 

And if you believe that…!

 

A few odd ends…

When you work every day, time off is often difficult. I have a few hours now before I leave for our day out, and having nothing to do is a pain in the preverbial. So I remembered that there are a few photos on the mobile phone which haven’t been downloaded, and low and behold and few could have told a story here…

The first relates to my Village Fair, which was held in June. I’d been asked to demonstrate as the usual turner, my friend and neighbour in fact, had decided that after years of doing it he’d like a break. There was little chance of making any sales, but it’s my village event so I had to say yes.

Imagine how pleased I was to discover that they had also managed to persuade a pole turner I knew from the internet, Simon Lamb to participate. Simon is a full-time pole turner, spoon maker, and general greenwood worker, and had a great selection of his wares on sale. We had plenty of time to chat, and thanks to Simon I had an interesting day.

Simon's stand

The second is an example of how a turner can turn a quick profit. I’d been to our local waste centre to deposit some waste, and spotted a long crate on the ground. I recognised it immediately, and had a look inside. Ah…incomplete. But no problem for a turner! A very quick tidy up, a couple of items re-turned, and the £10 I paid for it was soon increased substantially. I passed it on to someone who sells to the trade, so he’ll make a profit too. All good for half an hour of work.

The last is of my first greenwood chair. The chair was made with round mortice and tennons, and the tennons were turned. I now have the tools for making the tennons off the lathe, which is simpler and less reliant on straight sticks, and means I can make full size chairs…which is a project that will be coming shortly. My other half designs and makes collectible bears, so this one was for her to sit a bear on. I was very pleased with it, although I appreciate that chair makers would probably be horrified by it.

 

It’s difficult, but you have to do it…

Adding another post after the last seemed almost impossible. An affront almost. How can you discuss the mundane after such a loss?

Well I suppose you just have to get on and do it. After all, two people are having to do just that and they were as close as you could possibly be to the tragedy, and still have to get up in the morning, make breakfast, decide what to wear and a countless number of mundane things besides. How they manage is a mystery to me. But they do.

So on we go.

Today was a play day. Thankfully I had all the things done that had to be done, and nothing else was planned before next week due a day away from work tomorrow. I’ll be spending the day with the family and another woodturner and his family. I’m looking forward to it. But today was free. So play time.

The greenwood aspect of things remains a constant pull at present, so I’ve been playing with some ideas that combine conventional turnery and greenwoodwork, and the prototype was a surprisingly pleasing. I’ll post pictures next week after I take some.

I’ll be fairly busy for a while, which is good, but also means I can ignore some other things that might otherwise grab my attention…and none of them would do me any good. I think that some things are best ignored. Some things take vast ammounts of energy, cause huge headaches, and provide no satisfaction or resolution. From now on I ignore them. I ain’t gonna play.

So a day off tomorrow, and then we’ll see what the bank holiday brings…

ttfn all

 

A sad day…

I’m sorry to post this here, but a lot of people who visit will need to know…

This morning, I, and a lot of turners in Suffolk and beyond have lost a dear friend, Gerald Short. Gerald passed away peacefully at home without warning.

Gerald has been a long-time committee member of the Waveney & District Woodturners, and had been a good friend to me ever since I moved to Suffolk from London. Many people will know Gerald if only by his constant presence at woodturning events all over East Anglia for many years.

He was a good man, quiet and steadfast, honest and dependable, and I for one will miss him a great deal. And I know others will too.

Goodbye Gerald.

 

Busy day and it all went pop…

I had a busy day planned today…a student booked…who didn’t show up, and some roughing still to do, and an early finish planned to spend a little time with the family. And then…a returning customer called to give me an interesting commission for five pieces, and turning friend from a Suffolk club called in on the off chance, and then weirdest of all a visit from an American turner, Russ Zimmerman.

We had a long chat, and it was most enjoyable. I pointed out that he had just missed the UK seminar, and he said he might think of it in two years time. I often get UK turners popping in for a chat, and there are a couple from Holland and Germany who call a couple of times a year, but the US is new to me. Suffolk really is getting multi-national in its appeal.

I should also have gone to buy some very large section Blackthorn this evening, and a large sycamore butt, which will now have to wait until tomorrow…I hate waiting to buy wood!

 

Dirty day…

I won some very large blanks of spalted Beech in the seminar raffle this year. 18″ by 6″, in fact. Two spalted and three clean. Today I roughed out five sets of cored bowls from them, so twenty-five bowls in all. The spalting was the darkest I’ve ever seen, and was really dirty and horrid to turn. The bowls were then coated in sealer to allay the spalting, and then sealed with PVA whilst they dry out for a few months. I was glad when they were finished. The heat was not conducive to comfortable turning…even the shavings stuck to me in the heat.

I also had to turn a “Harry Potter” type magic wand today…how different can it get!

I think I’m just about up-to-date now after the missing days of the seminar, and I’m looking forward to some play time.

After seeing a little of Anne Hayes’ demonstration (through the window as time didn;t allow me to sit and take it all in) I have a desire to make a chair, but we’ll see.

On Friday last week I went to act as a consultant on a small woodland one of my students has bought. It’s a lovely wood, set by the Norfolk Broads, and filled with good Ash and Beech, Hazel, Blackthorn, and a little Alder. One tree caused something of a stir…in the picture that follows the left-hand truck is Oak, and the right-hand truck is Beech. Nothing odd there you might imagine…but…the trucks are conjoined at the base. Not very close. Not simply touching. They are one and the same. The bark is continuous around the main trunk, and then at about 8″ high they split into two distinct species. I’ve asked elsewhere and all opinions are that this isn’t possible…but It’s there! Any thoughts?

 

AWGB Seminar

Well the seminar is over again for another two years. I think it was a great success, but being so close to it it’s impossible to be objective.

It was interesting to meet a number of readers of the Blog…even if a common critcism was that there hasn’t been anything to read recently. You know the reasons so I won’t go over them again.

The Auction, detailed previously, was a fantastic experience, and raised a  lot of money for the Youth Training Program. The event had an electric atmosphere, and was different from anything I’d ever witnessed. It is something I’ll remember for a long time.

The Instant Gallery was filled with work to inspire, work to challenge perceptions, work to make you smile, and work which made you think, it was a superb collection of work from a diverse range of turning styles and experience levels.

A turner said to me that some of his club friends consider a seminar an expense they cannot justify, which I can understand and sympathise with, but he also said that he was thinking of starting a Seminar Savings Scheme, so that club members can “bank” a small sum each month to be used for the seminar in two years. What  great idea!