Sunday, March 28, 2010

Catching up on past events - Clay Foster visits Central Ohio Woodturners, April 4, 2009

I'm very, VERY behind on blog posts, primarily because I had so much travel time last year. I'm trying to catch up on photo processing. Here are some pics from a visit Clay Foster paid to the Central Ohio Woodturners nearly a year ago (Apr 4, 2009).





Wood Werks is very kind to the Central Ohio Woodturners by providing the space for our visiting demonstrators. Ron Damon introduced Clay Foster.











Clay pointed out Krum, Texas, where he used to live.












The first project he demonstrated was a two-part hollow form.

















The project starts between centers and is turned end grain. A tenon is cut on both ends.












Clay's go/no go template for the chuck tenon.











We had an average size group for a visiting demonstrator. I wish more of our local members would realize how great it is to see a professional demonstrator and to recognize what a bargain it is.









Clay demonstrated his technique for sharpening a gouge. He work the top of the gouge first.












Next he touches up the wings of the flute.













A bevel relief is put on the heel.












The shape of the hollow form is turned between centers. The parting line is marked.













Clay had a good time messing with the group that was in attendance.
















Parting through the future hollow form.


















Each half is hollowed. He's basically making a big box that will be glued back together.










The two halves need to be absolutely true. One half has a tenon, the other has the "lid" recess.













Checking the fit.













Signing the interior space. "Only a proctologist will be able to find my signature," said Clay.










Preparing a cabinet scraper, which will be used to clean up the surface.












Jim Burrowes gets a kick out of Clay's stories.












An attentive group, glued to the project screen where all the details are shown from the camera angle.











Using the cabinet scraper to clean up the surface.










Turning the opening.














"What's that?"











Clay also demonstrated how to do a multi-axis hollow form.













The form is turned on more than one axis.












These lines are guides for where to place the spur drive and live center.












Pretty exciting turning going on here.












Booker Brooks takes meticulous notes.












Cutting detail grooves.













Ready for hollowing.













You have to know what's going on.













Finished demo projects.












One of Clay's classic hollow forms.












Some of the tools he used.













An egg shell decorative motif.











Some of the surface enhancement supplies.














Clay applied glue to the interior surface of a broken egg shell.



















Then he flattened it onto a surface.












Colored grouting was applied. After this sets, the excess will be sanded off and the egg shell mosaic will appear.










Clay showed how he does his print motifs, also.














The final surface enhancment technique he demonstrated was his mud relief scorching. He "draws" a design in mud.

















Next he scorches around the mud resist.

















A bit of liming wax or other contrasting material can then be rubbed into the design.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Great Horned owlets


Great Horned owlets, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Three owlets in the nest. These are causing quite a stir in Columbus. I hope all the activity isn't too much for the parents.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Chamber Music Connection - you should know about this program!

Yesterday was the Winter 2010 Finale concerts for the Chamber Music Connection. This is such an amazing program that I want to let the world know about what's going on here. Chamber Music Connection is a program for K-12 students to learn and perform chamber music. The first session was in 1998, although the roots for this program go back to 1992. The artistic director and founder is Deborah Barrett Price. The program has recruited and produced some amazing chamber musicians, including groups that have been medal winners in the Fischoff and St. Paul competitions.

Every year, hundreds of young musicians are coached by professional musicians from the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Pro Musica, music faculty from universities in Ohio, and professional Chamber Musicians from visiting quartets and other chamber groups performing in the Chamber Music Columbus series at the Southern Theater. Autumn and Winter sessions include a series of concerts, including jazz, chamber orchestras and chamber ensembles. Master classes for all the ensembles are featured in every session. The spring and summer sessions include some intensive all-day workshops and master classes as well as finale concerts. These concerts are truly amazing and it's wonderful to watch the progression of our youngest musicians into accomplished chamber players over the course of just a few years.

Several of our young musicians have been featured in the "From the Top" series of radio and television shows. This YouTube video (Mendelssohn Quartet, Op. 13 I. Adagio. Allegro vivace, featuring Kaho Sugawara, Rebekah Lee, Rachel Kufchak and Kyle Price) that I filmed at yesterday's performance will give you an idea of how talented our program students are:



The programs is so successful that CMC has outgrown their available space for teaching students chamber music. I'm sure Deborah Price would be very interested in hearing from potential sponsors on coming up with a permanent solution to the space issues the Chamber Music Connection is facing.

This program is truly a hidden gem in central Ohio. If you enjoy chamber music and want to help promote the future of this genre, please consider supporting the program.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Acer Embrace

This project was started in November 2009 and finished February 12, 2010. It was the most challenging piece I've done thus far - primarily because of the small amount of interior space, which made carving very, VERY! challenging. Photos are by Jerry Anthony Photography.





I started with a hollow form that 10 X 7.5 inches with 1 - 1.5 inch walls, and it weighed about 5 lbs. The finished piece has super thin walls - paper thin in many places and probably < 1/16 inch in the rest of the piece. It weighs 4 oz after all the carving was complete.

This is my favorite view because it gives a window to the interior space. The curvature of the "arms" is why I named the piece "Acer embrace."










This is the view that is 180° from the image above.
















A detail shot. The wood is Ambrosia maple (sugar maple that was infected with beetle larvae).












You can see a series of progress photos on my Facebook page. This album shows the initial rough-out stages of the piece through the finished carving.

I also posted a series of videos on YouTube. I don't really have the ability to show this kind of work in a demonstration, but these short videos give some of the details.

Carving a hollow form - Part 1




Carving a hollow form - Part 2




Carving a hollow form - Part 3




Carving a hollow form - Part 4



Monday, March 01, 2010

Glamour rose in black & white


Glamour rose in black & white, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Just having fun with Nik Software plug-ins for Aperture. This is a dark red rose against a green background with beautiful boka. I used Silver Efex Pro to convert the color image to black and white and then used Color Efex Pro to do the soft focus and glamor glow effects. I kind of like the total effect.