In 2001, my wife and I spent some creative time at the famed John C. Cambell Folk School near Brasstown, North Carolina. Though Mary Ann did not get hooked on basket weaving, I was introduced to the wood lathe and my life changed.

   Woodturning became an addiction to this 61 year old retired high school teacher within a few months. Then came the lathes and tools and shops(studios), one in West Oneonta, NY and one in Boynton Beach, Florida. I began with small vases in which I placed test tubes.  Then, I turned at least fifty round boxes with suction fit tops. After the first year turning dry wood, I was pointed toward green logs by other turners in the club I joined, Palm Beach County Woodturners. In fact, I was able to attend a weekly workshop in Florida taught by the leaders in our club who were artists and world class professional turners in their own right.  These guys sold their work in galleries, did shows and did demos for our club and other groups.  They include: Carl Schneider, Gerhard Schwenke, Dave Friedman, John Buso, Bob Brulotte and Al Grutwagin. I hope some day to pay back my mentors  in the club for all they have done as I continue to grow and improve my skills.  They  urged me to join the American Association of Woodturners(AAW) and to attend professional demos and symposiums.  

While in Florida from January through May each year our club invites internationally known turners to do an all-day demo followed by an all-day hands-on at one of our club shops. I was able to learn much from them at demos and at regional symposiums.  They include: Trent Bosch; Dale Nish; Stewart Batty; Mike Mahoney; Cindy Drozda, Lyle Jamieson, and Bonnie Klien. Those who critiqued my work knew I had an artistic eye, but I lacked mechanical skill. 

   After three years of turning practically every day all day, I decided to sell my work.  So the Artisans Guild in Oneonta juried my work and I have had a very rewarding experience.  I maintain a permanent collection of nearly 50 bowls at this site. I turn  nearly 250 vessels a year and also do five to seven shows a year and hope to include Old Deerfield, Mass., Rhinebeck, NY, Cooperstown, NY and Hunter Mt., NY next year.  I am a member of the Upper Catskill Community of the Arts (UCCCA) and the Cooperstown Art Association. My five months in Florida is spent turning and learning in my studio and with my friends in the Palm Beach County Woodturners club.

   I have been called a purist in that I do almost no embellishment to my vessels, no carving, coloring, burning, filling, etc. I just let the wood grain show for all its glory, much like traditionalists David Ellsworth, Dale Nish and Stewart Batty.  I hope to do some local demos and more teaching in New York, as well as help begin a local chapter of the AAW here in Leatherstocking country.  My immediate thrust is with exotic woods, which now represents one-third of my 100 vessel collection and hope, some day, to display a special vessel in a museum.  

-Joseph V. Hartmann, 12/25/06