Still life of wood shavings

Still life of wood shavings, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

©2013 Andi Wolfe. Ahhhhh, the smell of wood shavings.... I spent last weekend in Tampa, Florida for the American Association of Woodturners symposium. I was the event photographer, and one of the requests this year was for some photos of shavings, hands at work, details of turning, etc. I certainly had a lot of photo opportunities with all the simultaneous demonstrations going on throughout the day, and I made a lot of very nice photos, I think. This one is from Friday morning - a demonstration done by Trent Bosch. I loved the lighting on the bed of the lathe with these long shavings. These types of curls are obtained while turning green wood (i.e., wet wood that is freshly cut).

The lathe, by the way, is an American Beauty by Robust Tools. Several tool companies (Powermatic, Jet, Robust Tools, Stubby Lathes) sponsor the AAW symposium by providing lathes and tools for the demonstrators and youth turning program. The lathes are available for sale afterwards - usually at a bargain price. If you're looking to buy an excellent lathe, check it out next year at the 2014 AAW symposium (Phoenix, AZ).

Sainte Claire Hotel

Sainte Claire Hotel, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

From June 6, 2012 - prelude to the AAW symposium. I had dinner with a large group of friends at the Italian restaurant housed in this beautiful hotel. It was right across the street from where most of us were staying at the Marriott. The decor is very classy, I think.

2012 AAW Symposium

Youth Turning, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I've been posting a selection of photos from the 2012 AAW symposium on the AAW Facebook page with links from my woodturning facebook site. You can check that out in the sidebar of this blog.

This photo is an abstract of the tool bench in the youth turning room.

2012 AAW symposium - Day 3

Sunday of the AAW symposium is always difficult for me. It's not because of the long hours kept during the weekend, it's because I have to say goodbye to all my friends. I love spending time with my woodturning buddies - it's like one big happy reunion for three or four days of fun. Then Sunday rolls around and the farewells begin. I don't like that part at all....

The photography task I assigned to myself was a challenge. I took a lot of environmental portraits and action shots during the first couple of days, so for Sunday I wanted to do intimate portraits of hands at work. I photographed the hands of Dixie Biggs, Mike Lee, and Paul Fennell carving, and Stuart Mortimer, Mike Jakofsky, Jean-François Escoulen, and Eli Avisera at the lathe. These are amongst my favorite photos of the weekend and I'm looking forward to processing the raw files. I also did some still life shots of work tables and tools - always fun to do.

The kids in the youth program picked up their lathe packages after lunch. I was in the room to capture some of that action, and it is such a touching scene. I had a few tears in my eyes as I watched the kids say goodbye to the volunteers who had mentored them all weekend. I know I've said it before, but this is really one of the best programs AAW has to offer the woodturning community. These kids are the future of woodturning, and it's great that Powermatic/Jet Tools, Technatool, Crown Tools, and Woodcraft are so generous in contributing equipment and tools for the program.

I also did some street photography of the tear down of the trade show. It's pretty amazing that this event comes together so quickly and disappears just as fast. I hope the vendors are going home considerably lighter in inventory.

I'll be spending the next couple of weeks sorting, filing, backing up, and processing raw images into high resolution jpegs. Betty Scarpino, editor of American Woodturner, will have first dibs on what I consider my best shots. These and another 200 or so images will appear on the AAW website and facebook page. The rest will appear here on my blog, my woodturning facebook page, or Google+. So stay tuned for photos - I promise they will be up for viewing pretty soon.

2012 AAW Symposium Day 2 report

Wow! Such a long day with so much packed into it for getting a wood turning fix. Sessions started at 8 a.m. along with the opening of the trade show, instant gallery, and exhibits space. I flitted in and out of the demos to take photos, but some of the highlights for me included the session given by Frank Cummings on "why we create." This started with a vintage movie showing the history of art and invention. It was really cute, but I liked the take home message about how it takes a long time of exploration to reach success. As a scientist, I fully identify with this theme. The examples in the film were about the decades long search for cures to diseases, often with no results, but that researchers keep working at it to find a solution. Frank made the analogy that this kind of dedication is what it takes to find an expressive voice in art.

I listened to just a few minutes of almost every rotation - enough to get a flavor of the demo, but not enough to report on details. There were several demonstrators with packed rooms, but others with just a few people in the audience. Sometimes scheduling works out that way. If you're going head-to-head with Richard Raffan, expect a lighter crowd :-). I did sit through the entire instant gallery critique, though, because my piece "Tesserae Serrai" was selected for the critique. Frank Cummings, William Moore, and Kevin Wallace were the jurors for this session and I am so relieved that they thought the piece was very successful.

