Hello to all the WoW family, and thank you Herman for inviting me back on to WoW. My woodturning/carving "career" began in 1995 as work and not a hobby, turning and carving furniture parts and making pepper mills. Around 2004 I started doing hollow forms and platters in order to vent my artistic desires. That was put more or less on hold around 2008 as I began more and more to do commissioned carving for high end houses in order to pay bills and eat. I was a subcontractor and never got to meet any of the people I carved for, which turned it into soulless work. In 2010 I hit a "wall" so to speak and didn't do art of any kind until now (April 2018). For the first time in about 10 years, the artistic juices seem to be flowing. Time will tell if they continue to flow. Much has happened in my life since the last time I posted on WoW (about ten years ago). Our current lifestyle (not by choice) precludes me having tools and equipment for full size turnings like I used to do, so I've downscaled to miniatures and the equipment to produce them. Every tool I use I can pick up and carry myself, except my compressor.
- Robert Martin