Bowls, Bowls, Bowls

Stephen Gleasner and Jacques Vesery

Concentric Ring Bowl by Stephen Gleasner, cherry, 2011We Played Here by Jacques Vesery, 350-year-old ash, 2009

June 10-14

Bowls present an infinite palette for exploring shape, proportion, texture, grain, and finish. This course offers participants a deep immersion in bowl turning with the guidance of two outstanding wood turners. Instruction emphasizes good tool techniques for achieving professional results, plus an exploration of what makes a bowl attractive. Students are encouraged to pursue their own aesthetic directions and build upon their existing skill sets by turning bowls in either green or dried wood.

As they turn bowl after bowl, students gain confidence through muscle memory and repetition. Work is done primarily with bowl gouges and heavy-duty scrapers, and there are frequent demonstrations and one-on-one instruction on the skilled handling of these tools throughout the week. Topics of discussion include wood selection, chucking, tool selection, sharpening, safe use of bowl gouges and scrapers, and formal aesthetic considerations such as volume, form, proportion, and grain.

Stephen Gleasner is an Appleton, Maine artist/turner with extensive experience in faceplate and spindle work, gained over a 20-plus-year woodworking career. Currently, he specializes in carved and dyed wall pieces that explore the patterning possibilities of Baltic birch plywood. Stephen’s work has been featured in Wood Art Today by Dona Meilach (Schiffer Publishing, 2003) and 500 Wood Bowls (Lark Books, 2004), as well as in numerous periodicals, including Woodwork and American Woodturner. He demonstrates turning nationally and was a featured presenter at the 24th annual symposium of the American Association of Woodturners in 2010. His website is www.stephengleasner.com.

Jacques Vesery is an artist/sculptor from Damariscotta, Maine with an international reputation for texture and coloring techniques on turned forms.  He has taught and lectured on design in France, Italy, England, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and 28 US states. His work is in the permanent collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, among others. The Maine Arts Commission awarded Jacques an Individual Artist Fellowship in 2000 and the Maine Crafts Association named him a “Master Craft Artist” in 2011. His website is www.jacquesvesery.com.

Open to intermediate and advanced turners, including those who have completed one of our introductory courses.

Tuition: $715

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