Photos have also been added of show and tell from our 2011 membership meetings. You can find these under Galeries/Show and Tell/2011.

In case you missed it, [...]]]> We have added photos from the Stephen Hatcher demonstration in January as well as the handouts he provided. Photos are under Galleries/Demonstrators, handouts under the Learning Center.

Photos have also been added of show and tell from our 2011 membership meetings. You can find these under Galeries/Show and Tell/2011.

In case you missed it, the February Newsletter has been added here.

For members, the December 2011 and January 2012 board of directors meeting minutes have been added.

There have also been several updates and additions to the chapter calendar.

I like to turn small, fun, tricky or just plain weird things on the lathe. As most [...]]]>

I like to turn small, fun, tricky or just plain weird things on the lathe. As most of you know, my philosophy for turning and most everything in life is, “If it isn’t fun, I don’t want to do it.

In February, it will be my pleasure to turn for you one of my tricky things. I will also have a display of a variety of turned old time toys and puzzles.

It is my hope that this demo will spark an interest for the beginner as well as add a quick, easy, fun project for all you accomplished turners. Remember the most fun part of turning these things is that when you are done you get to play with them.

Pay it Forward! Or Backward!

I found woodturning in 1999, attended the Charlotte Symposium in 2000, and joined Carolina Mountain Woodturners (CMW) at that symposium. Shortly afterward, I began attending CMW meetings on the third Saturday of each month. About a year or two [...]]]>

Pay it Forward! Or Backward!

I found woodturning in 1999, attended the Charlotte Symposium in 2000, and joined Carolina Mountain Woodturners (CMW) at that symposium. Shortly afterward, I began attending CMW meetings on the third Saturday of each month. About a year or two later, my father, who had never turned wood, asked me if he could ride along with me one Saturday. I was happy to have someone to talk with on the two-hour ride to Asheville. The discussion on the trip home was all about buying a lathe, tools, and how his shop was going to be converted. Within two weeks, I was in his shop giving him his first bowl-turning lessons. For the next six to seven years, I kept him supplied with wood, knowledge, and companionship as he turned thousands of bowls, small cowboy hats, pins, ornaments, and boxes. We got to know each other in ways that most fathers and sons never find. Thank you, woodturning!

Let me tell you a little about my dad. Most of his life prior to moving to South Carolina to catch up with his children, he was in agricultural finance. When he and mom landed in my backyard in 1979, I taught him cabinet building and he made a living from that until 1986, when I put him to work on the homes I was building. In the mid 1990s, health issues began to catch up with him and by the late 1990s, he was no longer able to work on the job sites. He had numerous problems with Parkinson’s disease, degenerated spine, and major problems with depression as a result of his physical ailments and being caregiver for Mom, who had Alzheimer’s.

For several years he managed to survive by spending lots of time being a master gardener and volunteering thousands of hours at the SC Botanical Garden in Clemson. The winters were long, cold, and depressing, and navigating the terrain of his yard became very difficult for him. This is where woodturning entered and extended his life. The shop had heat and a flat floor and was a place he could go to get away from Mom’s health problems. Woodturning kept his hands and mind busy. His finished turnings were not masterpieces, but he was being productive. Most people who knew Dad, and there were a lot of them, understood that each turned bowl or vase represented another day that he contributed to this world. For years, his doctor would question why he wasn’t confined to a wheel chair and he always answered, “Gardening and woodturning!” Two years ago when he was no longer able to do either, he left us.

“Pay it forward” has become a catch phrase for things that many of us are already doing. For me, I had a chance to “Pay it backward” to my father. It paid huge rewards for both Dad and me. I urge each of you to share your joy of woodturning with someone around you…look forward, sideways, and backward. You and the world will be paid hundreds of times over!

It’s only February, but we are already excited about our symposium June 8-10 in San Jose, CA. Please take a few moments to watch the video below. You won’t want to miss this year’s line-up of demonstrators!

