|
|
Newsletter | Return to List of Newsletters |
A deeper friendship united all of us the night of the banquet at Forum 2001 in Minneapolis. I think this was because, though we celebrated with a level of excitement and delight in being together, we also recognized the sadness that was in all hearts over the terror of September. A special meaning and close friendship emanated throughout the banquet room in unspoken camaraderie.
In this time of heightened emotions, we rely upon artistic expression. Artists need to express their agitated feelings in work. Some people talk, some cry, artists may do both, but they open their hearts in their work somehow putting their feelings into the wood. Collectors want to surround themselves with beautiful work that has a meaning. We find we feel better in an uncertain world when we can come home and feast our eyes on a haven of expressive work. How lucky we all are that we have each other, the artists and the collectors, and that we all have a passion for wood and art. Jane Mason
We have interesting new members! Among them are Randy and Ronnie Antik from Texas and Brian and Hana Smouha from London. Both couples, obsessed with turned and other wood art, have already amassed collections, which they say are small, but sound not so small. Their collections are definitely excellent.
Randy Antik has visited a great many artists in their studios and homes all over the country and in France. He spends time with each, getting to know them as people, seeing and discussing their present and past work, and hearing of their visions. He has the same modus operundi with collectors, visiting them, seeing their collections, and trying to fathom each collector’s dream. If you have not seen him yet, prepare yourself for a call followed by a delightful, energized visit. Randy’s insights into what you are doing will surprise you with their depth.
Brian and Hana Smouha lived in Washington for three years, returning to England last year. While in Washington they became friends with their neighbors, Jane and Arthur Mason, and saw their wood collection. Smitten, Brian and Hana bought their own bowls, and eventually converted a wall in their rented home to show them. Now, back in London, they have built a beautiful display area for even more wood pieces. In fact, we all wondered if the airlines would let them board with all the packages they brought home from Minneapolis.
The Antiks, Smouhas, and all our other new members add scope and energy to CWA and we welcome them!
Mark Lyman assures us that SOFA will occur in NY, probably, in the Park Ave. Armory at 67th Street, but, if the Armory is being used by the US Military, then in an alternative New York site. All events scheduled for the Armory have been cancelled through January, 2002, so an alternate site is a strong possibility.
The dates are set, wherever the site may be: May 29 for the Opening Preview Benefit, open viewing days from Thursday, May 30 through Monday, June 3. Because of the uncertainty, CWA board has voted unanimously to hold a membership meeting and other events at NY SOFA 2002, but to have the official 2002 Forum at Chicago SOFA (October 24 to 27, 2002) in conjunction with the Collectors’ Choice exhibit. We hope all CWA members will attend both events.
Change and Flexibility are the theme for SOFA New York. Though nothing is set in stone, we plan to ask collectors to come to American Craft Museum’s opening benefit on Wednesday, May 29th. We hope to exchange mailing lists with ACM to publicize CWA and our events at SOFA NYC.
Optional trip to see LongHouse Reserve, Jack Lenor Larsen’s renowned home and Pritam and Eames (furniture gallery). CWA will send members literature about this treasured museum/home.
Dinner for members in Rockefeller Center
Membership meeting, Sunday, June 2 in the am, at the American Craft Museum with a tour after the meeting.
Possible Board meeting Sunday after lunch
Connie’s Question 1: Please tell me about your background, family, education, and training:
Stuart: I grew up in the city of Newcastle in the northeast of England. My grandfather and father were both professional woodturners, and I began learning to turn from my father at about the age of ten. My father was a production woodturner making mainly stair spindles, and I would help him on the weekends using the traditional woodturning techniques which he taught me and have been used in Britain for hundreds of years. I left school at sixteen to work in my father’s turning shop and to teach some of the woodturning classes that were taught there. At nineteen I started working for Craft Supplies Ltd. in England, which was at the time the largest wood turning supplier in the world. During the six years that I worked for them I taught and demonstrated, set up and ran their sawmill, and was in charge of importing the over 400 exotic woods which they sold.
Connie’s Question 2: What woods do you use and why?
Stuart: While I was working for Craft Supplies Ltd. I turned 110 bowls out of 110 different species of wood they photographed for their catalogs and which were reproduced in over 1.5 million catalogs over the next 15 years. Being exposed to such a great variety of woods, I prefer dense, exotic woods.
