Stewart Furini Woodturning
  • About
  • Video Gallery
  • Just Wood
  • Texture and Colour
  • Demos & Workshops
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Links

BWOTY and Makers Central 2019

14/5/2019

0 Comments

 
I've just finished the most exciting few days of my woodturning life so far - the British Woodturner of the Year competition (I didn't win...) and Makers Central 2019.
Picture
Chuffed or what! British Woodturner of the Year 2019 at the Oxo Gallery, London
 The Oxo Gallery on London's Southbank, hosted an exhibition called Celebrating British Craft, which also included the Guild of Master Craftsmen's British Woodturner of the Year competition. The opening and awards ceremony was on Thursday 9th May. It was amazing to have a piece selected for inclusion and even more amazing to receive a Highly Commended award. Chuffed doesn't really cover it! 

The next day, I was in my car heading to the NEC at Birmingham for Makers Central 2019 - a gathering of YouTube makers from across the globe to celebrate the spirit of making and crafting. I was fortunate to be asked by Terry Smart of Chestnut Products to demonstrate their products over the weekend, including their new metallic paints, which I've had a sample set of for a few months. It also meant I got to meet many of the people who have been watching and enjoying my videos for the last couple of years - and hopefully entice some new viewers and subscribers. And of course, I got to meet many fellow makers and see friends I've made through YouTube and Facebook woodturning groups. And more stickers, it was a bit of a swap-a-thon, to be honest - watch out for the shout-outs in my next videos.
There were plenty of stands to spend money on as well, but I was very restrained! Well, I only bought two things - a new extractor from Record Power (thank you for the extra discount for buying the show sample) that would have been useful to have had on my lathe at the show to collect sanding dust, and a new, improved fingernail profiling arm for the Proedge from the Robert Sorby stand - hopefully arriving in the post in a few days' time.

​Finally, I collected a bag of pen turning goodies from Taylors Mirfield, which I had won in a raffle raising money to buy equipment for a girl with special needs. It was a great prize to win: not just pen kits, but bushings, extra refills and centres for turning between centres - no mandrel needed. It's been a few years since I've made a pen, but there's a drawer full of pen blanks, including some I cast myself in resin, that have been gathering dust in my workshop for a while. I'll be rooting amongst it for the perfect blanks to make these pens with. So, thank you, Dan from Taylors Mirfield!
Picture
Some of the demo pieces made with Chestnut Products' stains at Makers Central 2019
Picture
A great raffle prize from Dan at Taylors Mirfield
This was the second Makers Central - bigger than last year's - and hopefully there'll be another one next year. Thanks to everyone who made it possible! And thanks to everyone who took the time to come and chat while I was on my stand. I'm sure to forget some names, so let me know if I've missed you out! Special thanks to Tony who spoke to me on Sunday and said how much he liked my videos and loved the music on my credits - he's the first person to mention this to me and it absolutely delighted my wife as it's from one of the songs she wrote for her musical 'Soul Circus - Buried Treasure' that premiered at last year's Brighton Festival. Thanks also to Kathryn, Wayne, Phil, Alicja, two great blokes from Wexford, Dave, John, Yuval, Martin, Bob, Chris, Jane...and everyone else whose name eludes me.

Finally, thanks to Terry who made this weekend possible for me by asking me to demonstrate for him. If you're free in August, you'll be able to see me at Chestnut Products' Woodturning Weekender. I can't wait!!

Until the next time - happy turning!
0 Comments

Where does all the time go?

5/5/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
Work for sale at Brighton Artists Open Houses during May 2019
 Well, it's been far too long since the last blog post, that's for sure!  But I haven't been sitting around idly. Honest! This weekend saw the start of the Artists Open Houses as part of this year's Brighton Festival. And it was the Open Houses that got me onto the internet with my website and YouTube videos just over two years ago. And it's been fun ever since - especially getting the opportunity to go to other woodturning clubs and demonstrate some of my colouring ideas.

In the last two years, this wonderful activity has also taken me to UKIWS 2018 to demonstrate, and this year to Makers Central (next weekend - gulp!), and later this year to Chestnut Products Woodturning Weekender. And on Thursday this week, I'll be in London at the Oxo Gallery for the British Woodturner of the Year competition as part of the Celebrating British Craft Exhibition. It's been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest.

I hope to see lots of you at both Makers Central and the Woodturning Weekender - don't be shy:  come and say hello as I don't bite (well, not often!)

My latest video is currently exporting as I type this and I'm really pleased with this one, though it might not appeal to everyone. This is one of the shallow bowls I've made that had more meaning for me behind the decorative element. It was an idea that was floating around in my mind for some time - connecting lines in a haphazard pattern with circles of colour at the intersections. As with lots of the decoration I've added, I didn't want a solid block of colour, rather a build up of different layers and shapes. On this bowl, this idea worked well for me. I see the lines as connecting and joining and linking up and the circles as the points of joining with a depth to the colours and I hope a sense of light coming through. In the video I came up with all sorts of pretentious ideas for names until my wife said 'Dreamscape', which I've gone with. I like it a lot. For her, it suggested something of the visions seen in a shamanic experience. On a more prosaic level, but for me no less beautiful, is the suggestion of sunlight through leaves. My daughter says it reminds her of bokeh patterns in photography. So, at least three different responses there - let me know if you have a different one!
Picture
Picture
Picture
2 Comments

    Stewart is...

    Keeping sane and finding creative expression in a piece of spinning wood

    Archives

    November 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • About
  • Video Gallery
  • Just Wood
  • Texture and Colour
  • Demos & Workshops
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Links