Rainy night in Marais

Rainy night in Marais, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Back to May 20, 2013 for this photo. Walking at night in Paris - in the rain. Lovely colors, lovely reflections.

Cone flowers

Cone flowers, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

It's been a few weeks since my last upload to Flickr. This photo was taken in July, during one of my morning walks along the Olentangy River. These cone flowers were spotted along the OSU wetlands billabong.

The vegetation has grown in, so it's hard to see the pond these days, but the flowers are looking pretty spectacular around the area.

Dublin Irish Festival 2013 - Part 1

The first weekend of August is always the best of the year for Irish Music as about 100,000 people gather for wonderful music, games, cultural events, shopping, sessions, dancing, and general craic. The weather this year was the best I can remember - not too hot, not too humid, and not very much rain. I was busy Friday evening, so didn't have a lot of time for doing photos, but here's a sampler from the evening hours after 9 pm.

John Whelan played a set on the Celtic Music House stage. Here's one of his accordions, waiting in the wings.

John Whelan - many-time All Ireland champion on button accordion.  It was great to see John again this year.

Slide played the Trinity Stage. The back of the tent was open, so I was able to get some interesting silhouette photos of the band in action.

Natalie MacMaster returned to the festival with her family. Last time she was here she was pregnant with her fourth child. Three of the kids performed toward the end of the set, and were a huge hit with the audience.

I love photographing the vendor areas at night. The lighting in the tents set against the dark background makes for some interesting interaction photos.

The caricature artist at work draws an audience whenever he is doing a portrait.

To see the rest of my Friday photos for Dublin Irish Festival 2013, click here: Dublin Irish Festival 2013 - Friday.

We'll all miss Billy!

Billy Rudd, a friend to all woodturners who participated in Australia's Turnfest over the past 11 years, passed away August 6th, after a valiant fight against melanoma.  Billy always had a smile, made you laugh, and was dedicated to making Turnfest a huge success. We'll all miss his antics and humor.

This is the first and only time I saw Billy (on the left) in a suit!  This was at the banquet for Turnfest 2012, with his dear friend David Drescher.

Terry Martin presented a special award to Billy at the closing ceremony for Turnfest 2012. If I correctly recall, it was a pair of metal flip flops...


Rest in peace, Billy.

A visit with Gorst Duplessis: prelude

I'm in New Orleans this week for the Botany 2013 meeting. Yesterday afternoon I had a couple of hours available to visit Gorst Duplessis.  He has a beautiful home on the edge of the French Quarter, which took a lot of damage during hurricane Katrina. 

No, the hurricane did not rearrange Gorst's shop - it's a very active and busy place, as you can tell by the shavings....  I'll post a photo essay in a few days. For now, I will be a scientist and pay attention to all the interesting research that will be presented over the next few days.

Penstemon fruticosus

Penstemon fruticosus, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Photographed on Moore's Mountain, just north of Boise, Idaho. This is one of the species in subgenus Dasanthera - the basal lineage of this very large and diverse genus of plants.

I just love the way the anthers are so hairy and the corolla is pleated. These are characteristics unique to the subgenus, and are ones important for pollination.

A visit with the Carolina Mountain Woodturners

I spent last weekend with The Carolina Mountain Woodturners (CMWT). This was my third visit (first in 2003, second in 2007). The CMWT is my all-time my favorite club to visit - the spirit of volunteerism there is exceptional, people are very courteous, and it feels like home. I did an all-day demo on Saturday, July 20, and a hands-on class with 10 students the next day.

Normally I have a maximum enrollment of six students, so I had to dramatically change the format of my class. Usually the focus is on pyrography and coloring techniques using a sampler board and a design that is burned in on two panels for practicing pyrography textures and coloring techniques. That class has an absolute max of six students - that's all I can handle for the intense coloring tutoring.

For 10 students, I modified the class to include the pyrography sampler board, but then we spent the rest of the time doing a sampler of texturing techniques using rotary carvers, and then some work on surface enhancement on turnings that the students brought from home.

The Carolina Mountain Woodturners do their hands-on classes at the Ox Creek Community center building. It's an old building that has a large common room adjacent to a kitchen.

The club lathes were set up, simply for their power strips and lights. Each student had ample room to work, good lighting, and access to several power plugs. The tables were set up around the perimeter of the room, which made it very easy for me to walk around, look over shoulders, and give some help with tutoring and coaching.

The table where I did my demonstrating became a coloring station. This class would be better in a two-day format, because we really didn't have enough time for coloring at the end, but I think everyone took some new techniques home with them after the class.

Three of the students at the end of the day: Fred, Tina, and Dick.

I really enjoyed this group of students. We had a very fun day together.

Hey, this is my first turned mushroom - ever. Melissa Gunther collects mushrooms from visiting turners, so I turned a small one out of poplar and did the surface during the hands-on class.

The underside has the gill pattern carved with a small bur.

Who knows, maybe I'll start making some mushrooms?

I learned a few things from this first go around with 10 students: 1) I need to have a set list of burs for students to use. The students had a wide assortment of burs, but not the same ones that I typically use. 2) The layout of the room was ideal for handling so many students. 3) If I don't focus on coloring techniques, 10 students is feasible.

Penstemon attenuatus var. militaris

Penstemon attenuatus var. militaris, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

This species is in section Penstemon subsection Proceri. I photographed it on Moore's Mountain, which is in the Boise Mountains of Idaho. It was super abundant in a meadow near our lunch spot (the "our" being the American Penstemon Society group I was with).

My latest book!

I finally finished putting together the photos from Paris into a book. You can order a pdf rather than the print version, which is what I would recommend. However, if you like to thumb through photo books go ahead and splurge. There's a preview of the first 15 pages. The book is 60 pages of photos and text. I'm looking forward to getting my copy in the mail...

Paris - 2013 street photography by Andi Wolfe | Make Your Own Book

Sunrise at Waterman Farm

Sunrise at Waterman Farm, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye....

There seems to be a lot of corn planted at Waterman this year. I'm always hoping they'll plant sweet corn and make it available to the community, but, alas, that never seems to be what happens. At any rate, the sunrise this morning was beautiful.

Progress on my recent work

I'm about halfway through the negative space removal on this cellular motif.  It's been fun getting back to the shop, but I'm frustrated by the clutter that accumulated during my woodturning sabbatical. At some point, very soon, I'll have to reorganize my carving bench, tidy up the wood pile, sweep up the shavings, and vacuum the entire shop. I think procrastination can be developed into a fine art all on its own....

Penstemon wilcoxii

Penstemon wilcoxii, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another beautiful penstemon from the Boise Mountains of central Idaho. I can feel the cool mountain breeze as I remember this place. I'll need that memory today. We're at the leading edge of a heat wave for the midwest.

Penstemon payettensis

Penstemon payettensis, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Just one of the many beautiful penstemons found out west. This plant was seen in the Boise Mountains of Idaho last month.

Every time I travel through the western cordillera my spirit is renewed. Penstemons are just an excuse to get a mountain fix - at least that's what it seems like sometimes. It's hard to live in a geologically-challenged area. Ohio is definitely not a mountainous state, but there are other advantages to living here. Ohio State University and Columbus are examples....

Two broken burs today, so I'm taking a break....

I'm about 1/3 of the way around the vessel in terms of doing the rough shaping. Unfortunately, I broke the last two of my drill saw burs - both on the same cell. There must be a very hard spot in that part of the wood.

These drill saw burs are cheaply made, and I just ordered some more. I was dismayed to see the price had about doubled since the last time I ordered. I need to do some research to find a less expensive source now.

The diagram on my bench is from a micrograph of Sequoia wood anatomy - a cross-section of the stem. Each cell is four to six-sided, and the final shaping will reflect this for the most part. It's slow going, for sure, and I'm using the Foredom tool for the drill saw burs. The vibration beats up my hands, but I can't risk my NSK handpiece for this stage of the work.

From my garden

From my garden, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Along the driveway, where we have our bird feeders, I have a small garden featuring purple cone flowers, shasta daisies, and volunteer sunflowers. The cone flowers are in full bloom. In a few weeks the seeds will be developing and the goldfinches will feast to their hearts content...