Connie’s Question 3: What informs your work?
Stuart: My style of work is greatly influenced by my background as a spindle turner with precise cuts and sharp details. The dense woods which I prefer allow these details to be executed.
Connie’s Question 4: What is your impression of the American woodturning field?
Stuart: There has been an enormous amount of effort made in the US to promote wood as a medium equal to glass and ceramics. New ideas and designs are embraced by the collectors of wood art in the US, unlike the limited audience in Europe for pieces which push the limits of design. This incentive in the US has allowed turners to evolve new ideas and experiment with their work.
Connie’s Question 5: Where is your work shown?
Stuart: I have shown in galleries in London, Cambridge and Oxford in the past, but am now showing at the Sansar Gallery in Washington, D.C. and del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles.
Connie’s Question 6: What else do you do besides turning?
Stuart: I have demonstrated at over 35 international woodturning symposia in 12 countries. I have also taught and demonstrated woodturning in over 60 US cities for the American Association of Woodturners where I have demonstrated alongside such well know turners as David Ellsworth, John Jordan, and Bill Hunter. I also have practiced and taught martial arts for 26 years.
As memorial of 9-11, twenty artists created candles to be used as centerpieces at the CWA Forum Dinner in Minneapolis and sold in a silent auction, with at least half of the proceeds going to the Red Cross.
As we celebrated, we recognized and shared sadness of the terror of September. Joe Seltzer organized and ran the silent auction. Michael Hosaluk also created a baseball (signed by the artists in the MIA/Yale exhibition) that he sold in a live auction. CWA raised $5448. for the American Red Cross, $800. for the CWA Education Fund and $800. for the Wood Turning Center Education Fund.
Quite an impressive showing! Congratulations to Merryll and Jane for coming up with the idea, to Joe for implementing it and to the artists for producing such inspiring work in short order.
It was my heartfelt pleasure to hand the award to Jan Peters and Ray Leier, who have always "been there for us," supporting woodturning before it was popular. We as collectors have relied on Jan Peters and Ray Leier to advise us, tell us of new work coming in, and to support CWA in an unprecedented way. The artists have relied on them to show their work, often when the artists were new to the field. To quote from the program: As owners of del Mano Gallery, Ray Leier and Jan Peters have made significant contributions to wood art over more than twenty-five years. They have been recognized for their fervent devotion to the art, their missionary zeal with collectors and persistence even in lean times. Jane Mason
As wood turners become more successful, they are asked to speak at more events attended by collectors, (e.g. the CWA Forums, SOFA and Museum openings). As a result, they have become more sophisticated in their presentations. Rather than talking about types of wood, techniques or tools as they might at an event for other turners, they are choosing to speak about why they work in wood and of their own vision. Clay Foster’s inspiring slide show at the CWA Forum in Minneapolis is a prime example of this broader vocabulary for wood.
“My current work is intended to honor the spirit of things that work and things that last, whether it be an Anasazi stone tower, a wood bowl from Nigeria, a South African snuff bottle, or a Mayan temple.
I have been exploring ceremonial fonts as an icon for several years now. Ceremonial cleansing is a common ritual in many cultures, and is a reflection of the innate human desire for purity in both thought and deed. The gleaming surface of the ebony wood and the clean, simple lines of this font illustrate what lies within us, built upon our rough, primal capacity for goodness.
There is a rhythm, there is a pattern to life, a cadence, a suspending and preserving of the beat. The pattern evolves, but the rhythm continues, as we work our way upward through life. The patterns and rhythms are what help us keep our balance, just as this font is balanced on its stone foundation.
Things that endure, things that last; these are the things that give us comfort and courage.
These are the things that lift our gaze upward, and point like ancient fingers to the shimmering sky.
Divisions, factions, fractures, and splits; all our being is brought to bear in dealing with these challenges.
Our towers of dreams and hopes may be assailed by time and terrors, but it is our choice to take steps onward and upward to community, or to step down and back to chaos and vengeance.
Repose. Repose means to rest. And it also means to rely on. Icons of reposition are found in many cultures.
The essence of repose is the power to wait, and the patience to survive.
Just as many cultures have a means of ritual purification, there also seems to be a common belief that there is an opening, a portal, that leads to a higher plane. The search for that portal is the corner stone of the building blocks of art, and why we make it, and why we desire to have it in our lives.”