A major highlight of the day for me was attending the drawing for the lathes in the youth turning room. I was able to capture some of those happy moments when the kids heard their name announced as a winner for the lathe package. Powermatic and the other sponsors of the program were very generous in donating 25 mini lathe set-ups for this give-away. There are some very happy kids who will become our next generation of turners. This program is a huge success story for AAW and all concerned. Congratulations!

The banquet last night was at the Parkside Hall - about a block away from the convention center. There was ample room, and the acoustics were fantastic. This was one of the only banquets I've attended where I could hear everyone at my table. The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered with sound absorbing material - what a treat.

I had a bit of a logistics challenge with getting a group shot of the youth turners and volunteers right after the dinner service was done, and then getting back in time to take a photo of John Jordan receiving his life-time achievement award - such a well-deserved honor. Richard Raffan received the POP committee merit award and it was humorous to watch Trent Bosch and Richard Raffan working at feeling comfortable talking to a large crowd sans a lathe to hide behind. At the end of the program we have a tradition of honoring prominent members who have passed away during the past year. Jan Peters was given a tribute first, Phil Brennion next. Bill Haskell did a touching memorial review of Phil's life and career. Phil Brennion will be sorely missed in our community.

The live auction used a mix of still studio shots done by Steve Wolfe onsite during the first two days of the event, plus live audio feed provided by the local union guys. The still shots were very useful for actually seeing the details of each piece. John Hill and Rob Wallace were the auctioneers, Nick Cook and crew did the support work. The auction moved along at a quick pace, and we were done before 10 pm. Another treat for those of us in the audience. I heard a rumor that more than $50,000 was raised at the auction, but I can neither confirm nor deny that number.

2012 AAW Symposium - Day 1 report

I was pretty busy running around all day with my camera gear, which is great exercise and gives me a chance to sample a lot of different rotations. The panel discussions are primarily what I'm missing, but I will slow down a bit today to take in a few rotations. So far I've done about 30 GB of photos - maybe 2000 images to sort through from Thursday and Friday. I'll probably end up with as much or more today and tomorrow.

Highlights for me from a photographer's perspective: watching the reaction of the kids in the youth turning program when they are seeing a very cool or new technique demonstrated. I also enjoyed watching some of the kids looking at the instant gallery items - I took one photo yesterday of a little boy with such a sense of wonder on his face that I'm sure it will end up being my favorite from the weekend.

I'll be posting pictures in a week or so. There are some already on the AAW Facebook page, but I will need some post processing time to sort through all the images, select the best ones for processing, and then to give Betty Scarpino a selection for the journal. Afterwards, AAW will publish a selection of my highlights and the rest will go onto my Woodturning Facebook page.

I really enjoyed watching the trade show action yesterday. The demonstrations that take place there are very intimate with a few turners gathered around to watch what is going on. The exchange of questions and answers is very intense in this setting. Watching attendees peruse the instant gallery and exhibits is also a lot of fun. Another highlight for me was the interaction I had with a security guard who is assigned to the exhibits gallery space. I showed him my "You will reap what you sow" entry and explained the symbols inside the pod chambers. I put a headlamp there for people to explore the piece and my new friend is telling everyone about it as they enter the exhibit. So my little bit of outreach has had some good effect in that people can actually learn a bit about my piece and have that extra little surprise as they shine the flashlight into the chambers.

There are a couple of other academics on the demonstration roster this weekend. Rob Wallace, my good friend in plant systematics, has a few rotations. He had quite a crowd gathered last night for his Special Interest Night sessions on Gizmos. Sara Robinson is a wood mycologist from Michigan Tech and she's been giving demonstrations on do-it-yourself spalting. I had a nice chat with her at dinner on Thursday night. The woodturning community is made up of people from all walks of life and career tracks. I mostly meet retired engineers, but there are a few of us in the biological realm - mostly medical - and other areas of expertise.

Today will be a long one with the banquet and auction taking place tonight. I'll write up a synopsis tomorrow morning if I don't have a chance to do it this evening.

2012 AAW Symposium - prelude

Today was the set-up day for this year's AAW symposium, which is in San Jose, California. The trade show, instant gallery, and the exhibits space was a buzz of activity as everyone scrambled to put things into place for tomorrow's opening. Despite all the frenzied activity, there was a lot of laughter and good cheer spread all around the San Jose convention center.

