Woodturning: What’s the Rush?

  Slow Down!

Invariably, the most common question I’m asked when an observer looks at one of my more complex pieces is: “How long did it take?”  And then, “You must be very patient.”  As a rule, I usually cannot arrive at an accurate estimate of the time involved, as it is not that relevant to me; and I’m certainly not aware of “patience” being one of my attributes of character.  At times I have responded to the question rather lamely, citing that what I really love doing is listening to music, and while doing so, I need something to do with my hands!

As a workshop teacher, I spend a lot of time teaching techniques for turning and embellishing hollow forms, each aspect requiring learning the varied processes on sample boards and scrap pieces before working on a piece worthy of taking home.  During one week-long workshop, there was a moment when the teaching/learning roles were reversed: instead of progressing more or less along the prescribed syllabus I had set up for the week, a student remained deeply immersed in the technique-learning phase.  When I asked if there were any problems, he responded, “No, I just love the process.”  And that’s what he did for the remainder of the week.  Reflecting on this, it occurred to me that sometimes we need to slow down in making work, and think about how fortunate turners are in having a number of processes to engage in, and that are enjoyable in and of themselves.

 J. Paul Fennell, 2017