After the afternoon panel discussion sponsored by CWA, a man approached me. "Thank you," and he spoke almost reverently, "for the inspiration this panel you sponsored has given us." He was a stranger to CWA, yet the events we sponsored at SOFA meant something to him. The panels and events we sponsor are profoundly touching people, educating and inspiring them.
Alan Nachman chaired SOFA Chicago 2001, arranging these excellent events. We have him to thank for our success.
Details about the events CWA sponsored (or co-sponsored) at SOFA
In all, over 2600 people attended 34 SOFA Chicago Lecture Series presentations. Mark and Anne Lyman described the upbeat feeling in their SOFA EXPO website. “Cautious exhibitors arrived with strong exhibits but lowered expectations due to the terrorist attacks three weeks earlier. However, the somber mood on the exposition floor turned upbeat when good sales and an energetic crowd of 1000 plus attended Opening Night, followed by an unexpectedly high attendance of 27,000 through the weekend. Individual sales pushed the upper limits for contemporary art sold at SOFA.
The Collectors Of Wood Art will meet in New York May 30 to June 1, 2002 coincident with SOFA New York. As part of the meeting, Michael Monroe will chair a panel discussion THE VISUAL POWER OF WOOD-By Chance or By Design to be held at SOFA NYC on May 31, 2002 at 10:00am. The panel will feature three distinguished experts and will focus on design qualities and characteristics of wood as found in examples by leading contemporary artists, whether they be makers of vessels, sculpture or furniture. Why and how do these artists interpret form, pattern, grain, line, color and texture? How do they achieve a balance between the overwhelming natural beauty and chance opportunities found in wood against a desire to execute preconceived design solutions? Is there more to good design than a seamless unity of surface pattern coupled with strong form as evidenced in much of today's work? If so, what is it, who are their makers, and what are the issues they are grappling with? Is there a status quo in the field? Who out there is challenging the status quo? Is the field of wood art complacent? The panel discussion on the state of design will be further enhanced by audience participation in a question and answer session.
Members should have received a purple ballot form for the Collectors’ Choice Exhibit. If you didn't return it yet, FILL IT OUT AND RETURN IT NOW. It must be postmarked by January 15, 2002. With the criteria of "the most interesting and creative current work," Collectors’ Choice 2002 should create a spectacular exhibit of 25 works at the SOFA Chicago in October, 2002.
Newsletter subscribers, you still have the opportunity to vote if you upgrade to a full membership for 2002.
Send $75 ($125 for family membership) payable to CWA, P.O. Box 402, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
Send an email immediately to gsmith@skidmore.edu letting us know you are upgrading and we'll send you a ballot.
The Board of Directors of CWA, in an effort to encourage education and excellence in the field of wood is offering five grants to universities and colleges annually. The Visiting Artist Program is designed to enable colleges and universities to expand their art program by inviting wood artists to visit and demonstrate their skills, thus widening the exposure of wood to students and facility alike.
Applications must be received by January 10, 2002
Grants will be awarded by February 15, 2002.
Purpose of the Program
The Visiting Artist Program is intended to offer grants to accredited four-year colleges and universities in an amount up to $1000 for the purpose of inviting wood artists to share their knowledge and skills with students. The length and scope of the program should be designed by the faculty of the school, and may include demonstrations, slide shows, lectures, and interactive classes with the students.
Application Rules & Guidelines
Collectors of Wood Art (CWA), a non-profit organization, is dedicated to elevating wood art, including turned objects, sculpture and furniture, to the stature of fine art in the minds of collectors, galleries, museums, art critics, educators, and the general public. Founded in 1997, CWA seeks to encourage education and excellence in the field and to project a heightened awareness of wood as a medium of artistic expression. CWA supports scholarly
research in the field of wood art, organizes and sponsors public educational activities, and engages in other activities that advance the field of wood art.
Grant applications should be sent to:
CWA Visiting Artist Program, P.O. Box
17252, Little Rock, AR 72222
Donations to the CWA Education Fund can be sent to:
Collectors of Wood Art
Education Fund
P.O. Box 402
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Master Woodturner Rude Osolnik died in Berea, Kentucky, on November 19th. With his passing, the world has lost a major innovator whose technical mastery, creative lathe work, and pioneering artistic vision profoundly influenced the evolution of contemporary woodturning in the latter half of the 20th century.