I spent the day running around the site taking photos of all the action. Every year there is the fun of watching people reconnect since the last gathering of woodturners. It's as if no time has elapsed and everyone picks up where we left off from last time we met. That's one of the great joys of this community of artisans.

In addition to the regular activities of registration packet pick-up, merchandise sales, "Learn to Turn," and putting together all the lathes and demonstration equipment, there was a new activity in the form of a gathering of international turners to discuss how to enable interaction among the turners who live in different parts of the globe. I'm sure there will be many interesting developments from what is started here in San Jose.

One of the most interesting things I photographed today was the behind-the-scenes assembly of all the demonstration gear. The local clubs really do a lot of work to make it all happen. Despite the physical labor involved, I heard a lot of laughter and comradeship going on while all the power tools were being used to build light and camera stands and safety shields.

The exhibits reception was this evening. I have a piece in the "Beyond Containment" exhibit as well as in "A Walk in the Woods" exhibit. It was fun to watch people checking out the pieces in these exhibits as well as the one featuring the PoP merit award winner, Richard Raffan.

My brief walkabout in the instant gallery as pieces were being placed on tables gave me a nice preview of how great this exhibit will be this year. I'm looking forward to checking it all out tomorrow and the rest of the weekend.

Elizabeth Lundburg gave a well attended demonstration as the first of our four emerging artists to be featured in the instant gallery space. She demonstrated her surface techniques and talked about design inspirations.

All-in-all, the symposium is off to a good start.

Working hands

Slide in concert at Byrne's Pub, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

For some reason I like to photograph hands at work. Maybe it's because I enjoy working with my hands and am interested in what others are doing - making objects, playing instruments, exploring the world around us. Here's a series of photographs of hands.  The image above is of Colm Delaney's hands while he's playing concertina.



Debbie from Killashandra playing harp at the Dublin Irish Festival 2010.



Another one from Dublin Irish Festival 2010.



A stone carver at the Dublin Irish Festival 2010.



Michael Hosaluk at the lathe.



Exploration of a Bill Luce bowl by a blind man; AAW symposium 2011.



Session with the blind at AAW symposium 2011.

2011 AAW Symposium - Friday, June 24 part 1

The first day of the AAW symposium is always full of frenetic activity - especially at the registration area.  Everyone wants to pick up their packets before the start of the opening ceremony.  In previous years this was because you needed the schedule to determine which rotations to attend.  This year, however, the a preview version of the symposium book (edited by Sharon Bierman) was available online.  Still, the activity at the registration area was hopping all the way up and through the opening ceremony.

The AAW board of directors and the AAW headquarters staff all sat up on the stage at the beginning of the meeting so that introductions could be done.  Attendance this year was somewhere between 1700 and 1800 preregistrants.  There were likely additional registrations throughout the weekend.

David Ellsworth gave the opening remarks.  David is AAW member #001, was the first president of AAW, and the first recipient of a Lifetime Membership Award.  I think he may be the only member to have attended all 25 symposiums, too.

Tom Wirsing, current AAW president, then talked about the schedule and gave general comments.  You can see part of the large audience in the room.

I like this angle for the photo.  It puts the session in context with the large crowd.

Part of the celebration for the 25th anniversary symposium was the publication of "Woodturning today" edited by John Kelsey.  It's a marvelous record of the history of AAW with stories shared by members, beautiful photos of turnings representing the evolution of our art, and many interesting articles.  If you don't already have a copy, be sure to order one from the AAW website.  John Kelsey is to be congratulated on putting this all together for us.

After the opening ceremony, there's always a mad dash for seats in the demonstration rotation rooms.  Making his debut at the AAW symposium this year was Jerome Blanc from Switzerland.  Jerome participated in the International Turning Exchange program last year at the Wood Turning Center.  This demo was on sculptural woodturning.

There was one or more panel discussions offered during each rotation throughout the weekend.  This one featured David Ellsworth, Kevin Wallace, Terry Martin and Giles Gilson.  Giles couldn't attend the symposium, but checked in via a Skype connection.

Nick Cook demos are always worth seeing.  He was showing how to make lamp bases.  That's what that giant drill bit is for - drilling through the lamp to make room for the electrical wiring.

Jerry Kermode did a rotation on basic bowl turning techniques.

Some of the demonstrations were so popular that there was standing room only, and the audience spilled out into the hall.

Friday morning also sees the big rush through the trade show to find the best stuff to buy before someone else snags it.  Many of the trade show vendors have demonstrations going on continually throughout the day.  Nick Cook demonstrated in the trade show as well as doing rotations in the symposium itself.

