David Springett. RPT. www.davidspringett.fws1.com
A former woodwork teacher, David Springett has been a professional woodturner for more than 25 years. Specialising at first in lace bobbins, he became increasingly attracted to more experimental work such as the seemingly impossible pieces described in his first book "Woodturning Wizardry". He has demonstrated his woodturning techniques throughout the UK and in the USA, Canada, Germany, Israel and Ireland. In 2005 he was asked to present a paper, detailing his work on Streptohedrons (turned & twisted boxes and forms), to the Bridges Maths Symposium in London. In 2007 he was invited to exhibit some of his turned sculptural pieces at INTERSCULPT 2007 at the Ecole National Superieure des Art et Metier in Paris. David has recently completed his fifth woodturning book.
Billy Henry RPT www.henryturning.com
Billy has been woodturning for more than twenty years and enjoys all types of turning; from bowls, hollow forms, spindle work to thread chasing. He works from home and keeps a small gallery where he exhibits his work. He is well known throughout Ireland demonstrating regularly at local Chapter events particularly in Ulster and is a regular demonstrator at the Woodshed.
Cindy Drozda
Cindy’s first experience with turning wood was in 1984, when she made a pair of chairs with turned spindles. Woodturning continued to be one of many hobbies until she made it her full time occupation in 1998. Since then her work has been chosen for exhibitions around the country, and has appeared in several magazines. Cindy is an active member of the American Association of Woodturners, and demonstrates her woodturning techniques at national symposiums and local clubs. “Lidded Vessels with a jewel hidden under the lid” are a speciality of Cindy’s.
Ray Key www.wgdc.org.uk/members/raykey/
Ray has been turning wood for over forty years. The first seven in industry, the next eight as a hobby and since 1973, as a full time living. He was the founding Chairman of The Woodturners Association of Great Britain in 1987. In 1997 he was accorded Life Member status and is now their President. He was made a Life Member of the American Association of Woodturners in 2001.
Ray feels there is a common theme running through his work, namely elegant simplicity. Purity of form, lift and life, tactile, aesthetic are his design bywords. Coupled with thoughts like, ‘Keep it simple stupid’, ‘let the wood speak for itself’ and ‘if in doubt leave it out’. His speciality is in boxes/containers, bowls, platters/dishes, and vessels.
Nick Agar RPT www.turningintoart.com
Nick Agar is a highly sought after and unique woodturning artist.
He specialises in hollow forms and large diameter work including his renowned wall sculptures. Utilising burrs and natural edges, decoration also plays an important role in his pieces. Carving, texturing, colouring and scorching are among many of the surface enhancements that he uses. Nick’s favourite woods to work with include native timbers, sycamore, ash, oak and elm also spalted timbers such as beech.
Nick is a member of the AWGB, the AAW and a selected member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen.
Jean-Francois Escoulen www.escoulen.com
Jean-Francois has been turning since 1972 (initially in furniture restoration).
After admiring ornamental works of the 17th and 18th centuries and reproducing pieces from the past, he wanted to find something else: creativity combined with new techniques.
His work moved towards eccentric turning. He has an obsession with defying the laws of gravity. Sometimes the most unusual pieces reveal his traditional training.
Liam O’Neill www.liamoneill.com
Liam O'Neill began to work as an apprentice woodturner and then worked for nearly eleven years setting up and managing the woodturning section of Retos, the rehabilitation facility for handicapped adults established at Shannon, Co. Clare. During this time, he attended courses in advanced woodturning, led by internationally known creative woodturners such as the Americans David Ellsworth and Bob Stocksdale. He was influential in setting up the Irish Woodturners’ Guild, in response to his own experience and the numbers of people who were moving into the area of professional woodturning.
Since 1992 Liam O'Neill has worked from his own Studio at Spiddal, Co. Galway, where he has been supported by Udaras na Gaeltachta. Whilst he makes large-scale production work, his interests has always lain in the way in which he could use woodturning creatively to make unique sculptural pieces. The creative thinking involved in this work plays back upon his production design thinking.
Tony Wilson RPT
Tony is a disabled person since he broke his back when working down the pit in 1985. He took up wood turning after a conversation with his GP as a form of Occupational Therapy in 1990. By 1993 he was demonstrating and teaching voluntarily, showing other disabled people that you can do things with a disability no matter what it was. In 1997 He was placed on the Register of Professional Wood Turners. In 1998 He went to college and gained his teaching qualification for schools and colleges. He has taught both blind and deaf students.
Over the years he has been invited to most of the big shows including Harrogate, Birmingham NEC, Wembley, Alexandra Palace and the Scottish SECC. The items Tony makes are very varied but include bowls, platters, fruit, boxes and long finials.