Online registration is now available for AAW members. Click here [...]]]>

It’s only February, but we are already excited about our symposium June 8-10 in San Jose, CA. Please take a few moments to watch the video below. You won’t want to miss this year’s line-up of demonstrators!

Online registration is now available for AAW members. Click here to log onto the members area, where you will be able to register for the symposium. If you are not a current AAW member, join here, and then register for the symposium through the members’ area.
2012 Symposium in San Jose, CA Preview Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om1gD3H24Y8

2012 Annual Juried Exhibition

A Walk in the Woods is the title and theme for our 2012 juried exhibition. The exhibit will premier at AAW’s 26th Annual International Symposium in San Jose, CA, before traveling to the Gallery of Wood Art in Saint Paul, MN.

Open to any current AAW member, this year’s theme honors the many parks and forests in the state of California. From Coast Redwoods to giant Sequoia, to bur oak, manzanita, and chinquapin, forest covers about 30% of California’s one million acres. Our host city alone boasts over a million trees!

We anticipate that this exhibition will showcase the depth, creativity, and skill of our membership.

Applications are open online until February 12, 2012.
Submit Your Work Today!

2011 EOG Put to Great Use

The Mid Minnesota Association of Woodturners was in need of funds to help move ahead with part of their mission statement: to promote woodturning through education in the local community. Because the MMAW was a new club, funds were limited and they needed a way to finance a very necessary purchase – lathes!

In April 2011, MMAW received an EOG grant from the AAW. With some existing funds and the grant, the club was able to purchase three Delta 46-460 lathes and immediately started planning how to promote woodturning in the community with the help of this new equipment. MMAW was able to find a permanent meeting and storage place at the Paramount Theater and Visual Arts Center (VAC) in downtown St. Cloud, MN. The center agreed to supply the space, and in return, MMAW agreed to offer woodturning classes to teens and adults during the weekly Open Studio/Teen Night. Each week, about 6-9 students spend 50 minutes learning to turn on a lathe. Many students are returning turners and moving from introductory turning of square stock round, beads and coves, to weed pots, miniature baseball bats, and basic bowl turning. The MMAW “guides on the side” who are involved with the Open Studio/Teen Night are excited and encouraged to see so many of the new turners return each week. Seeing their enthusiasm for woodturning grow is especially gratifying.

The next step for MMAW will be to offer woodturning classes through the VACʼs community education program. This will allow MMAW to offer individual classes for 3 or 4 consecutive weeks in 3-hour blocks. The EOG grant has allowed this new club to successfully realize part of their mission statement.

For more information about this program, visit: midmnwoodturners.org

International Woodturning Exhibition at the Myrtle Beach Art Museum

From Tree to Treasure: An International Invitational Exhibition of Turned or Sculpted Wood
On view through April 26, 2012

This exhibition features the work of more than 30 artists from across the country and around the world. The exhibition will showcase a wide variety of style and presentation, from pedestal and tabletop pieces to wall hangings.

For details and information, please visit Myrtle Beach Art Museum

Joel is a self-taught woodturner who creates segmented vessels and focuses on their shape and color. Earlier pieces tended to use multiple species to obtain the desired colors but his more [...]]]> Joel Hunnicutt is professional woodturner from Siler City, N.C and a member of the Piedmont Triad Woodturners Association chapter of the AAW.

Joel is a self-taught woodturner who creates segmented vessels and focuses on their shape and color. Earlier pieces tended to use multiple species to obtain the desired colors but his more recent works appear to be created from dyed maple. These make me think of the work of Donald Derry with the bright, deep colors and highly polished finish.

Joel states that his goal is to “generate the flowing feeling of glass in the organic medium of wood”, and I think that he has accomplished that.

Joel has pieces in several galleries around the U.S. including Earthenworks Gallery in Port Townsend and La Conner, WA, and he has works that are installed as Corporate Art.

Joel is a woodturning instructor at Central Carolina Community College and has been a guest demonstrator at Duke University, as well as a demonstrator at several woodturning clubs.

