Wood Carver's Hands

Wood Carver's Hands, originally uploaded by SWolfeNI8W.

Steve did some photography of me in my studio this morning. I'm working on a very complicated leaf vessel, which has already been on my bench for about 20 hours of roughing out. I just finished the shaping of the outside and am now moving to the inside rough out.

Chihuly at the Franklin Park Conservatory

Chihuly abstract, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Franklin Park Conservatory has a Chihuly exhibit right now. It's always fun to see Chihuly's work in the conservatory, sprinkled amongst the plants. Here is some eye candy for you to view the exhibit through my eyes. As much as I enjoy seeing the sculptures, I always like exploring the abstract aspects of the work.

More images from the exhibit:

Made some earrings this weekend

Carolina Cherry Earrings, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

This pair is now posted on Etsy. I'll be adding some of the other sets from this weekend as I find time this week.

Etsy listing for long dangles with contrasting tips:



Etsy listing for triangle dangles:

Busy weekend, busy season

I sure don't know how this year has flown by so fast. Sometimes I feel like the Red Queen alá Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass - "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

I sure did a lot of things this year, including an amazing trip to the Himalayas of Nepal in May, and a trip to China in February and Mexico in September. Maybe that's why the year has gone by in a blur. Approaching the winter solstice, I always reflect on what has happened in the past year. I think this has been one of the most interesting of my life, but I don't know that I've really accomplished all that much. Well, I take that back, actually. I found out what it was like to live in a stress-free zone while I was trekking in Nepal. I try to remember what that was like when deadlines are looming as they are now. And, yes, I know - I'm not giving myself enough credit for all the things I accomplished this year - that's just me, and I don't take myself too seriously.

As winter approaches I'm trying to reflect on all the happy things that I experienced during the year. The short days together with the overcast skies are hard on me. Seasonal affected disorder - yes, that sums it up pretty well. I don't mind winter per se, but the days without sunshine are not my favorite ones of the year. However, I'm starting to appreciate those gloomy days for the photography opportunities they present. I really like bringing out the contrast in the clouds as a backdrop to something interesting in the foreground. There! I feel better already ;-)

I hope everyone who follows my blog has an enjoyable holiday season. I'm looking forward to watching Emma, my miniature dachshund, discover her presents under the tree on Christmas morning. I feel another YouTube video looming in the near future.

More wearable art

#7 Carolina cherry burl, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I've had a sufficient number of queries about whether my earrings are for sale that I decided to sign up for an Etsy account. So, if you're interested in acquiring unique earrings made from wood and sterling silver, please check my Etsy page.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByAndiWolfe

Wearable art - my new distraction

#11 Carolina cherry burl, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I have a confession to make. I'm an earring junkie. I love dangle earrings - especially handcrafted, wearable art. I can't go into an art gallery that carries jewelry without buying some beautiful handcrafted earrings. Thus, I've been percolating an idea of my own. My internal dialogue has gone something like this:

"I'm an artist. I work in wood. I love earrings. Why don't I make some carved wooden earrings?"

So, I'm starting to dabble in wearable art in addition to my wood turning and sculpting. They're actually pretty challenging in many ways - the small scale, carving symmetrical shapes, and capturing the organic beauty of the wood.

I'm starting with burl woods that have been hanging out in my shop - mostly scraps left over from other projects. I'll start buying some nicely figured woods dedicated to wearable art projects in the future.

If you click on the image, it will take you to my Flickr album where I've posted some other examples. I would really like some feedback at this early stage of my experiments. Thanks for taking a look.

Central Ohio Woodturners Meeting - November 2009

Just a few pics from our recent club meeting for you. Steve took the people pics, I took the turning pics.




This is me, taking photos of our show and tell and president's challenge offerings. Actually, at this moment I'm setting my aperture and shutter speed. I shoot these images on manual mode in RAW format. I use Aperture with Nik Software plug-ins for processing.











Walt Betley, my neighbor from across the street and the wonderful gentleman who got me interested in wood turning. Walt's been turning for about 75 years now. Steve captured Walt perfectly - always a smile and something smart to say.
















Fred Dutton demonstrated hat making - not an easy thing to do on a mini lathe.

















Jim Burrowes and Barbara Crockett did the beginner's corner. The topic was natural edge bowls.

















This beautiful goblet was turned by Dennis DeVendra. Dennis is blind and I'm amazed at how accomplished a turner he's become in the past year.


For more pics of the evening, check out the photo album on my Facebook wood turning page:

Turnings and people pics from November Meeting

Entrance to Orton Hall

Entrance to Orton Hall, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I thought my readers might enjoy the comments that are posted on my Flickr page with regards to the history and uniqueness of Orton Hall. Click on the picture to navigate to the Flickr site.

I took this photo just after sunrise this morning. It's an HDR of three photos plus some post processing using the Nik software plug-ins for Aperture. Enjoy!

Recent work

Sphere # 6 - top view, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I finally had time to take a photo of my most recent sphere in the series, "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tzu. This one is #6.

You can click on the image to go to my Flickr set that has examples of my recent turnings. Some of the turnings in this album are available through del Mano or Arrowmont. This one is currently in my possession. Inquire if you're interested in adding it to your collection.

