My passion is to exhibit the beauty of wood. As a faceplate woodturner, I strive for pleasing aesthetic and tactile qualities, and specialize at turning open and closed faced bowls, platters, plates and hollow form art. My focus is to display the natural beauty of highly figured hardwood and prefer to work with burl, stump wood, and crotch wood. InLace is an excellent way to add color and visual texture, and perfect for filling knot holes and cracks. I have just begun a new series of works that I call "bottles", which are hollow form and utilizing, in most cases, Turquoise InLace. All of my work is one-of-a-kind. "Duplication is tedium."
My inspiration comes from instruction by world class woodturners at Arrowmont Craft School in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Those experiences led me to found Magnolia Woodturners,Inc. in my living room in June of 1996. Based in Brandon, Mississippi, I am also a member (and former board member) of the American Association of Woodturners. I was juried into the Mississippi Craftsman's Guild in 1998, and served on their Board of Directors for two terms. I also assisted in lobbying the Mississippi Legislature for seed money which led to the construction of a $7.5 million dollar Craft Center in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Ten years later I was named a "fellow" in the Craftsman's Guild of Mississippi, and this prompted a recommendation to become a Roster Artist with the Mississippi Art Commission. Grant money for this honor is made available by the Mississippi Art Commission for teaching purposes. Subsequently, I was nominated by the Mississippi Art Commission to membership in Southern Artistry. Southern Artistry is an organization that promotes artists including visual artists from nine southeastern states. I am also a featured artist on Exotic Burl www.exoticburl.com
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