Born in 1915 in Dawson, NM, Osolnik received a BFA (1937) and MFA (1950) from Bradley University. He taught at Berea College from 1937 until 1973, establishing the college's nationally recognized Industrial Arts Program and serving as head of the Woodcraft Industry Division. He was a Founding, Charter, and Life member of the Kentucky Guild of Arts and Crafts; a Life Member of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild (where he served as President and Treasurer); and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Woodturners.
ln recognition of his dedication to woodturning and to education, Rude Osonik received his state's Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts (1991), was inducted as a Fellow of the American Crafts Council (1994), and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Highland Craft Guild (1997).
In recognition of his creative achievements, Osolnik's vessels are included in museum collections such as Arizora State University Art Museum, (Tempe); High Museum of Art, (Atlanta, GA); Huntsville Museum of Art, (AL); J.B. Speed Art Museum, (Louisville, KY); Mint Museum of Craft + Design (Charlotte, NC); Mobile Museum of Art, (AL); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MA); Museum of Science and Industry; (Chicago, IL); Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery (Washington, D.C.); and Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT),
Osolnik's turnings have been in countless solo and invitational exhibitions at museums and art galleries throughout the USA and abroad. He and his work have been featured in books, magazines, newspapers, television and videos. People flocked from every part of the country to take his workshops. With all the national and international acclaim he received, Rude remained a humble man who loved working with wood and took great pleasure in sharing his expertise with others.
He lived on top of a mountain he called "Poverty Ridge" in a house he designed and built himself, piece by piece. He passed away as he had lived - quietly and without fanfare. Although he is no longer with us, his creative spirit lives on in the extraordinary lathe-turned objects he leaves behind. Martha Connell
-----------------------------------------
As this year of tragedy and loss draws to a close, we mourn again as we have for Melvin and Dr. Irv and all the others. Rude was a friend and neighbor. If he lived on "Poverty Ridge," we live about 9 miles toward the far end of poverty, same ridge. Late in life Rude told us more than once, "It’s the people", then he would light into a story about someone. The people he met over seven plus decades of craftsmanship and teaching made his life abundant and fascinating.
Daphne Francis Osolnik was his wife and soulmate, bore his children, finished his pieces, minded the craft booth and the store and preceded him in passing. She was an accomplished craftsperson in her own right and also gets a large portion of credit for Rude’s success over the years.
Another person who deserves huge appreciation is Zenobia Parks, the wonderful, caring woman who took care of Rude so well that his life, his work and his teaching were extended many years, enriching us all. Rude was our teacher, our advisor, our mentor and a passionate advocate for all who are driven to make objects of beauty and meaning with their hands. At our last visit, Rude was in good spirits, smiling as he said, "It’s hell getting old". He looked at pictures of our new twin grandbabies for a while, declaring them beautiful. We brought our Woodturning in North America Since 1930 (Rude started in 1929, always on the edge) and he signed it "With love and kindness". May his spirit rest in peace and wood shavings. Linda and Jack Fifield
--------------------------
Rude and I became friends when I was 15 years old. He had at least 50 years on me and was an acknowledged master woodturner while I was just a beginner. Rude treated me with respect and caring, listening to my ideas and sharing his. That year I stayed a week at Poverty Ridge. Throughout the next 13 years, I spent many days, up to a month at a time, staying with him. It is because of these times with Rude that I am a woodturner. He taught me to love what I do, to be humble, and to always search for new and better ways to work.
Rude was always generous with his knowledge and friendship. A few years ago there was a big ice storm where I live. Rude heard about this and called to see if everything was all right and to offer any help he could. That call was just another example of what kind of man he was.
When Rude's book was published I was honoured to be listed among his friends. I just hope I was as good a friend to him as he was to me. Jason Russell
------------------------------
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a contribution be sent to THE OSOLNIK MEMORIAL FUND at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, P.O. Box 567, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Personal letters may be mailed to the family in care of Joe Osolnik, Box 422, Berea, KY 40403.
The CWA Forum 2001 in Minneapolis, October 25 - 28, presented an exciting weekend to over 100 collectors, artists, gallery owners and museum curators. It was a great success due to intense work by Forum Chair, Ruth Waterbury. She is to be congratulated for a magnificent job!
