2008 AAW Symposium - Part II; Sphere's exhibit

The Professional Outreach Program has sponsored a special exhibit for two years in a row at the AAW symposium. Last year it was the Rice Bowl exhibit. This year's theme was spheres. I was privileged to be invited into both of these exhibits. Approximately 40 turners were asked to use the idea of a sphere to explore their signature styles. The only rule was that the sphere should be 6 inches or smaller in diameter, and the piece had to be able to fit into a 12X12X12 box.

The exhibit was a big hit and the auction on Sunday was very successful, raising more than $80,000. Funds to the Professional Outreach Program will be used for future programs at the AAW symposium, including the artist-in-residence program. I don't have pictures from every entry (some didn't turn out or weren't easily photographed). There's a very nice catalog for this (and last year's) exhibit, available from the American Association of Woodturners. Where I could find them, I added links to the artists' websites.





L to R: Marilyn Campbell, Bill Luce












L to R: Andi Wolfe, Neil Scobie












This and the next two pictures were the ones I had Jerry Anthony Photography take before I shipped my piece to the exhibit. The title is "When I let go of what I am, I can become what I might be." - Lao Tzu







This is about 4.5 inches in diameter, made from redwood burl. The carving was a bit challenging, but certainly a lot of fun for me to do.









I really liked working the redwood for this project. I was able to achieve an interesting surface texture through sanding out the soft part of the growth ring.








Binh Pho's entry raised $15,000 at the auction. This is an amazing piece, best appreciated in person.










L to R: David Nittmann, Christian Burchard












Benoít Averly












L to R: Steve Sinner, Hans Weissflog











L to R: Eli Avisera, Curt Theobald










L to R: Jason Schneider, Betty Scarpino














Mark Sfirri








Top L to R: Joey Richardson, J. Paul Fennell















Marc Ricourt

















Ron Gerton









Jean-François Escoulen



















David Springett
















Bill Smith











Stephan Goetschius












Michael Kehs

















Art Liestman
















David Ellsworth










L to R: Derek Weidman, Julie Heryet












Malcolm Tibbetts












Gerrit Van Ness










Tucker Garrison. I enjoyed having Tucker in one of my hands-on classes last year when I visited the Carolina Mountain Woodturners.

















L to R: Michael Hosaluk, Douglas Finkel










L to R: Christian Delhon, Dale Larsen, Dennis Laidler, Bonnie Klein









Angelo Iafrate












Virginia Dotson










Steve Loar/Stephan Goetschius, Ward Stevens, William Moore












Christian Delhon











There was a good crowd for the Thursday night opening of the exhibit.







Here are a couple of friends, too - Art Liestman (L) and Pascal Oudet (R). Pascal came over from France for the symposium. Art, Pascal and I went to the opening of the Turned for Use exhibit, and then on to dinner. I'll do a post on the other exhibit next.