When you drink the clear water, remember those who dug the well. I lost the man who gave me the gift of turning wood. My ways shall rust from salty tears as I will remember him fondly every time I spin something on my lathe. Rest in Peace little brother. Scott E. Hubl, Sr.
June 17, 1961 – February 21, 2016
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Somehow, after swearing off politics following two stints on student council circa 1971, I got myself elected President of the Windy City Woodturners. Being slightly competitive it is somewhat of a hollow victory since our slate was uncontested. None the less we won! But seriously, I am looking forward to working with the board and membership in the coming year. I have been a member of the club since 2009. I have learned much from our members and enjoy the fellowship. I want to personally thank our returning board members and volunteers for their service to the club. Also I want to thank our outgoing President Don Johnston for his years of service to the club. Although, I am a little worried, Don looked way too happy handing over the gavel! Now where is my copy of Robert's Rules? Just off the heels of our road trip SOFA Chicago comes to town. For those who have never been, give it a google, I highly recommend this art show. The show is full of unbelievable art work, colorful people and unworldly inspiration. Jen and I took in the show Saturday with our friends Dennis and Terri. After the show we enjoyed the city scape view from Riva restaurant on the pier. Dinner was awfully good too! I returned Sunday to lend a hand in the Chicago Woodturners booth. The booth featured a day of artist demonstrations. The demonstrations included local turners Al Miotke and Andy Kuby, Cynthia Gibson doing pyrography and Derek Weidman working his magic. It is just plain fun to watch Derek work. He is certainly savant like when it comes to multi-planar vision. As his piece develops it is interesting to watch the audience. There are many “now I see it” moments. Watching him work reminds me of watching one of the speed painters’ work. Things happen fast, angles change, and then suddenly the subject appears. Nice! Jen and I just returned from our second road trip of the year. This was our forth meander down to Sky Valley, Georgia. We had a blast as per usual. The colors were at their peak, the weather was pretty ok and the hospitality was Southern! We turn into gallery and road rats on these adventures and this trip was no exception. We were able to visit the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley, NC. I love old motorcycles and old stuff in general. This museum is top notch and Dale Walksler, the owner, is a way cool guy. You may know him from his TV show “What’s in the Barn?”. Then it was on to Dillsboro, NC to meet up with a favorite potter, Joe Frank McKee. Joe Frank has a wonderful shop, Tree House Pottery. We were able to clean him out of a particular color scheme that Jen loves for her kitchen. Joe Frank and I swapped a couple of pieces as well. While in Dillsboro we also stopped in at the Oaks Gallery. Out in front of the gallery is the largest white oak tree I have ever seen. It is estimated to be over 400 years old. Inside the gallery we met the owner, Sue Morgan Leveille. We talked with Sue for quite a while. Sue is a very talented weaver and teacher. We look forward to her making something for us in the coming year. The gallery is filled with superb work as well. We visited several of our favorite galleries and some new ones. Two of those favorite spots happen to be The Hambidge and The Bascom. Check them out they are great spots! We really enjoyed The Bascom this year. The featured gallery exhibition was Bartram’s Boxes Remix. I won’t bore you with the details but it was a delightful exhibit featuring wood. The work was wonderfully creative and inspiring. I of course was drawn to the turned work, and more specifically, a brilliant box by Ray Jones & Dixie Biggs. The piece is outstanding! It is named Arca Botanicum, follow the link or google it for more looks. The show was so good we visited twice before hitting the road for home! Has anyone ever experienced wood stash envy? I volunteered to help a recently transplanted wood turner move his wood stash from storage to his new home. I followed the directions and arrived almost on time at his storage locker. WOW, he was not kidding, he had an amazing hoard. From floor to ceiling, as deep as the eye could see, nice dry chucks of this and that. Almost all of it pretty exotic to where I live. So we loaded up a trailer, and a small pickup, and another small pickup and made our way to his new home. Another round of this would be required to move it all.
He assured us there would be room in his new garage for the haul and that there was some beer involved after we were done. Well it was a fairly short ride to his new home and bingo, three garage doors. There would indeed be room, so we backed up the drive in preparation of unloading. We then opened the garage doors and bingo again! Two of the bays were double deep! Has anyone ever experienced garage envy! I think I was green that day. Well after much consternation this website is up and running. Welcome to rev 1.0. Have to get in the photo studio and get some up to date pictures for some recent work. Hopefully will get that done soon.
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