Thinking of South Africa this week

My woodturning colleagues and friends in South Africa will have their national symposium this weekend, so I've been thinking about them this week. There's not much happening in my neck of the woods, except I'm giving a public lecture tonight at our museum of biological diversity - "All About Wood: Aesthetics to Zen." So, since it's quiet on the woodturning front in Ohio this week, I thought I would dig through my old photos and find some South Africa woodturning action shots. I'll start with these two, which were from a 2003 visit to Mike Kaplan's house near Knysna.






Mike is showing me how he usually works on the lathe.














Here are a couple of bowls in the finishing room. I have several of Mike's bowls in my collection. They have a ruggedness that reflects the African cultural heritage.