Don Lindsley, wood turner from East Setauket, has his father to thank for two of his major interests - science and working with wood.
Don's scientific path took interesting turns. It was obvious to him that he would follow his father's steps and become a scientist, a physicist, as a matter of fact. During one of their many walks through woods, father and son decided not only to enjoy the outdoors but also to learn more about it.
Bowl by Don Lindsley, black walnut and malachine
They divided the expert areas - father was to cover trees and flowers, son to contribute information about rocks. For Don a new, fascinating world opened - he majored in geology at Princeton and obtained a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. He has now retired from a Geosciences Chair at the Stony Brook University.
Lindsleyite, a mineral named after Don Lindsley
Don's contributions to geosciences was recognized by having a mineral, Lindsleyite, named after him in the early 1980s. It was discovered by his postdoctoral student in South Africa, then went through a rigorous review by an international body of scientists. A few rare samples of Lindsleyite are housed at The Smithsonian, British Museum, and American Museum of Natural History among others.
Don's father, an amateur wood turner and furniture maker in the times of Depression, carved a small bowl from a limb of a walnut tree and then challenged Don to carve a matching bowl from the other half of the limb. Don did. Both bowls are still amongst Don's cherished possessions, with their rich dark walnut color and a smooth surface intact.
Vase by Don Lindsley, cherry and malachine
Don inherited his father's lathe, let is sit unattended for some time, then dusted if off while searching for a creative outlet during a stressful period in his otherwise fulfilling professional life. He started from basics, learned by trial and error, developed his own technique, benefited from the expert advice of his fellow wood turners at the Long Island Woodturners Association. Don, as a rule, uses wood from Long Island trees, some felled withing a stone throw from his studio. He likes turning green.
Bowl by Don Lindsley, cherry and malachite
Bowl by Don Lindsley, black locust
While visiting Santa Fe he was inspired by a wood carver who inserted turquoise into the wood. Don tried to work turquoise into his own pieces, but found it too hard. Instead he picked two close chemical brothers - green malachite and dark blue azurite, for his works. Don crashes the minerals (it breaks his geologist's heart to do so), binds them with an adhesive and inserts them into the crevices. He also uses fossilized coral, particularly on pieces turned from box elder, to merry the pink / salmon hues of both. The striking appearance of colorful stone on wood makes Don's art stand out.
Azurite stone
Ground azurite and malachite
Bowl by Don Lindsley, patches of green malachite in a large cherry bowl
Bowl by Don Lindsley, azurite inserted into a bowl made of American beech
He does not carve or varnish his pieces, he likes the wood to shine through. All Don's pieces are covered with a thin layer of a food-safe finish. More on Don's work can be found on his website The Well Turned Bowl. We invite you for a tour of the artist's workshop.
Anthony Farah, Wantagh woodworker craftsman, got his first taste of hands-on work at 15 when he picked up a summer job at a frame shop. He enjoyed both the precision and the tactile aspect of fitting frames, cutting mat boards, glass and adding finishing components. He stayed there for 3 years.
Bubinga Console Table
by Anthony Farah
Having imagined himself a cattle rancher in Montanta, he studied animal husbandry at The State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill. His first venture into wood art happened in a woodshed at the college grounds - Tony made a jewelry box for a prospective girlfriend. