South Africa Woodturning II

In keeping with my South African woodturning theme this week, I'm posting some pictures from 2002 and 2003. The image on the left is the view from my guest house in Knysna at the end of my 2002 South Africa field season. Knysna and the surrounding areas are home to a talented group of woodturners who have a co-op gallery in the heart of Knysna. I had arranged to meet with them on my way back to Cape Town.








We met at a local restaurant and hit it off pretty well. Going around the table from L to R: me, Dave Stephenson, Dennis Marshall, Mike Kaplan, and Grant Marshall. The next several photos are works by Mike Kaplan and Grant Marshall.









This bowl is in my private collection. It's made from milkwood. I love the shape and heft of this rugged bowl. The scorching really accents the piece. It's one of the larger pieces in my woodturning collection - about 8 inches in diameter.









This piece is also by Mike Kaplan. It's made from Assagaii (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). This was done as part of a challenge for their national woodturning congress. Participants were to make something from a cube of wood no larger than 6" on a side.









This lovely piece is by Grant Marshall, and is also in my private collection. It's made from imbuya and is turned on three axes. Grant added a metal ring and sail. It's one of my absolute favorites. I wish Grant would make some more of these so I could have them in my collection, too.









Grant has also made a series of tall oak vases. This one is similar to one in my collection, but belongs to another collector of wood art. I had it as part of an exhibit I organized on South African woodturning. (More about that below).













The exhibit I organized was presented at the 2003 AAW symposium in Pasadena California. I had invited about a dozen South African Woodturners to participate, including Butch Smuts, who came over for the event and to meet some of the gallery owners. I introduced him to Ray Leier from del Mano gallery, and that relationship has worked out well on both sides.








Dennis Laidler from Cape Town participated in the exhibit, and this piece was a gift to me from him for the work I put into organizing everything.










Izak Cronje, also from Cape Town, had several pieces in the exhibit, including this beautiful bowl made from pink ivory. This one is in my collection. I keep it away from strong light and it is still very pink. Pink ivory will fade to brown with time and exposure to light.









This is another piece done by Dennis Laidler. It was snapped up by a collector right away. It's made from Kaaia (??? Dennis - correct my identification here, please) and red ivory. (Dennis commented on the correct name of the wood, which is Kiaat - thanks, Dennis).