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May 2012 - Spring Retreat - Number
16
Retreats are fun!
Retreats are educational! Retreats are . . . well . . . a lot of
hard work! It takes a small army of folks (and equipment) to pull
off a retreat plus some very dedicated leadership. This
year the leadership was provided by Retreat Chairman Doug Grissom and
his committee and
the club thanks them for a another highly successful event. This
was the sixteenth year that GCWA has held a Spring Retreat. Here's
hoping for many more!
As usual, a number of
classes and demonstrations were offered to provide a wide-range of
learning opportunities for those attending. Here are two documents
that describe the hands-on class offerings and their instructors, and
the schedule of classes and
demos.
Who is doing what at the Retreat (a MS Word document)
2012
Retreat Class Schedule (a MS Excel spreadsheet)
Opening Comments and Safety Instructions
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Retreat chairman,
Doug Grissom
welcomed all attendees, went over the procedures for the two-day
event and, most importantly, reminded everyone about the
importance of safety. |
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Club president, Reggie Keith
thanked Doug and his committee for all the hard work in
putting the annual retreat together. |
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Jonathan Bartz, has been coordinating
retreat facility issues, like loading and unloading, for some time--so
much so that he's known as the official retreat
"wrangler". (You don't mess with Jonathan's instructions!) |
A Comprehensive Learning Experience
Spring Retreat #16 offered 30 learning opportunities, of which a few
popular ones were offered more than once. The pictures of this
year's retreat are largely from the first rotation (since the
photographer taught a class in the second rotation and took a class
during the third rotation). In the following two panels are the
hands-on class offerings by area with the instructors and participants of those
classes listed. (Boards for the demos are not included.)
Advanced Bowl Turning
Scott Njaa helped GCWA members hone their bowl turning skills with a
hands-on class for advanced turners.
Basic Bowl Turning
Lane Bradford offered a
hands-on class for beginning and intermediate turners on basic bowl
turning
Basic "Bic" Pen Turning
George Kabacinski took those new-to-pen-turning the basics of turning a
"Bic-style" pen
Beginner's Track
The Beginner's Track is offered to those new to turning and want a
complete overview of what tools, equipment and skills and safety
practices are needed to become a successful turner.
Tom Irven,
shown at the right in the first picture, and
Andy Chen, at the left in
the third picture, as well as
Paul Millo (not shown) took "newbies"
through all the steps over the two day retreat.
Miniature Corian Turning
Andy Chen, in addition to working with Beginner's, also taught a
hands-on class on turning miniature items from Corian. You
can view one of Andy's Corian creations,
here.
Fancy Finials
Brian Laing shared his skills on turning
fancy finials with participants of his class
Turning Jewelry
Troy
McLaughlin discussed turning jewelry with
participants of his hands-on class.
Miniature Hollow Forms
Larry Zarra turns things big and small. In this
hands-on class he focused on the small and added hollow form to the
learning process.
Photographing Turning
Our own resident expert table-top photographer,
Paul Millo, shared the tricks of his trade with any member interested in
improving their photography skills. Paul is one of the best
gallery photographers among AAW affiliated clubs, so participants got
top notch advice.
Pyrography for Turners
Janice Levi, who is a great turner (and president
of the SouthWest Association of Turners) is also skilled at
pyrography. She shared those skills with members of her
hands-on class.
Sphere Turning
Ric Taylor demonstrated his sphere turning jig
for interested participants.
Wood Identification
Derek Powers, who grew up in East Texas (the
Piney Woods), knows a thing or two about tree and wood
identification, shared his knowledge and expertise in this demo/discussion.
What would any respectable
Retreat be without a RAFFLE?!!!
Delia Spicer (at the right in the first picture)
operates the monthly raffle at our meetings. Delia also
coordinated ticket sales for the Retreat Raffle. This year,
three lathes were included in the raffle items!
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Delia: "And remember, you can't
win anything unless you buy tickets!!" |
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Faces in the Crowd
Candid photography by
Dale Barrack
and Peter Miao
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