AAW Symposium - Saturday, 2006 Jun 24

I was very sleep deprived by the time Saturday rolled around. Too much fun in too short a time if you count the Utah Symposium of the previous week. Unfortunately, this translated into a two-day tension headache, which is very similar to a migraine. I'm feeling much better as of this posting - it helps to be home and away from big crowds. I also spent a few hours on Sunday doing some wood therapy - turning some bowls to take with me on vacation so that I can work on some demo pieces.

So, anyway, the last day of the symposium was pretty full, too.

I started the day by attending Giles Gilson's rotation on design. Giles did this as an excellent powerpoint presentation. I especially liked his use of a broom for a pointer. That lasted until someone donated a laser pointer for him to use.

The second rotation I went to was the instant gallery critique. This was held in a room, lecture style, which works much better than having everyone walk around the instant gallery. I'll take credit for planting this idea seed last year. It didn't work as well last year as this one, but there was still something not quite right about the critique this year. Maybe it had something to do with the way items were selected and discussed. Betty Scarpino, Hans Weissflog and Steve Loar were the presenters this year. Each was to select pieces to bring into the discussion. It seemed like Hans picked a lot of pieces he didn't care for and expected Betty and Steve to talk about them. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way it seemed to me. While I don't expect a critique to be a pat-on-the-back session for the artists, there is a way to do positive critiques that are critical without injecting negative comments such as, "the finish is too glossy," or, "I don't like it." I'll have to watch the proceedings DVD to see if I can determine what didn't seem right about this particular critique.



I didn't sit through the afternoon session, but did go around and snap some pictures. Here is Stuart Mortimer doing a presentation on his spiral work.










J. Paul Fennell showing how he does his texturing using a dremel tool. I felt sorry for Paul having lost his voice by the time this session came around. He was a trooper, though, and carried on as best he could.








One more trade show snapshot. Here are Christophe Nancey (L) and Pascal Oudet (R) from France. Christophe was a demonstrator this year. He does interesting wood and pewter sculptural pieces. I previously posted a picture of Pascal's pieces in the instant gallery. I enjoyed meeting Pascal in person, and Christophe for the first time. Pascal is an active member of the World of Woodturners group, so I know him from our online community.



The AAW usually sponsors a Dutch treat dinner on the last day of the symposium, but I attended a party hosted by Jan Peters of del Mano Gallery. Jan was assigned one of the hotel's apartments - an opportunity too good to waste. Thus, a party for artists and collectors ensued, which was a lot of fun. Harvey and Fiona Fein provided pizza, Pat Kramer and Jacques Vesery ordered beer, Eileen Duffy provided an appetizer tray, and the rest of us brought whatever libations we had to contribute to the well being of the attendees.


Here's the view from Jan's apartment - a nice balcony overlooking the river. Pretty swank, eh?












J. Paul Fennell chatting with Fiona. In the kitchen background (L to R): Nick Arnull, Pascal Oudet, and Gorst duPleissis.










L to R: a turner from Japan (I briefly met him on Sunday morning, but can't recall his name), Christophe Nancey, Neil Scobie and Harvey Fein.









L to R: Andi Wolfe, Jan Peters, Christophe Nancey.












L to R: Three Mikes in a row: Mike Hosaluk, Mike Jackofsky, Michael Mocho.













L to R: J. Paul Fennell, Judy Chernoff and Jeff Bernstein, Matthew's parents (the boy I helped in the youth program the previous day), and Hans Weissflog.












A Michael sandwich. L to R: Michael Hosaluk, Andi Wolfe, Michael Mocho.










Jan Peters holding court in the living room.














More friends.













Gorst duPleissis and Pat Kramer on the balcony.














The beginning of the stupid people tricks. Minda Vesery organized a series of activities that should show up on some home videos series that feature such types of games. Here is Jacques Vesery putting his trust in a bunch of ladies. That's Minda in the lower right saying, "Come on, Jacques, trust us!"

Jacques seems to be saying, "I have only one life to live. . ."













Going, going . . .

















Gone. Jacques wanted to know who was pinching his buns.


















He had a grin on his face, so it must of been good . . .



















I'm not sure what this one was about, but everyone was sitting on their neighbor's knee.











Sharon Doughtie at the front of the line about to be picked up and passed to the back of the line. I have a video of this, but can't figure out how to post it as of yet.










Taking a breather out on the balcony to recover from the stupid people tricks.













What is Minda doing to Pat's hair????












A lovely sunset to end the day, the AAW symposium, and a nice evening with friends.

Thanks Jan, Harvey, Fiona, Pat, Jacques and Eileen for the refreshments. Thanks to everyone else for a wonderful evening.







Ok, one last picture that I snapped on the way home from the symposium. I drove home on Sunday morning and made it about 30 miles north of Louisville when the traffic on I-71 came to a screeching halt. At least I was near the front of this traffic jam, which must have been miles long by the time we started rolling again. I'm not sure what happened, but you can see the smoke up to the right. It was a car with a trailer that had caught on fire. It took about 30 minutes to get a lane cleared.

I'm sure glad to be home for a day before having to head out on another trip.