Guilio Marcolongo was demonstrating for Vicmarc lathes.  It was great to see the Aussies here for the 25th anniversary symposium.

The Stuart Batty Woodturning booth was also continually busy with demonstrations.  This booth had the most impressive set-up from the technology standpoint of any booth I've seen at an AAW symposium.  He sure did draw in the crowds with his line-up of demonstrators, too.








For more pictures from Friday, June 24, 2011 of the AAW symposium check my FB albums: here and also here.

Other posts from the 2011 AAW symposium:

Preliminary report from the AAW symposium
2011 AAW symposium prelude
Thursday afternoon and early evening; June 23
Thursday - 23 June 2011 AAW: Conversations with Wood: Selections from the Waterbury Exhibit

Friday - June 24, 2011 - AAW symposium; part 1

St. Paul's weather on the morning of June 24, 2011 was absolutely lovely.  I really enjoyed seeing the colorful flower baskets that lined the street from the Crowne Plaza to River Centre.  The walk to the symposium site was about five blocks altogether - a nice bit of exercise each day, especially by the time you walked it several times.

The first event of the symposium is the opening ceremony.  This is held in a large room that fits all the attendees.  The enrollment by the start of the symposium was more than 1700 people.  I have no idea what the daily numbers were or how many people were there just for the trade show and instant gallery.

Board members sit up on the stage at the beginning of the session.

The national anthem was sung by Pippa, a new staff member.  She has a lovely voice and I understand that she often sings the anthem for various sporting events and conventions.

Tom Wirsing, current president of the board of directors, introduced David Ellsworth.

David gave the opening remarks and talked about the history of AAW from the beginnings of 25 years ago.  David was the first president of AAW, and has membership number 001.  He was also the first recipient of the Lifetime Membership award, and he was this year's POP committee merit awardee.

Cindy Bowden is the current Executive Director of AAW, and this was her first AAW symposium.  She gave an overview of her vision for the future of AAW.

Tom Wirsing then took the stage to give an overview of the symposium, and to make some general announcements.  The demonstrators and their sessions were announced as well.

The crowd was huge for the opening ceremony - the largest attendance I've seen. 

Rapt attention to what is being displayed on the big screen.

I can't remember this gent's name, but I asked him if I could take his portrait as he was studying the program after the end of the opening ceremonies.  I love his colorful outfit.  He was pretty easy to spot throughout the weekend.

Thursday - 23 June 2011 AAW: Conversations with Wood: Selections from the Waterbury Exhibit

After the demonstrators' dinner, the Collectors of Wood Art organized for a charter bus to take us over to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see Conversations with Wood: Selections from the Waterbury Collection.  The CWA had dinner over at the museum while the demonstrators were dining together.  While we were waiting for the bus, I did a bit of informal portrait photography.





Michael Hosaluk
















Eli Avisera






















John Jordan














Kevin Wallace thought the big yellow school bus was our charter to the museum.  I'm happy to report that he was incorrect.














Yes, this was much, much better than a school bus.












The Minneapolis Institute of Art is an excellent art museum.  I wish I had had a chance to visit the museum while I was in the area.  I think I'll have to come back some time.

The exhibit is beautifully set, deep in the museum.  The first case you come to is of Michael Hosaluk's work.










Here are the Waterburys next to the case with Michael Hosaluk's work.  L to R: Marcus, David and Ruth.  David and Ruth received the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Collectors of Wood Art.










The first room of the exhibit has a case that includes my small piece, Imagine the Hidden World.  It's placed right next to a work by Michelle Holzapfel - I'm very honored to be in the same case with this work.










Imagine the Hidden World. Andi Wolfe, 2006

Ron Kent told me that this little bowl speaks to him, which was very nice of him to tell me.













Admirers of the collection:  Pat Kane (Yale University) on the left.

















The excursion was a good opportunity for friends to visit.  L to R: John Hill, Harvey and Fiona Fein.
















Albert and Tina LeCoff with work by Arthur Jones.













David Waterbury and Michael Mode. That's Michael's work in the case.





















Another informal portrait:  Ray Leier; outside the museum.









Back on the bus - next stop: Crowne Plaza Hotel.

It was a grand evening and a nice way to kick off the AAW symposium.  Thanks, CWA, for such a lovely evening.  Thanks, also, to David and Ruth Waterbury for producing their book and lending the pieces on exhibit.  It was a lovely time.



