Southern Alberta Woodworkers Association Biannual Exhibition – 2015

Eileen and I are very fortunate that two pieces we submitted to this biannual juried show were accepted. This show is very selective in its entire process. All pieces submitted first have to pass through the members of the “Standards Committee” which evaluates each and every piece for its ability to pass a very high standard of workmanship. Secondly the pieces then before the jury that evaluates the piece of work from their point of view about style, appropriateness for the show, ability to be displayed, being part of the theme of the show, etc. This year I believe they accepted 41 pieces – two of which were our work. The first piece is called Burl Eyes and is a natural-edge bowl made out of  Big Leaf Maple. It is 13 1/2″ in diameter and 2 3/4″ high. It has been finished with a natural oil mixture that Eileen has been using on our furniture for over 40 years. The second piece, is another Big Leaf Maple bowl. This one, however, is done with a wide lip with a small bowl inside that then has a textured and hand-painted rim surrounding it. Then come the wide edge or lip. I covered the bowl and textured lip with masking tape and then strung an old lace table cloth across the bowl, pulled it tight and then used an air-brush to paint the pattern (this done in black paint). After doing this, we decided that the colour needed to be enhanced a bit and so without the lace on I again used an air-brush to add the light green paint. This is a very interesting technique and I intend to use this technique on other pieces such as tall vases and pierced work. The Exhibition will take place from Sept. 11 – 19th, 2015 at Centre Court at South Centre Mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I hope some of you will take the time to visit the show. There are some incredible works of art/furniture.