Lead Demonstrators for SWAT 2026
John Beaver
After spending over 25 years in Hollywood, filming television commercials, John began experimenting with a lathe he had inherited. Before he even mastered the technique, he could see that he wanted to find a way to give the pieces a little more life. A bowl, a vase or a sculpture sits on a shelf and has a form, and there is a certain beauty in that but he wanted to add movement and energy to that form.
Having always lived near the Pacific ocean, John was inspired to bring the motion and rhythm of the waves to a round object. The exploration of that concept led to the "wavy" design which is still the core signature of his work today.
The genesis of John's work is to be able to turn a vessel, cut it apart, add, subtract or modify the elements and put it all back together with the grain and wall alignment correct.
John lives in Pacific Palisades, CA with his wife Candy. When he is not in the studio, he enjoys Golf, Paddle Tennis, Pickleball, Skiing, Cycling, Kayaking, Hiking and Bocce
Demo Topics:
Wave Bowls
Flying Rib Vase
Cradled Bowl
Trent Bosch
Trent Bosch had been woodturning professionally for the past 28 years. He began exploring the art of woodturning while pursuing a Fine Arts degree from Colorado State University. Since graduating, he has fully devoted his efforts to creating one of a kind sculptural woodturnings and continues to explore the possibilities this medium has to offer. During this time he has designed and developed a number of turning and carving tools that have allowed him greater efficiency and speed in creating his work. He now manufactures these tools within his own facility. When not creating, he is very passionate about teaching and sharing the knowledge and techniques he has developed freely with others. His work is displayed in numerous fine art galleries, the permanent collections of museums and craft centers as well as many private collections worldwide. Trent has taught and demonstrated his techniques for turning and sculpting wood throughout the United States and abroad.
Demo Topics:
Revelations in Hollowing
Vessels and Surfaces
Andy Chen
Andrew Chen (Andy) is from College Station, Texas. He is a self-taught wood enthusiast and has been woodworking almost his entire adult life. Early on he build furniture with tight fitting joinery (without nails and screws). This provides him with knowledge and skill for cutting wood accurately that is the foundation for the segmented turning he started in 1992.
For Andy, woodturning is to enhance the beauty of nature. However, as pretty as most wood is, stunning beauty as in burls is hard to come by. In addition, when one hollows out a burl, 95% of the beauty ends up in the trash as shavings or dust. Therefore his preferred style of turning is segmented in the wood from differ3ent species of trees. with distinct colors of wood are glued together to create desired patterns.
When the glued up blank is turned to final shape, minimal amount of wood is removed thus preserving a lot of nature's creation. In addition, attractive patterns are created so that it is not necessary to totally rely on nature for the beauty.
Andy enjoys working with materials other than wood. He works with minerals as well as man made materials such as polymers and Corian. He works with metals to make turning tools and whatever necessary to expand the horizon.
Demo Topics:
Segmented Turning
A Spiral attachment for lathe
Jason Clark
I have been heavily involved in the woodturning community for over 2 decades, primarily self-taught in my modest 2 car garage, in my spare time. I spent more than 10 years in the leadership of the Arizona Woodturning Association in Phoenix and the Windy City Woodturners in Chicago. I served as local liaison for the 2014 AAW Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona. I have demonstrated for dozens of woodturning clubs and multiple symposiums including multiple AAW symposiums, the Inaugural Woodturners Worldwide virtual symposium and for the Association of Woodturners in Great Britain.
My work strives to feature and highlight the natural character of the wood in unique and sometimes surprising ways. My finishes are generally basic oil finishes to enhance the natural figure and grain of the wood. When possible the woods have been acquired from various local sources, including fellow woodturners and storm-damaged trees from my neighborhood and surrounding urban areas.
Demo Topics:
Return of Saturn
Neo-Tradional Christmas Ornaments
Rebecca DeGroot
Rebecca learned woodturning from her father very early. His rule was simple, when she could stand on a bucket and reach the lathe, he would teach her how to turn. Since graduating from Kendal College of Art and Design in 2014 with two bachelor degrees in Art Education and Sculpture and Functional Art, Rebecca has cultivated a career as an Art Educator, Woodturner/Carver and most recently a Tattoo Artist. She had demonstrated her whimsical work regionally, nationally and internationally over the past several years. Rebecca has had her work published in a variety of woodturning and woodworking magazines, and was named Young Wood Pro 2023, and has had her work published in four separate editions of the Masters of Contemporary Wood Art Book. Her passion for creating and sharing her ideas is the fuel that keeps her in her shop late into the evenings letting her imagination run wild.
Demo Topics:
Walking Teapot
Mini Aquifer
Mike Jackofsky
Mike specializes in hollow vessels, many of which are natural edge pieces made from unique burls. He has been a "featured presenter" at the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) symposiums as well as the Utah Woodturning Symposium in Provo, Utah, and the SWAT symposium in Waco, Texas. He has participated numerous times in the Emma Lake Collaboration in Canada and has had his work selected for a number of AAW exhibitions. His work is represented in many private collections around the world and is on display in the permanent collections of the Sam Maloof Historical Residence Museum in Alto Loma, CA, the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, CA, and the AAW collection in Minneapolis MN.
Demo Topics:
Making a Hollow Vessel
Small Scale Hollow Forms
Colin Way
My woodturning story started in 1983 thanks to a lucky choice at school--I picked the workshop at the end of my road for work experience and got hooked. It belonged to Geoffrey Manly, who very much believed in learning by doing. He showed me once and left me to it and I loved every minute. By the end of the placement, I was desperate for a lathe, and with Geoff's help I came home with a Myford ML8. From then on, I spent every hour turning.
A couple years later just after leaving school, Geoff offered me an apprenticeship. I spent five years learning the craft inside out, working not just with wood but all sorts of other materials too. After that, I went self-employed and later rented a workshop on a local farm--an amazing setup where I learned forestry skills and had access to great timber. Life there was hard to beat especially with my Jack Russell Rupert always near by.
In 1988, I joined Axminster Tools as a woodturning advisor, teaching, demonstrating, writing and helping develop products. Since then I have been lucky enough to travel widely, sharing my passion through demos, events and symposiums around the world.
Along with my wife Vickie, I now run a woodturning school and shop in the southwest of England near my home town of Lyme Regis. We love working together and selling on the site of a farm shop that has all the products our countryside and coast has to offer.
When I am not in the workshop, I am usually running swimming kayaking or cycling, and I am part of a local trialthon team that shares the same supportive spirit that I love in woodturning.
Looking ahead, I just want to keep doing what I enjoy-- meeting people, traveling and sharing it all with my family who are very much part of the journey now too.
Demo Topics:
Birds, Ducks, Hummingbird, Woodpecker, Small Bird
Angel of Light
Back Up Demo – Taming The Skew
SWAT 2026
SWAT 2026