I’ve been working with wood since my dad bought me a small electric vibrating jig saw when I was six.  With the little saw sitting on my bed, I cut shapes of animals and little cars out of thin pine boards from dismantled orange crates.  But the woodworking tool that has fascinated me most is the wood lathe, that mechanical device that spins a piece of wood around, allowing use of chisels and sand paper to form perfectly symmetrically round shapes  with infinite combinations of curves and straight lines.

            I became serious about it in the early seventies, learned how to do it pretty well, made a bunch of small vessels out of Oregon native woods, oak, alder, wild cherry, ash and a couple from redwood driftwood pieces I found on the ocean beach. Some had lids. One summer I took my stuff to a couple of art and craft fairs, sold quite a few, but quickly got it that the  dollar to time ratio was too low, not going to give me sufficient financial support and I’ve treated it as a hobby ever since.

            The pieces shown here were crafted during my retirement years. I made the birch and juniper ones while living in Oregon several years ago. The rest are from native Mexican woods turned during the five plus years I’ve lived in Ajijic Mexico. Such a plethora of beautiful woods here. Those woods and the highly advanced lathe tools that have been developed over those nearly 50 years since I started lathing have allowed me to reach a satisfactory pinnacle of quality and artistic expression.  I’m still active in this pursuit.