To see more of Joel’s work, visit his website at http://www.joelhunnicutt.com

Planning 2012 and Beyond

The American Association of Woodturners finished 2011 with more than 14,500 members and over 350 chapters in the United States and around the world. We are looking forward to continued growth of our organization and another successful year in [...]]]>

Planning 2012 and Beyond

The American Association of Woodturners finished 2011 with more than 14,500 members and over 350 chapters in the United States and around the world. We are looking forward to continued growth of our organization and another successful year in 2012. Thank you for your continued support.

The AAW board just returned from our winter meeting in San Jose, where this year’s symposium will be held in June. We met with enthusiastic AAW members from five local chapters who will assist in coordinating the planning for the symposium. Dean Adkins and his crew have been working since last summer doing all the pre-planning and organization it takes to make the symposium a success.

We have a great lineup of demonstrators and programs planned. You can follow information on the symposium as it is posted at http://www.woodturner.org/sym/sym2012. Come to San Jose June 7-10 for a great time and rub shoulders with some of the best woodturners in the United States and around the world.

The board has selected Tampa, Florida, for the 2013 symposium. The dates will be June 27-30, 2013. So mark those dates on your calendar.

Woodturning Fundamentals Program

Linda Ferber, AAW program director, and Kurt Hertzog, chair of our Chapters and Membership Committee, have announced a new AAW program for woodturners. The goal of this new online program is to provide basic woodturning fundamentals to our members and to serve as a resource for all turners. Centralized information will be found on the Woodturning Fundamentals page of our website. In addition to the information on the website, an e-newsletter with turning tips and skill building ideas will be sent out to members in the months the journal is not published. Check out the page at http://www.woodturner.org/community/fundamentals and sign up to receive the e-newsletter.

The AAW recently completed the paperwork to bring our 501(c)(3) non-profit status with the IRS up to date. We have sent a letter out to our members explaining the process, and thank those who participated in the vote.

AAW has a lot of great things planned for 2012, and we wish you the best for the coming year.

Dale Larson
AAW Board President

The Northwest Woodturners in Tigard, Oregon are meeting on February 2nd and will have a double the [...]]]> The Inland Northwest Woodturners in Spokane Valley will be holding their next meeting on February 2nd. The program agenda will feature a discussion with Jim Chrisiansen on “Exhibiting and Selling Your Turnings”. Jim is their resident professional.

The Northwest Woodturners in Tigard, Oregon are meeting on February 2nd and will have a double the learning evening. There will be two demonstrations, one by Ashley Harwood dedicated to the gouge, and another by Sorby Tools.

The Calgary Woodturners will be meeting on February 7th at the Black Forest Wood Co. in Calgary.

The Seattle Woodturners will be meeting on February 9th. The demonstrator for the evening will be Alan Carter who will be presenting on long stemmed goblets.

The Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild in Abbotsford, B.C. are holding their next meeting on February 9th. The meeting will feature a presentation by Veejay, owner of Mohawk Finishing Products, who will be demonstrating his company’s products.

The Cascade Woodturners in Portland, Oregon, will be meeting on February 16th. This month’s program will include Neill Seigel demonstrating wooden dippers with handles.

The Northwest Washington Woodturners in Mount Vernon, WA will meet next on February 16th. Their featured demonstrator will be Don Derry.

The Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild in Vancouver, B.C. is meeting on February 22nd and will have a demonstration by Art Liestman on turning a box using the lost wood method.

The Olympic Peninsula Woodturners in Bremerton will be meeting on February 29th with a demonstration by AAW President Dale Larson.

The Island Woodturners Guild on Vancouver Island will be meeting on February 25th. The program for the afternoon had not yet been announced.

The first issue was recently delivered to the subscribers and [...]]]> The AAW has kicked off a new opt-in program called Woodturning Fundamentals. The intent is to provide a source for basic skills and techniques in the months when the American Woodturner magazine is not published. This new program is available to any AAW member.