For more pictures from Thursday, check by woodturning Facebook page.

2011 AAW Symposium - Thursday afternoon and early evening; June 23

Thursday is a very busy day at the AAW symposium.  There are a lot of details to sort out prior to the start of registration, and there is a lot going on behind-the-scenes to set up the demonstration rooms, galleries, and trade show.  This blog post shows some of the stuff that most attendees are not aware of, which is as it should be for a well organized symposium.

The staff and volunteers work very hard to make things run smoothly, which means they do a lot of running around to meet the needs of different people.  Linda Ferber (in pink) was one of the primary "go to" people on Thursday.

Meanwhile, on the lower level of the convention center there is a lot of frantic activity to put booths in the proper location, move goods to the proper areas, and for setting up the trade show.

Each vendor has their own special needs to display their wares.  I found it pretty interesting to do a walkabout during this hectic phase of the setup.

Goods and equipment are scattered all across the eventual aisles as vendors organize their display areas.

There must be a pretty good system for keeping track of all the shipments that are sent ahead to be delivered to a specific area of the trade show. 

 Stuart Batty's booth was totally awesome.  High tech video, HD monitors, great sound, dedicated video and sound technicians.  I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a shot of the booth after it was set up and before the crowds of people arrived.  I have to tell you that this booth was the buzz of the trade show.  It was always packed, and there were demonstrations constantly going on throughout the day.

I talked to Stuart about this venture and he said that the business was about marketing his brand.  This includes his line of training videos, tools, etc.  Given all the excitement at the trade show, perhaps this will be the wave of the future.  I have to admit that I was suitably impressed.

Ruth Niles organized a co-op gallery as part of her space.  Unfortunately, Ruth could not be at the symposium due to a sudden illness.  We really missed having her around.  Somehow the trade show just isn't as cheerful when she's not there.

My part of the co-op gallery included lots of dangle earrings that I carved.  The parts are sterling silver and each pair is unique.  I sold quite a few pairs, and I've kept track of which kinds of dangles were most popular.

I also made four pendant/necklace and matching earring sets.   The lower three sets sold during the symposium.  I'll probably wear the top set.

Sometime I need to make some more - probably before October.  These are very fun to make, for sure.

Also behind the scenes are several meetings.  The AAW board meets for a couple of days earlier in the week and the Monday after the symposium.  The POP committee (shown here) meets on Thursday.  They do a lot of decision making with regards to the theme of future POP exhibits, the POP merit award nominees, and emerging artists for the next symposium demonstrations.

The other bit of hectic activity occurs in the Youth Turning room.  Dozens of Jet minilathes are set up to be ready for the first rotation of Friday morning.  This room is such an exciting place to visit, especially to watch the kids learn to turn.

Each station has the same gear: lathe, tools, face shield.  Some are set up with platforms for the shorter kids.

After a long day of work, the room is ready to go.  I would like to congratulate all the volunteers and demonstrators who make this happen.  We witness the future of turning in this room.

Another bunch of hard working volunteers are to be found at the registration area.  These ladies and gents are kept very, very busy as soon as registration opens at 3 pm.

There are three areas of registration - regular attendees, demonstrators, and vendors.  The AAW staff members are kept very busy sorting out all the details and tackling any challenges that arise.

Now that one has all the registration packets and info, it's time to decide on who to see demonstrate.  Sorting through the schedule seems pretty daunting at the beginning of the symposium.

During registration there is a "Learn to Turn" session.  This is a pretty active area and there is a lot to see and do.  The local chapters take on this activity.

One of the big fund raisers is a raffle for one or more lathes.  Tickets are $10 each, and the prize this year included a decorated Powermatic lathe (painted by Binh Pho), and a Jet mini lathe.

Here's a close-up of part of the lathe that was decorated with this year's theme artwork.  Binh Pho was very generous with his time and talent to help AAW with this fundraiser.  Thanks, Binh!

The opening reception for all of the symposium exhibits started at 4:30 or 5:00 pm - I can't remember the details.  There were three exhibits this year:  Turning 25, which featured entries from AAW chapters; an exhibit of work by David Ellsworth, this year's POP merit award recipient; and Roots, an invitational POP exhibit.  It was well attended and very crowded in there!

Demonstrators were whisked off to a Thursday evening dinner where we had a chance to visit with one another and to hear the final instructions from the board of directors.  I like this tradition - it's about the only time demonstrators have some time to see each other throughout the weekend.







For more photos see the album on my Facebook page.