Highlights of the CWA Minneapolis Forum included:
A wine and cheese reception given by the participating galleries; del Mano Gallery, CA; Gidgee Gallery, CA; Patina Gallery, NM, Sansar Gallery, MD, Alder Gallery, OR, and Douglas Baker Gallery, MN.
The Opening Reception of Woodturning Since 1930 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The exhibition is beautifully exhibited, work that reflects 70 years of history of wood art. Curator Glenn Adamson gave the Keynote address.
Lectures at the Minneapolis Institute of Art started with a panel discussion featuring David Ellsworth, Mark Lindquist, Merryll Saylan and Stephen Hogbin, moderated by Charles Hummel. Michelle Holzapfel, who was unable to attend, sent a videotape of her lecture. Christopher Monkhouse and Pat Kane spoke on the subject of "Collecting for Posterity". They were followed by a presentation on the marketplace by Director of SOFA Expositions Mark Lyman, Martha Connell, Connell Gallery, Ray Leier, del Mano Gallery and Michael Monroe, Guild.com and Christies Chairman, Stephen Lash discussed “Collecting Art: Passion or Investment”.
Artist Slide Shows, with over 50 artists participating.
The Waterburys hosted an open house, to share their collection with CWA members.
The annual CWA Forum Banquet was held on Saturday night. William Hunter presented a tribute to Dr. Irving Lipton, who passed away during the year. Mr. Hunter led everyone in a toast. Jane Mason gave the annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Jan Peters and Ray Leier of del Mano Gallery, who received a standing ovation. (see page 3) All artists who wished made candlesticks for the centerpieces at the banquet. (see page 2).
The CWA 2001 Forum marked a historically important occasion and presented an exciting and educational weekend for those who attended.
The wood turning field lost a great patron and impassioned collector with the passing Dr. Irving Lipton on July 4, 2001. His legacy can be honored through the Irving Lipton Fund which has been established through the Decorative Arts Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. One of Irving's prime collecting motivations was to educate the art community about the cultural significance of contemporary turned wood, and to promote the understanding and appreciation of the field through publications, exhibitions, and educational programming. Monies raised through the Irving Lipton Fund will be applied to facilitate these goals.
Donations are tax deductible and should be sent to:
The Decorative Arts Council
Attention: Lipton Fund
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
If you would like to express your feelings, thoughts or stories about Dr. Lipton, you can send a letter (on no larger than 81¼2 x 11 paper) to be placed in a beautiful wood bound journal. When full it will be presented to Mari Lipton. Please send your letters to:
William & Marianne Hunter, 1 Cinnamon Lane, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
The Douglas-Baker Gallery
225 South Sixth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402
612.332.2978, dwkoons@earthlink.net
del Mano Gallery
11981 San Vicente Blvd., West Los Angeles, CA 90049
310.476.8508 or 800 DEL MANO, gallery@delmano.com
Finer Things Gallery
1898 Nolensville Road, Nashville, TN 37210
615.244.3003, kkbrooks@bellsouth.net
gallerymateria
4222 North Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480.949.1262, gallerymateria@uswest.net
Heller Gallery
420 W. 14th St., New York, NY 10014
212.414.4014, info@hellergallery.com
The McAllen International Museum
1900 Nolana, McAllen, TX 78504
956.682.1564
Patina Gallery
131 West Palace Ave., Santa Fe NM 87501
505.986.3432, Ivan@patina-gallery.com
Patina Gallery found a small camera left in their booth at the Forum in Minneapolis. If anyone has lost their camera, you can contact Ivan at 505.986.3432, or Ivan@patina-gallery.com
New Board Members: Marty Bloomfield, Bruce Heister, Harry Wolin, Anita Wornick, Carole Floate. Board Replacements: Binh Pho replaced Virginia Dotson, Pat McCauley replaced Skip Shaw.
| Officers: until June 1, 2002 | Officers after June 1, 2002 |
| Jane Mason - President | Gary Smith - President |
| Gary Smith-Vice - President | Bruce Heister - Vice President |
| Bruce Heister - 2nd V. P. | |
| Joe Seltzer - Treasurer | Joe Seltzer - Treasurer |
| Pat McCauley - Secretary | Pat McCauley - Secretary |