The first issue was recently delivered to the subscribers and there is some good information included. There is a tutorial on sharpening the skew, an article by Nick Cook on Twenty Ways Not to Turn a Bowl, a video tip by Beth Ireland on a quick trick to find the center of your turning stock, Q&A from an AAW member on food safe finishes and a link to a safety video series created by the Mid-South Woodturners Guild. Here is one of their safety videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSwheRq54D0

The Woodturning Fundamentals are another benefit of membership in the AAW. The cost of membership in the AAW is very reasonable. You can get more information on Woodturning Fundamentals and AAW membership here.

The AAW has sent out a message to all AAW members regarding the AAW’s 501(c)(3) status and [...]]]>

January 25, 2012

Dear AAW member,

Last October, the AAW Board discovered that we needed to file new paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service in order to bring our organization into full compliance with our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Over the last three months, we have worked closely with our attorney to complete this process.

Let me explain why we are doing this by starting with a little history. AAW was originally incorporated in Texas. The Texas AAW corporation applied for and received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the IRS. In 1990, the AAW moved to Minnesota and incorporated there. In October of 2011, we learned that the IRS designation didn’t automatically transfer from Texas to the new Minnesota corporation in 1990. IRS rules do not allow the current AAW to go back now and transfer our original tax-exempt designation to the current AAW.

I am happy to report that the AAW has been granted new 501(c)(3) status as a new corporation in the state of Minnesota. The IRS expedited our request and on January 13, 2012, approved the new corporation’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status dating from November 14, 2011.

Now we need your help. Minnesota requires that our membership vote to approve a merger of the existing AAW into the new AAW corporation. In order to complete this process, we will be asking all AAW members to vote in favor of this action no later than February 23rd, 2012.

The Board is asking for your yes vote because Minnesota requires that at least at least 10 percent of our membership vote and that a majority of those voters vote to approve for the merger to go forward. Our 501(c)(3) status allows us to receive tax-deductible donations from individuals, as well as certain corporation, foundation and government funding, and to qualify for exemptions from some taxes and fees that AAW would otherwise have to pay. Please take the time to vote yes. You can view the merger plan here.

Please follow the link below to vote. The voting period will be 30 days starting January 25th, 2012. We have sent out paper ballots to our members who do not have e-mail addresses.

If anyone has further questions about this issue, please feel free to contact me or another member of the Board.

Thank you for your continued support of AAW as we make this transition.

Sincerely,

Dale Larson

President

American Association of Woodturners

___________________________________________________________________________________

Ballot to Approve a Merger of American Association of Woodturners, Inc., a Minnesota nonprofit corporation, into American Association of Woodturners, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation

Please indicate below whether you approve the proposed merger of the current corporation, American Association of Woodturners, Inc., into a newly-formed Minnesota nonprofit corporation, American Association of Woodturners. This merger is being undertaken to correct a legal error that occurred at the time of incorporation in Minnesota, in 1990. The merger will correct the error, but should not affect the membership,operations or programs of AAW.

Please vote by clicking on the link below. Ballots must be received by February 24, 2012, in order to be counted. Mailed or e-mailed ballots may not be revoked.

AAW must receive 10% of the membership’s completed ballots in order to meet the quorum requirements for a membership vote. Since there were10,912 number of voting members, as of January 1, 2012, AAW must receive 1091 completed ballots in order for the quorum requirement to be met. In order for the amendment to be approved, fifty-one percent (51%) of members returning ballots (assuming that the total number of ballots returned meets the quorum requirement) must vote”Yes”.

Please click here to vote.

OK Folks, Here we go again.

The good Lord willing and the crick don’t rise, and we don’t have snow, ice, and high winds, we will have a meeting this month on Thursday, January 26th.

The doors will open at 6:00 and the festivities will [...]]]>

OK Folks, Here we go again.

The good Lord willing and the crick don’t rise, and we don’t have snow, ice, and high winds, we will have a meeting this month on Thursday, January 26th.

The doors will open at 6:00 and the festivities will begin at 7:00, at the Fife Community Center. Stephen Hatcher will be the main attraction. Be there or be left out.

President Dan has promised that this will be a very fun evening.