Wednesday, July 02, 2008

2008 AAW Symposium - Part IV; Friday morning

Friday, June 20, 2008. The first rotation began at 8:30 am, and I went to see Benoít Averly's presentation on Woodturning in France. He had two very nice computer graphic presentations to show the work entered into the most recent AFTAB exhibitions.

There were a few technical glitches initially, but between the room assitant, Malcom Zander (on left), Benoít, and myself, we were able to get the computer to talk to the projector.




I missed the next rotation so that I could see what was in the instant gallery. There are more than 1000 entries each symposium, and so there is no way for me to show every entry. I'll post pictures of a biased representation. The bias is from my own interests in things that are just brown and round. There will be some of that represented, too, but most of my photos are of manipulated turnings.

Jerry Bennett had two very nice entries in the instant gallery. This was a smaller sculpture of reassembled sections of turnings.









A ceremonial bowl by Bill Neddow. This is the first of this style that I've seen from Bill.
















Andi Wolfe - turned and carved vessels. The two on the right are in my "hidden world" series. The one on the top right is in two parts that can interact with one another.










Banksia pod turnings by David Datwyler.











An amazing sculpture by Malcolm Zander. Malcolm continues to raise the bar each year.

















Carved turnings by Michael Kehs.









Elaborate assemblies of pierced turnings by Joey Richardson.










Three wonderful pieces by Pascal Oudet.














A closer look of one of Pascal's entries.















Neil Kagan sculptures.











Jim Rinde uses epoxy and wood to make interesting designs in his bowls and other turnings.







"Over the Rainbow (a menopause moment" by Gerrit Van Ness. I laughed out loud when I saw this one. . .















John Wessels was here from South Africa and brought these beautiful bowls that are a combination of pewter inlay and South African timbers. The top tow have red ivory; the bottom one is made from hard pear. You can look for these to be in del Mano's Small Treasures show next year.





After the second rotation on Friday, I was on duty in the Spheres Exhibit. I was to keep an eye out for potential disasters ala backpacks, purses, bags, etc. that might accidently bump into a piece. You'd be surprised at how upset some ladies become when asked to put their handbags aside to the wall while they are looking at the exhibit. Unfortunately, we've had those kinds of accidents in the special exhibits and instant galleries. Everyone thinks they have their cameras and bags under control, but one small slip can mean disaster. So, I blanketly apologize to anyone who became upset about the restrictions, but it really is a necessary thing to do. I hope anyone visiting the exhibits and instant gallery in the future is courteous to the staff who volunteer their time to help everyone have a good experience.






Whilst I was on duty, Jon Sauer came in to see the exhibit. We hadn't met before and I've been a big admirer of his ornamental turnings. He just so happened to have a bag full of small pieces, and so he pulled them out for me to examine.













I think he does some of the best ornamental turning in the world right now. It was a real treat to be able to see these up close.

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