Thinking of Utah Woodturning Symposium - pics from 2004

The 2004 Utah Woodturning Symposium was the 25th Anniversary of the event. I was very fortunate to have been invited to demonstrate for this event, because all of the demonstrators for the 25 year history were invited to submit two pieces for a major retrospective exhibit at the Brigham Young Art Museum. There was also a book produced called, "Beneath the Bark - 25 years of woodturning." I had two pieces selected for the exhibit and book.

I have way too many pictures to post here, but I'll touch on some highlights and focus more on the demonstrators that were able to attend.


Jean Francois Escoulen demonstrated his offcenter turning techniques and spindle work.













Jacques Vesery talked about how he makes his canvas and he demonstrated his carving/pyrography and coloring techniques.












Mike Kaplan came over from South Africa and talked about turning in South Africa as well as demonstrating his forms and surface enhancement techniques. It was so good to have Mike and Grant Marshall over for the first time.















The instant gallery was amazing in 2004. Most of the previous demonstrators brought examples of their signature work - wow, what a fantastic exhibit of eye candy.

Here are the pieces I had in the instant gallery for 2004.














Here are some of Mike Kaplan's pieces. I have a few examples of Mike's work in my private collection. I love the textures and shapes he uses.










J. Paul Fennell's work is always stunning.


















I finally met Brenda Behrans. I love her hand carved vessels. She uses a Japanese carving technique to good effect here.
















Hans Weissflog's work is also always amazing.














These classic natural edge forms were done by Jerry Kermode.
















Allan Batty and Stuart Batty's work


















Joshua Salesin's mandela cups. Ornamental turning at its best. I have a couple of these in my collection, too.












Malcolm Tibbett has the biggest imagination I've seen. This sculpture has several bottomless segmented bowls assembled into a wave form.
















I always enjoy seeing Jim Christiansen's work, too. He's an amazing carver and sculpture. He'll be demonstrating at the Utah Symposium for the first time this year.















Here's the sign for the museum exhibit. The opening reception was on Thursday evening.












And here are my pieces hanging out with Jean Francois Escoulen's, Betty Scarpino's, Brenda Behren's, Guilio Marcelogelo's and Mike Kaplan's. Mine are in the upper right corner.














We had a book signing on the opening night of the exhibit. I sat with Art Liestman and we had a good time signing and giving everyone a hard time. I smiled so much that evening my cheeks were sore the next day. What a blast!










Part of the fun of the Utah Symposium is the interaction in the hallways in between rotations. Here are Terry Martin from Australia and Graeme Priddle from New Zealand checking out digital images and talking about an article Graeme was preparing for Turning Points, which is edited by Terry.







Friday night is the big BBQ and swap meet. Bonnie Klein and I were minding our own business when Jacques Vesery came up to us and said, "sign my arm, baby." So, we did.









Here I am with my South African friends, Mike Kaplan and Grant Marshall. Grant and Mike did some wonderful rotations, and it was great to have them here in 2004.











Art Liestman and I entered the egg cup race, but our goal was to go for the longest time. We certainly took enough of it - about 4 hours to complete our piece. We had a lot of fun with this one.









At the closing ceremonies, all the demonstrators line up at the front. Rollie Munro (New Zealand) decided that he had to have a tatoo like Jacques Vesery's, and so I had to sign his arm, too.










We had all signed a picture for Dale Nish - one of him demonstrating at the first symposium. It was presented by Albert LeCoff and Mike Mahoney.










Allan Batty gave a little speech about how much the symposium has meant to him. His health hasn't been great lately, so he thought it might have been his last visit to the states. Fortunately, that was premature and we've seen him back to Utah each year since then.






We had a wonderful banquet for all the demonstrators in attendance for the 25th anniversary. Here's Allan Batty with Art Liestman and his wife, Jan. Allan sat down to tell us stories and jokes.









Dale Nish stopped to slip a few of his own into the conversation.












Allan and Stuart Batty. Father and son, and I have no idea which of them is the worst flirt.














Allan is very hugable, though.














Eli Aviserra was here from Israel.

















Joe O'Neill from Ireland. Joe and I always talk about Irish Music. I brought my fiddle to play tunes for him during the 2005 symposium.













David Nittman and Cindy Drozda.

















Richard Raffan.














Mike Mahoney and me.













Dick Sing and Gorst duPleissis. Dick and Cindy Sing always host some evening gatherings in their hotel room, which is always fun. Gorst does some amazing rose engine work, and he lives in New Orleans. His house and shop took a huge hit last year during hurricane Katrina.








And, here are the trouble makers of the 2004 symposium. Jacques started it. . .