2010 AAW symposium - Friday report

What can one say about a symposium where there are more than a dozen simultaneous demonstrations going on at once, plus the gallery exhibits, trade show, instant gallery, emerging artist demonstrations, spouse activities, and tons of social interaction? There's simply too much going on to focus on only one thing or even the highlights.

Today I spent the morning taking in a few minutes here and there of just about every rotation. That was in conjunction with getting a lot of photographs of demonstrators in action as well as a walk through of the instant gallery and trade show. I also spent a bit of time in the tea pot exhibit and Maple Medley show. My piece, Acer embrace, is receiving a lot of attention based on the feedback I'm getting. I've met a lot of new people because they wanted to come and tell me how spectacular they thought it was. That's a good way to have a warm and fuzzy buzz from the day. Now, if it would just find the right home to adopt it. . . .

I enjoyed the PoP panel discussion on the tea pot exhibit. This was done by Art Liestman, Tania Radda and Jacques Vesery. After each of them gave a bit of a talk and slide show, they invited participants in the exhibit who were in attendance to discuss their entries for the show. That was very insightful as to inspirations and trepidations about doing a themed piece. Some of the makers embraced the challenge with great enthusiasm while others were a bit intimidated at first by taking on such an unusual genre.

The rotation just after lunch was when J. Paul Fennell and I did a PoP panel discussion called "All about wood." I started off with an overview of the the biology and anatomy of wood as it relates to grain and figure. Paul finished off with a slide show on environmental responsibility. We then had about half an hour for discussion, which became lively at times.

After dinner there were several different sessions for special interest groups. I attended the Collectors of Wood Art discussion. One of the major themes was that we, as a group of wood artists, need to stop apologizing for the use of the lathe in our medium. Defining wood turning as an art form would be more conducive to elevating our endeavors into the fine art realm. The discussion then focused on the role of AAW and CWA to facilitate this transition.

I'm sure I'll be getting more sleep tonight than I did last night, but it's always fun to review the day and think about the discussions and exchange of ideas from the day. I'll have to be disciplined so that I don't keep my mind awake while my body is screaming for sleep.

BTW - many of the entries in the instant gallery are pretty impressive this year. The chapter collaborative challenge also has a lot of variety and I think I can predict the "best of show" winner already.