Hands-on class with the Honolulu Woodturners

Hurray - I'm finally catching up on the O'ahu leg of this trip. I had a really good time with the class on Sunday, March 25.




Here's our work table for the pyrography part of the day.


















The class is hard at work finishing their project boards.









Meanwhile, I've set up the coloring station and am preparing to demonstrate the different techniques we'll use.








Hmmmm, one of us didn't listen very well. Poor Gordon - he put the black gesso on the wrong side of the project. I jumped in and wiped off as much as I could and then put it into a black wash across the design. "Let's see what happens - it will all turn out right in the end, I think."








"Gordon, STOP!"

"Ok, ok. . . sorry. . . ."

The class will know what this means ;-)













This is a study in concentration.
















I told you it would all turn out alright. The black wash gave a nice effect to the transparent coloring exercise.









What a fun day we had. Thanks to all for a good class. L to R: Roy, Craig, Andy, Sandy, Ken, and Gordon. Joan was there in the morning, but had to go off to work during the afternoon session.

A visit to the Honolulu Woodturners

The Honolulu Woodturners arranged for me to demonstrate at the University of Hawaii Windward Community College woodcarving studio.




Here's a look at some of the work done in this studio.













They brought in a lathe for me to use, which was a much better one than what was already there in the studio.








Here's what I thought I would be using - a jet minilathe with so much rust that I wouldn't need any iron supplements for the near future if I had actually used it for the day. Whew! That was an interesting prospect. . .

We had a good time together on Saturday, March 24th, but I don't have any pictures to share since I was the one doing the demonstrating. The Honolulu Woodturners posted some pics on their website if you'd like to see some from the demo.









After the demo and clean-up, I went to look at the woodlot. One of the student's projects is shaping up out there. Craig's standing there for a perspective on the size of the sculpture.















Sharon Doughtie giving Craig Mason "moose antlers" for a photo-op.










Doesn't Pat look like he's looking for a ski slope? Maybe he can use some of the lava flows for practice.















Craig and Teri Mason hosted a lovely dinner that evening. Here's a photo of Craig and the other Craig in the workshop. Sharon and Pat and Nashira joined us as well. It was a fun evening of excellent food and great company.








Craig's showing me the dust curtain that surrounds his lathe. He got this idea from the hints and tips section of American Woodturner.








Here's the latest project- a hollow form from a log section that was rotted out in the middle.









Craig stores his roughouts and miscellaneous wood up above the windows. That's an efficient use of shop space. I wish I had tall walls in my shop - that would solve some of my storage issues.

Manoa Falls

I've been in Australia a couple of days now and am at the site for the Turnfest 2007 symposium. That means I'm a week behind on the blog. I took about 600 photos yesterday, so I think it's going to take a bit of effort to catch up. The Kooralbyn resort, where the symposium site is, has a wifi hotspot in the lobby, so I might have time to blog while here. Maybe not, though, since I'm in a high traffic zone and the people here are very sociable.

To continue with the Hawaii leg of the trip, though, here's the last bit from last Thursday on O'ahu. Craig and Teri took me to Manoa Falls, a short walking trail to see a lovely waterfall. We started out in a bit of mist and by the time we arrived at the falls it was a downpour. What does that mean for a trail walk on this part of the island? Mud! Lots and lots of mud!




Part of the trail has a lot of invasive species, including this bamboo grove.

















I was hoping to see some endemic forest birds, but we were still in an urban zone. Thus, the birds seen along here were also introduced species such as this red-whiskered bulbul.








Here's a view of Manoa Falls. With the downpour, there was a bit of water coming over the rock.
















Teri and Craig were good sports about the rain and mud.

















All of this rock was the result of a huge landslide that happened last year during the heavy rains.










Did I mention that it rained?

















Yes, it did. Rain and mud ----- fun times for sure!


















Any ideas as to what tree produces this vividly blue fruit? I'd like to know, so if you have an answer, please leave a comment on the blog.

The O'ahu coastline

On Friday, March 23, Craig and Teri drove me all around O'ahu to look for birds. We started with the marsh reserve near Kailua and then made our way over to the coastline.




Wowsers! What a beautiful coastline! This was our first stop, which looks out on Rabbit Island. I wanted to see some marine birds, if possible.









What a doofus - Andi with her Swarovski binocs, woodcentral hat, camera and side pack.










Hey, but I scored a new lifer - the red-footed booby.










The ubiquitous woodcentral sighting pic.











A look across the bay to the lighthouse. There were a lot of people in the bay swimming or surfing.










Teri and Craig with Rabbit Rock in the background.








The layers of lava flow on Rabbit Island are very interesting. You'll have to click on the pic to see the swirling layers.











We drove a little ways farther and stopped at a lookout to look for marine birds. Craig has seen them from this spot many times.









Didn't see any birds, so Craig and Teri took me across the road to walk through a lava tube. Here's Crraig at the top of the ravine leading to the tube.







Here's a look down the throat of the lava tube. I asked Craig how these form and he said that when the lava is flowing down a gully it can solidify on top while the lava is still flowing underneath. The lava drains down the gully, leaving a tube behind.






Here's a view of the ocean from the other end of the tube.












A look back at Craig and Teri.















The water off the coastline of O'ahu is so beautiful. It gets this incredible blue hue from running so deep not far off shore. There's no continental shelf here - just a drop off the steep sides of the volcanoes that formed the island.








Here's a look at the ocean on the other side of the tube and in different light. Wow, it's gorgeous.








I'm always interested in the geological formations. You can see the layering of the different eruptions.










There are lots of conglomerates, too.











The leeward side of the island is completely different than the windward side. Here's a view of a calm cove looking up toward Waikiki.









What's this all about? Every where we went on Friday we saw wedding party after wedding party. Friday is wedding day on O'ahu. I couldn't resist the WC sighting op.

Hamakua Marsh

On Friday morning Craig and Teri drove me around the island to look for birds. I hadn't seen very many indigenous birds up to that point so it was a great opportunity to get out of the urban areas to search for non-invasive species.



The first stop was a small nature reserve in Kailua - Hamakua Marsh. That's the same marsh where Teri and I walked on Thursday afternoon, but this section had been set aside for wildlife.








Score! This is the black neck stilt - a native rather than an alien species.











I enjoyed watching these birds forage out in the marsh. There were dozens of them at the reserve.
















I posted a picture of a wandering tattler on my post about Ko'olina cove. This one is in breeding plumage.
















This black-crowned night heron was pretty close to a parking lot. They're pretty birds, but this one wasn't getting a warm reception by the other birds nearby.















Perhaps this is the reason. It went into hunting mode and started stalking another bird.










Closer and closer. . . . what's it after?











The way this moorhen reacted it looked like it was after eggs or something.










The moorhen was hissing and screeching at the heron.










Hmmmm, maybe it should think about it for a second.









Here's what it was after - a moorhen chick. The mom was protecting it from the heron.










I wonder how many chicks and eggs are taken by the herons. Craig told me that the cattle egrets also go after eggs.









Here's another native Hawaiian species - the Hawaiian coot. This one has the bright white bill and forehead.










Not a native, but it has interesting plumage.