Sunburst at Clear Creek No. 1

Sunburst at Clear Creek No. 1, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Fun with light painting! How cool is that?

Turning 2009 symposium

What's not to love? Great demonstrators, good fun, nice scenery and a weekend of woodturning! I'm taking a lot of photos, so will have some detailed postings in the near future. First I have to catch up on the Dublin Irish Festival, my trip to Mexico, and my hands-on class with Jean-François Escoulen. Hmmmmm, methinks it's been a busy month!

Jalopy in the forest

Jalopy in black & white, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

My first attempt at B&W processing. I just added the Nik software plug-ins to aperture and I messed around with the software for monochrome settings. This started out as an HDR processed stack of six photos. I like the B&W better than the color. Let me know what you think.

The photo was taken at Glacier Ridge Metro Park.

Geese on the mall

Geese on the mall, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Here's another image from my walk on the National Mall last Tuesday. I messed around with camera settings for awhile. This one was taken with the setting at "Faithful" - manual exposure, RAW format. I thought the effect was interesting - it looks like a painting rather than a photo to my eyes. Comments are welcomed - what do you think?

Washington Monument

Washington Monument, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I'm in the Washington DC area for the rest of the week, doing my scientific civic service. I had some time yesterday to walk the Mall and to visit a couple of museums. I took my tripod with me with the intent to try some HDR photo processing, knowing the lighting wouldn't be all that favorable by the time I arrived in DC. This is my first attempt at tonemapping a photo.

I did a lot of walking yesterday, spending most of my time on the mall rather than in museums. I did visit the natural history museum to see what their Darwin exhibit included - not all that impressive, I'm disappointed to report. The highlight of the natural history museum was their butterfly exhibit.

I also visited the Air and Space museum, not having been there in more than a decade. I went to see Alan Bean's paintings, and they were definitely worth seeing in person.

2009 AAW Symposium, Part V: Sunday, June 28

This is the last post I'll have on the 2009 AAW symposium. At the end of this entry you'll find an index to all the posts I made for this event plus links to my Facebook photo albums.

My last rotation was the first one on Sunday morning. I had another great crowd and lots of great feedback. That made four for four - a nice feeling.

The next rotation scheduled included the instant gallery critique. The panel included Kevin Wallace, Merryll Saylan and Garry Knox Bennett. Jacques Vesery was the PoP committee member organizing the set-up and flow of the discussion. Because my sphere project received an Excellence Award, I was interested to hear what the panel would say about it during the critique. Most of the comments focused on the organic feel of the piece. I'll have to buy the symposium DVD to hear all the details.






Kevin Wallace always has interesting things to say about wood turnings.
















L to R: Kevin Wallace, Merryll Saylan, Garry Knox Bennett. They had to turn around to see what was being projected to the audience.












Merryll and Garry gave each other the business throughout the discussion. I enjoyed that.










I had a few minutes to take in the trade show one more time and was delighted to have a chance to visit with Eli Avisera (with Ron Zalk). Both are from Israel.











Eli set up one of his dynamic multi-axis sculptures for me.













These are so cool, and I really love how you can play with them.



















Eli is as photogenic as his turnings, don't you agree?













Eli sent this demo piece home with me.



















The last rotation I attended was John Wessel's pewter inlay demonstration. It was so great to see him again and to watch him demonstrate. He has fun with the audience.






Index to all the 2009 AAW blog posts:

June 22, 2009: Just in time for the AAW Symposium
June 25, 2009: Arrived in Albuquerque for the AAW Symposium
June 27, 2009: A totally awesome day
June 28, 2009: Second day of the AAW symposium
June 29, 2009: Day three of the AAW symposium
September 16, 2009: 2009 AAW Symposium, Part I: Thursday, 25 June
September 20, 2009: 2009 AAW Symposium, Part II: Friday, 26 June
September 25, 2009: 2009 AAW Symposium, Part III: Saturday morning, June 27
September 27, 2009: 2009 AAW Symposium, Part IV: Saturday afternoon & evening, June 27

Links to all the photos I posted on my Facebook Fan Page:

2009 AAW Symposium - Thursday, June 25th (27 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Merryll Saylan and Garry Knox Bennett exhibit (27 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Spindles and Spirit of the Southwest exhibits (58 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Friday, June 26th (38 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Saturday Morning, June 27th (39 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Saturday Morning, June 27th - Part 2 (36 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Saturday Morning, June 27th - Part 3 (65 photos)
2009 AAW Symposium - Last installment (42 photos)

And that's, all, folks! If you've enjoyed the series and photos, please feel free to show your appreciation by leaving a comment here or on my Facebook fan page. If you're a Facebook member, please add yourself as a fan to that site. I post pictures there first, so if you want to know what's happening, that's a good place to stay on top of things. You can also show your support by purchasing one of my CD's (links on the upper right side of the blog page; also available on iTunes) or by making a small donation via the PayPal link up on the right side of the page. Every little bit helps to keep this information flowing your way - it does take time and effort on my part to share this information with you, plus my photographic equipment supply list is constantly growing. I'd like to keep this blog free from ads, so your help is much appreciated.