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Demonstrators

Emma Cook  RPT (the Tiny Turner)         www.thetinyturner.co.uk  

Emma does both turning & carving. She often combines the 2 skills in her pieces.

She says:

'I've been woodturning since the age of 16, and carving for the last 6 years. I have a passion for what I do and love creating new pieces - whether it be for myself or a commissioned piece of work. I take great pride in the quality of my work and always strive to better myself with every piece I create.'

Margaret Garrard RPT            www.margaretgarrard.co.uk

Margaret is a an excellent woodturner who has visited our club a number of times. She does some very artistic work & demonstrates it really well.

Margaret was drawn into woodturning after visiting a friend and trying her hand at turning in his shed at the bottom of the garden.  She then became a member of the Jorvik woodturning club.  This club influenced her in her early days as it provided her with challenges that would stretch her abilities, and they did, as she won many 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes at the competitions.  She then started to enter national competitions and won prizes there also.

Andrew Hall RPT            http://www.hallwoodhats.com

Teacher, Demonstrator, Woodworker, Woodturner ,Wood Hat Milliner and Bluesbowl Luthier 

After teaching apprentices Carpentry and Joinery for 20 years I decided to rekindle my love of woodturning and have been teaching and demonstrating since 2002. Specialising in making wood hats, Corinthian helmets and lateley musical instruments turned on the lathe called Bluesbowls .

I also turn conventional bowls, natural edged vessels, platters boxes, and coloured sculptural work.

Walter Hall

Walter Hall, who lives in Amble on the Northumberland coast took up wood turning as a hobby over 20 years ago when working for the NHS. Now retired from NHS employment he makes high quality pens and other writing instruments from wood and acrylic materials. Walter sells his pens through “The Chantry” Craft Gallery which is located in the Tourist Information Centre in Morpeth, Northumberland and on commission.

Self taught, Richard Kennedy has been woodturning for several years.
He creates both functional and ornamental pieces. Using mainly British hardwood sourced from environmentally sound suppliers, windblown and drift wood when available; he focuses on simple shapes for clean modern tactile pieces that sit well on both the coffee or kitchen table.

Pete Osborn RPT         www.peteosborn.wix.com/peteosborn 

Pete Osborn taught Woodwork in various schools in the North West of England for over 30 years. Since retiring from teaching he has concentrated on Woodturning.

He uses quite a lot of local hardwood from trees that have fallen in gales and other timbers that are either reclaimed or from sustainable sources. The items he makes are all finished to a high standard using the best quality polishes, lacquers, oils and waxes.                                

Pete has been accepted as a member of the Register of Professional Turners.

He is currently Chairman of the Eden Valley Woodturners and a committee member

with the Cumbria Woodturners Association.                                                                                    

He regularly demonstrates at Woodturning Clubs & at other clubs & organisations.

He is also available for Woodturning Tuition.

Chris Fisher RPT          https://theblindwoodturner.co.uk

Chris Fisher, also known as the Blind Woodturner, lost his sight in 2008, over the course of four weeks, due to a rare condition called Toxoplasmosis.

Four years later, after rehabilitation to learn how to do every day activities again, dealing with the anxiety, hallucinations and muscle spasms that often accompany sight loss, and coming to terms with being blind, Chris decided to take up woodturning so that he could make himself a vampire stake – he’s a huge horror film fan!

Chris turned his first commission in 2014, going on to become a full time self-employed woodturner in 2018.

In July 2019, Chris became the first blind woodturner to be accepted on to the Register of Professional Turners (RPT).

Inspired by the work of Nick Agar, Chris especially enjoys creating tactile pieces with colour and texture. He has been featured several times by the BBC.

Chris travels around the country giving public woodturning demonstrations, speaking about his experiences as well as sharing his story on his YouTube channel in order to inspire and motivate people, no matter what their circumstances, to achieve their full potential.

Part of Chris’ mission is to exceed the expectations of what others perceive disabled people are able to accomplish, and to prove to himself and the world that having a disability isn’t the end, it’s just a new beginning.

Chris’ message is simple – keep on turning.

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Colin Watson  RPT          www.thecrazywoodman.uk

I’ve always enjoyed working with wood and I first took up woodturning in 2013 as what I called my “retirement hobby” to ensure that I would have something to occupy myself in my retirement. I retired in 2016 after working for 30 years in the Oil and Gas Industry, the last 20 of which I lived near Aberdeen. Once I had retired we moved back down to my home county of Yorkshire and I now live near Huddersfield. I'm an active member of the Huddersfield and District Woodturners and a member of the Hertiage Craft Association.

 

Andrew Walker        www.bowlsandbitz.com

With a passion for woodwork going back to childhood, I decided that I might actually be able to turn wood so I put my interest to work and bought my first lathe about 20  years ago.

It was a bit hit and miss to begin with, but as they say "practice makes perfect" and so I persevered. People started to admire my work and even bought a few pieces - to my surprise!

I took a break for a number of years due to personal circumstances but in March 2017 I started a new job as a Timber Machinist for a local specialist timber supplier, the wood turning flame was reignited and Bowlsandbitz was born.

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Dennis Wake   RPT        www.woodturninghartlepool.co.uk    

Dennis Wake has been turning for 20 years and demonstrating around the country for the last 10. Since qualifying as a tutor, he started volunteering at Phoenix house (h4h) Catterick. It was during this time he realised that by helping pupils with mental health problems he could make a huge difference.

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