Alligator Juniper Bowl-1

As of 2015, I am a 72 yr. old retired Chemist/Hydrologist/Manager. I didn't discover woodturning until I was 67. My past 5 years of turning have been a source of great satisfaction to me. I'd rate myself as intermediate in skills. I have a strong artistic bent, and I usually know pretty well what I want to produce, but my woodturning skills don't always match my artistic vision. I took a great 3-day class from Jimmy Clewes, where I asked him to emphasize tool control, so I can better do what I see in my head. He immediately took me back to spindle turning! Said that in classical English woodturning, you were not allowed to turn bowls until you'd mastered the skills of spindle turning. I advanced greatly in those 3 days of classes, but I need to do a repeat, because I still can't do superb beads and coves, and my gouge cuts sometimes are less precise than I wish! But, despite my dissatisfaction with my turning skills, I still manage to turn out some items that I really, really like, and my passion for woodturning just gets stronger and stronger. I am an active member of the Arizona Woodturners Association (their webmaster), and I have attended one of their Desert Woodturning Roundups, and the national AAW Symposium in Phoenix in 2014. I don't know how many more years of woodturning I will have, but I will enjoy every one of them!

- Marvin Fretwell