I got hooked on the woodturning bug in the early eighties when my uncle bought a lathe. Forgetting all the trouble I had in high school shop class with a lathe and a seriously unqualified shop teacher, I gave it a try. It was an instant addiction. With no videos, books or instruction I managed to scrape out a bunch of stuff to give to friends and family. Jump ahead to the late ninties, I took a class from a real woodturner and learned how to "cut" with a gouge and turn green wood. The world of turning began to open up. A few years after this I found and joined a local club finding there were more people like me. Things really began to improve. Then sometime around ten years ago I discovered WOW. There was an explosion of creativity generated by turners around the globe. With instant sharing of ideas, technique, and philosophy from the most generous people one could ever hope to run across I have found my voice as an artist and am looking forward to see where this leads. A very heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone on this site for all you do to advance our art.
- Paul Hedman