May 21st 2022:
Prescott Area Woodturners met at 6708 Corsair in the Prescott Airpark on Saturday May 21, 2022. President Ken Allen called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. with a welcome to everyone. He announced that Dan Hall had agreed to be our Safety Chair, and thanked Joel Brooks for his work at the beginning of the year. He reminded everyone that there would be a 50/50 Drawing after the break later today, and that Rick Sommerfelt was selling tickets.
Ken called upon Membership Chairman Jay Loden, who said we now have 77 members. There were two guests at today’s meeting.
Ken asked for a moment of silence in memory of long-time member John Garner, who died on May 5.
Marge Hunt talked about the annual pot luck picnic which would take place on June 25, 2022. She asked everyone to look for an email with details.
Ken said that PAW had been invited to attend a meeting at Peak Woodturners, the Flagstaff club. Several members attended. Ken said that he invited their members to become members of PAW, especially since they could participate via Zoom. Ken also passed along the information that a supply of redwood boards from an old building in Flagstaff was available for purchase.
Events Chairman Dean Humphrey reviewed the recently completed sale on Courthouse Square. He said it was a successful sale with lots of traffic past our booth and demo area. Dean thanked those who helped with set up and take down, and reported that he has filled out the application for the August sale, at which we will have the same spot. Demonstrations were well received.
Dean reminded us that we are “Featured Artists” at the Prescott Farmer’s Market on Saturday June 11, 2022. This is a 5 hour event, but we will need to set up at 6:00 a.m. We will bring our lathe and 3 or 4 tables, which will be picked up from the PAW shed on Friday afternoon. We will offer items for sale that day, with all proceeds going to the club. An impressive display of donated items were on a table at the back of the room. All of these items need to be priced. Ken Allen thanked everyone for their donations.
It is apparent that the PAW supply of canopies needs to be better organized. Accordingly, a work day was set up for Saturday June 4, 2022. Start time is set for 8:00 a.m. so that work can be completed before the heat of the day. All the canopies will be set up and matched with their sidewalls, then stored as a set.
Regarding Tuesday Demos, Ric Davis said that Phil Brown will host at his shop the demo on Tuesday May 24, 2022, as a follow-up to the demonstration he will give today. The June demo is still to be decided.
Zoom Meetings titled Chips & Grits continue to be a good source of shared information. Ken Allen thanked Mark Oglesby for hosting the last several meetings. Ken said that he would take over as host now, but would be eager to train anyone else who would like to learn to host this popular virtual gathering.
Jay Loden continues to work on the list of vendors who offer discounts to members of PAW. Jay is willing to reach out to vendors who are favorites of club members, to see if they will offer discounts.
PAW is helping Nel Stubbs to sell tools and equipment from her late husband Dennis. His shop, located at 1804 Forest Meadows in Prescott, will be open only to PAW members from 10:00 a.m. until noon on Thursday June 2, 2022. After that time it will be open to the public as a garage sale.
Ken Allen then called upon Dan Hall for a Safety Minute. Dan showed Nitrile gloves to be worn when finishing, and also to protect from wood allergies. Gloves can get in the way of close work; many people cut the finger tips off their gloves. Fingerless gloves are available for kayakers. Carvers/butchers mesh gloves will RESIST cuts from a blade.
Website Chair Susan Murphy asked for pictures of pieces created by PAW members, along with a short biography that would introduce you to someone looking at the website. Susan said that if you have a personal website, she can create a link from our Gallery to your site.
Marge Hunt gave a quick summary of the last luncheon with a Woodettes.
John Armstrong, who is an instructor at Yavapai College, said that fall classes are starting to fill, so it is important to sign up. Also, Master Turner Dean Humphrey will lead the Summer program. Do not hesitate to sign up for classes; they could either fill or be dropped if there are too few applicants.
Ken Allen said that the AAW Symposium would run from June 23 to 26, 2022. There will be an Oregon Symposium from March 17 to 19 in 2023. Ken will relay information as it is available.
The link for the Tod Raines demo is good through the month of May.
Phil Brown then took the stage. He told us that, when he joined AAW he found that there was another Philip F. Brown, so he used his childhood nickname of “Bear” to differentiate himself. He also chose the Native American heart-line bear as his symbol, because it means “what goes into your heart is what you give back to the world.”
Phil has been embellishing his pieces for a long time. Once, when he asked a buyer why his pieces were never chosen, the buyer replied that he felt Phil’s embellishments “screwed up a good piece of wood.” Nowadays Phil likes to use that phrase as a definition of what he does.
To illustrate the many types of embellishing, Phil used pictures of his own work as well as that of his mentors and many others in this club. He likes to try new things, and is often inspired by demonstrations given by professionals.
Phil has used a website along with graph paper to plan the intricate pattern on his “woven” pieces. He pointed out that trying to free-hand the design around a platter can result in an unfortunate gap instead of design-meeting-design as envisioned.
Phil invited the group to attend a hands-on demo at his shop at 1360 Solar Heights Drive in Prescott on Tuesday May 24 at about 9:00 a.m. following Tuesday Breakfast at the Back Burner Restaurant.
Dean Humphrey is a member of Mountain Artists Guild, and he told us that MAG would very much like to have PAW more involved with them.
After the 50/50 Raffle we were treated to Show & Tell.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marge Hunt, Secretary