I am a largely self-taught woodturner. My love of working with wood was initially sparked by the experience of building our family’s house. Over the years, I crafted most of the furniture in our homes to meet our needs and esthetic sensibilities. Along the way, I started turning on a cheap, second-hand lathe to create decorative elements for the furniture I was building. This led me to discover the joys of turning for its own sake: Taking a rough piece of ‘firewood’ and releasing the beauty that is hidden inside.
Upon my retirement from NASA, I treated myself with the purchase of a professional-quality lathe, which allowed me to experiment with larger and more challenging forms.
I continue to experiment with techniques and styles, often creating custom tools to achieve my vision. I especially enjoy working with distressed or decayed wood and try to incorporate the ‘flaws’ into the finished piece.
We recently moved to a community that has a strong appreciation for the arts. Joining the local Artist’s Group has been challenged me to expand my horizons and explore the possibilities of incorporating sculptural elements into my work. Having a dedicated shop space (rather than sharing the garage with the cars) has been a real joy.
While I may start with a vision of how a finished piece should look, more often than not the wood will tell me what it wants to be. Most of the wood I work with comes from my own property or from the yards of family and friends.
Sloan Studios 