2010 Lead Turners
Eli Avisera, born in 1960, grew up, studied and lives in Jerusalem, . Between the years 1973-1977 Eli studied at the school of wood art in Jerusalem. Since then, Eli is a professional woodworker.
Eli is an international woodturning demonstrator and teacher. Eli was invited to many countries to show his unique variety of techniques. Eli uses a line of his own signature tools (manufactured by Hamlet Tools). These unique tools have been developed based on over 30 years of experience in woodturning.
In 1988 Eli has established the "Wood Craft Center" where he teaches workshops for furniture building, wood turning and wood carving at all skill levels. To date, Eli has taught hundreds of students and has been instrumental in promoting this art in.
In 2003 Eli has been invited to Woodturning Center, Philadelphia, , as an ITE participant. ITE - International Turning Exchange is a prestigious International event, bringing together every year a small group of carefully selected Wood Masters to share their knowledge and create together.
Eli is one of the leading wood art masters in and his creations are exhibited in many exhibitions both locally and around the world.
Clay Foster states, "Making things has always been my life. I don't do well if I can't make something every day". A self-taught artist, Clay's creative spirit is inspired by almost everything he sees around him. Here is what he says about his inspiration for much of his work, such as his "temple bowl" series, of which this piece is a part.
"Primitive art has had an influence on me for a long time, but things from Africa seem to have a spirit that is the most accessible to me. The religious objects have an aura of sacredness, and the functional household items glow with a patina of lifelong loving use. Holy and old are some how intertwined in my mind, and that essence of things becoming sanctified by endurance is an element I try to capture in my own work.
A sense of ritual and spiritual quest, if not overtly religious, is in a lot of my work. The temple bowl series began after I was commissioned to make a baptismal font for a church. I pondered a lot about ceremonial cleansing, a common ritual in many cultures. It's comforting to me that most cultures believe that purity in both thought and deed is possible, and provide some ritual to represent the desire for it"
Making things has become more of a necessity than a simple pleasure. When I go for long periods of time without making, I feel a sense of disconnection with something that keeps me grounded and in a place where I can be the best person I can be to my family, my friends and myself. It just makes everything better. The objects that I make are reflections of things that I encounter in daily life. Patterns, textures, forms and even music that I am attracted to seem to appear in and inform my work. Using narrative and telling stories with the things that I make is becoming more and more important to me. The narrative side of my work is a never-ending world of things waiting to be made. The stories of our lives are what connect us all. My exploration and the adventure of finding new and interesting techniques to deliver the work keep it exciting and a challenge to create satisfying work. The wood and the lathe are just the vehicles that I use to make the things that I make.
After college, I moved to Raleigh, NC and took what was intended to be a temporary carpenter position with This End Up Furniture Company in Raleigh, NC.
To learn about true woodworking, I began reading a variety of books and magazines on the topic. I started to collect woodworking tools, experimenting with hand cut dovetails and other joinery techniques. To take advantage of the wealth of experience in the area I joined the local woodworking clubs. During my stint as vice president of The Triangle Woodturners of North Carolina, I developed a passionate and at times distracting interest in woodturning.
I started my own business, Sliding Dovetail Woodworks to focus on building custom furniture and woodturning. I wanted to differentiate myself from the area turners who created bowls, hollow forms, and various other artistic forms of woodturning. I have since branched out into architectural turning as there are few turners interested in turning balusters and other spindle work used in the construction trades. Sliding Dovetail Woodworks is now Leland Studios, as my focus has shifted shifting towards teaching classes and sharing the knowledge I have gained over the years.
I have been teaching a Woodturning Fundamentals Class at The John C. Campbell Folk School twice a year since 2004 and I have also taught a Mini Lathe Projects class at Arrowmount School of Arts & Crafts.
I was introduced to woodturning while in high school, but it wasn't until 22 years later that I again stepped in front of a lathe. In 1998, I sold my Vocational Rehabilitation business so I could be home with my growing family. At the time, my husband presented me with a lathe of my own, but I wouldn't have the opportunity to work with it regularly until my children reached school age. A brief exploration in pottery introduced me to the importance of form and design, the foundation to any embellishment of my turning, be it branding, pyrography, coloring, texturing, or carving. I endeavor to make wood pieces that pursue excellence of form and beg to be picked up and caressed. When exploring a source of inspiration for my surface enhancements, I looked to my interests in Native American and prehistoric art. Since childhood I have been fascinated by the creative expression of native North American cultures, petroglyphs of the Columbia Plateau of the Northwest, as well as the cave art of Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain. My artwork reflects their influences.
Mike Jackofsky specializes in hollow forms, most of which are natural edge pieces made from unique burls, but he also turns bowls, including thin natural edge open bowls, off-balance asymmetrical pieces, hollow forms with "wings," and sculptural forms. Mike has been a presenter at both the Utah Woodturning Symposium at BYU and the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) Symposium in Portland. He has had his work selected for the AAW exhibitions "Put a Lid On It" in 2003, "Spirit of the Southwest" in 2009, and "Maple Medley: An Acer Showcase" in 2010. Mike's work is on display in the permanent collections of the Sam Maloof Historical Residence Museum in Alta Loma, CA, the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, CA, and he has donated a "signature piece" for the permanent collection of the AAW. Mike received "Best of Show" at the AAW sponsored "California Contours" exhibition. He has won numerous awards at the San Diego "Design in Wood" exhibition, including first place ten times. He is a member of the AAW, San Diego Woodturners, and The Furniture Society. Mike conducts workshops and demonstrations at many woodworking clubs and trade shows around the world, including his "signature" 5-day classes at Craft Supplies USA School of Woodturning in Provo, Utah. He was the subject of a feature article in the January 2008 issue of Woodturning magazine.
2010 Regional Demonstrators
Kurt Bird
Design and turn table legs
Andy Chen
Cutting spirals on a cylinder
Tom Farrel
Hemispherical Ornaments
Dan Henry
Decorating with Rose Engine lathe
James Johnson
Basic cuts, measuring, sanding
Jim Keller
Hollow forms w/negative Space
Anna Rachinski
small boxes with lids
Craig Timmerman
Trun a Torus Vase
Don Ward
Pen turning
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