Biography  J. Paul Fennell

Born and raised in Beverly, Massachusetts, on the Atlantic coast north of Boston, my earliest
memories of woodworking were as a very young boy, sawing and nailing scraps of wood cutoffs
together in my Dad's basement workshop. Any further interest, however, was a long time coming,
but the reverence for wood--first instilled in my Dad's workshop--always remained. After receiving
BSc and MSc degrees in engineering from Ohio State University and the University of Southern
California respectively, I became employed in California as a mission, rocket performance and
orbital mechanics analyst in the Apollo space program.

I was first exposed to woodturning in 1970 through a woodworking course at a local high school
Adult Education program in California.  My first lathe project in that class was a small table with
turned legs, which has been in our home ever since.  








I am for the most part self-taught, and have focused on the expressiveness of hollow forms for
most of my life as a woodturner.

I presently reside in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, in Scottsdale, Arizona with my wife Judy, and
work in a 400 sq. ft. studio.  I am a charter member of the AAW and have missed only one of their
annual symposia since 1987.  I was also a charter member of Central New England Woodturners,
one of the first chapters to organize under the AAW in 1987.  Currently, I am a member of the
Arizona Woodturners Association                                                                 
                                                                                                                     
                                         









Over the years I have demonstrated at many symposia and local organizations.   I am represented
by several galleries, have work in numerous private collections, and several museums -- most
notably the Smithsonian, Detroit Institute of Arts, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Yale University Art
Gallery and the Wood Turning Center.  See my Résumé for a more complete description.

My other interests include acoustic jazz and classical music, both very enjoyable to listen to while
turning wood in my studio.