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Tree Forte

Step One: Buy some fruit, the best looking fruit you can find.

Step Two: Choose a hunk of wood.

Step Three: Sharpen Tools.

Step Four: Put hunk of wood on lathe.

Step Five: Apply sharp tools to spinning hunk of wood. Rough out a bowl. Refine.

Step Six: Sand and finish.

Step Seven: Place fruit in bowl.

Alas, woodturning is not that easy. Looking at a section of raw tree and seeing a bowl in there takes a special kind of skill, or x-ray vision. Woodturners have the ability to see a form inside a chunk of wood, and the skill to bring that form to life, cutting away just enough here and just enough there. It is a process of gradual subtraction.

Phil English is a master turner from Spotsylvania who was invited to show his work at the Visual Arts Studio Show (see photo). English is self-taught. Several years ago while owner of a woodworking business, he received an order for some samples.

The samples needed to be turned, only none of his employees seemed interested. So, he did it. Eventually, he got the order, and made the pieces, about 900 of them. When that was done, he says, "I knew what I was doing."

He never looked back. He has a penchant for exotic woods, and his pieces are highly figured, spectacular to look at. Once he went with his son to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. He was intrigued by some Cycladic sculptures with highly stylized heads.

He decided he would reproduce the shape on his lathe. The result was a mask (he calls it a "wall hanging") which he entered in a woodturning contest. The judges came to him puzzled, not knowing which part of the piece was turned. He won the blue ribbon.

I asked if he was able to see a form or object inside the raw wood. This is how he explained it: "If you put a piece of wood that's rough, gnarled, on a lathe, when you spin it up… the rough edges form a ghost. By the seat of my pants, you see a shadow where this is spinning around and around. It's a shadow, if you look inside this shadow, this ghost, you can see a shape. I can see a shape this piece wants to be. It's when you fight it that it gets difficult. Of course you have to follow the grain, use the characteristics of the wood, but that's not as mystic as the ghost in the wood."

Think about that the next time you see a downed tree. But, turning can be a fickle enterprise. Michael Lane , the President of the local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners , explained that sometimes you might work ten pieces to get one keeper. Even in the best of times, it can be a time consuming process. English says he now completes about 15 to 20 pieces per year.

Some turners like to use exotic woods, which are beautiful and expensive, and many of which are difficult to work. Others prefer less expensive varieties.

Lane says that junk parts of a tree, burls or crotches which others might disdain, are highly prized by turners. When properly worked, they might yield highly figured or unusually textured surfaces.

Woodturning has come a long way from spindles and candlesticks. This has led to its rise as an art form. At the shows this weekend you will see segmented pieces, and hollow forms and other organic shapes. Collectors have taken notice of the rise in quality, and the level of imagination being used in turned pieces. Lane says that some turners can get 4 to 10 thousand dollars for their pieces.

Recently, the market, like the economy in general, is a coy one, and collectors are scaling down their purchases accordingly. English said he is adjusting, focusing on making pieces in the 2, 3 or 4 thousand dollar range.

There is no denying the beauty of many of the forms produced on a wood lathe. A skillful turner it seems can do about anything. Check out the Dr. Seuss-like pods created by Tom Crabb . The picture is deceiving; this piece is 6 inches tall. The question that immediately comes to mind is - How the hell did he do that? A fine question, indeed.

The Visual Arts Studio is celebrating masters of the lathe in its new show, As the Wood Turns . Several renowned turners were invited to show their work, and the other participants had their work selected by a jury. Gallery5 , meanwhile, is hosting Turned for Use II , a theme juried show focusing on utilitarian objects. The opening reception is Friday, June 20 at 5 p.m.

These two shows coincide with the 22nd Annual Symposium of the American Association of Woodturners at the Greater Richmond Convention Center June 20 through June 22. Wood will be flying, as there will be woodturning demonstrations by master turners, as well as panel discussions, a gallery exhibit and an auction of donated pieces. A centerpiece of the symposium will be the Instant Gallery, which is expected to include hundreds of pieces by hundreds of different artists, from novices to masters.

"As The Wood Turns" opens at the Visual Arts Studio will open on July 3, as part of First Fridays. Opening reception is from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Call (804) 783-7313, or visit www.richmondcenter.com, for more information about the Woodturner's Symposium at the Convention Center.