Winter 2005 contest results

[Jeff Jilg]

Congratulations to the winners of the contest.

1st - Chris Kuehn
2nd - Frank Kobilsek
3rd - Craig Magera (aka Dreher)

Also a humble thank you to Jim McPhail, the esteemed judge of the contest. As an added bonus, Jim has offered to send one of his bowls to the winner Chris! That is fantastic!

Jim provided the following comments with the results:

I judged the entries not so much on the beauty of the bowl but on whether the turner grasped the concept of Layered Bowls. I printed them and spread them out on the dining room table. So, here are the winners . . .

# 1 Chris Kuehn
Chris grasps the Layered concept and uses it to create a handsome bowl. In addition to color/value/thickness relationships, he understands finding the figures hidden in the wood.

# 2 Frank Kobilsek
Frank created a well-crafted Layered Bowl. He demonstrated a grasp of the use of different thicknesses of layers as well as use of color/value contrast.

# 3 Craig Magera (aka Dreher)
Craig used the Layered idea to put together a nice bowl. Of special note is an understanding of the grain and texture of wood, as seen in quarter sawn mulberry and highly figures birdseye.

[Jeff Jilg]

This is a copy of the 2005 Winter contest entries for easier reference. The order is the original alphabetical order.

1. Dreher (aka Craig Magera)
2. Gary
3. James E Gaydos
4. Tom Howell (aka TomH)
5. Larry Jensen
6. Frank Kobilsek
7. Chris Kuehn
8. Underdog
9. Myrel Willeford

[Jake Debski]

both the winners and also rans. At least you had the guts to try. Jim McPhail, your comments are very instructional, thank you.

[chriskuehn]

WOW, I was shocked to recieve the email from Jeff today with the results. I am honored and humbled by Jim mcPhail's decision, comments and generosity. I would like to thank him for a wonderful article that challanged my "turning" brain in a new way. The article that he wrote opened a new medium that is not limited to homogenous wood that you recover or purchase, it allows you to think and use different grain, colors, and textures to entice the viewer in a way I had not thought of before.

I would like to thank all the participants as Jake Debski mentioned "had the courage to try" your work was wonderful and you should be proud. Also I would like to thank the AAW for thier new iniatives with the improved magazine, this online forum that is growing as well, and all the people on the board and comittee volunteers that make it all happen.

To win and have my peice selected for publication, brings a goal that I had set in July 2005 a reality. I am very honored, Thank you.

Best Regards,

Chris Kuehn

[Frank Kobilsek]

Congrats Chris and thank you to Jim for your kind comments. I enjoyed the story and entering the contest. Most of my bowls are 6 to 12 inches in diameter and this forced me to try a smaller piece. My wife loves the little bowl. The contest also forced me to learn how to re-size pictures for posting on the website. I suspect I will make many more layered projects. As Chris said it is also one of my goals to compete successfully and I call this a success.

I only started using the AAW website a few months ago and it is rapidly become my favorite website for turning. I can't wait to attend the Symposium this June. Thanks again.

Frank Kobilsek
Mendota, IL

[Texian]

Well done, I thought, by all who participated. But am wondering, Jeff and others, why there were so few entries? Some like me might have been intimidated by the potential competition. Just wondering.

[Ed Kelle]

Congrats Chris!

Great job, you definitely picked the right one

[underdog]

Good job guys! Your entries taught me a lot.

My thanks to Jim McPhail for his interesting and informative article, and also for consenting to judge the contest.

I learned a lot doing this little project and intend to make some more layered bowls.

Thanks to all for the encouragement. As one who was an "also ran", I still appreciated the opportunity to compete. I look forward to more contests like this.

I also wondered why there were so few entries....

[Dudley]

I would like to offer my congrats to those that won and those that entered. The folks on this forum who post pictures of their work are true inspiration to an aspiring turner like myself. I have yet to get a completed project off the lathe because I'm still learning how to use the tools, but I look with absolute wonderment at the works of art created and displayed on this site. I will be joining the AAW as soon as I get my finances together (kind of blew the budget with the purchase of my machine and tools.)

Once again congratulations to the winners and entrants.

[Jeff Jilg]

Richard (Texian), it's hard to tell why there are a lot of entries in one contest but not in another. I don't think anyone should feel intimidated by the competition. For one thing these contests are to encourage woodturning and above all to encourage having fun.

We haven't had any uber-famous turners like David Ellsworth enter. And even if they did, wouldn't it be fun to have a piece in consideration in the same contest? I encourage everyone to consider these contests as a way of adding to their turning repertoire.

One thing that might help. I've spoken to a lot of people who have been in the AAW exhibit in the last 2 years. Many of them sketch out their pieces and they think about the piece before they turn it. The sketches help them visualize and plan what they are going to do. I've used this technique too. I'm not a great sketch artist, but just the act of putting it on paper helps me think about the final piece and the steps to get there.

In fact one of the guys who had a piece in the 2005 exhibit ("reTurn to the land of Oz") told me that he created 5 pieces almost exactly the same and the last one was the best of the lot. He submitted that piece and it got accepted. Another guy in the same 2005 exhibit told me he has a 3 notebooks of sketches and that he just doesn't have time to do all the pieces! The point is that they used the contest to both further their skills and to make a very nice turning. Also, in the case with 5 attempts, the first attempts didn't turn out. He pointed out to me that you can't get accepted (into the exhibition) unless you submit an entry. That same observation applies here!

I enjoyed looking at all the entries. It's neat to see what people submit and how they interpret the subject of the contest.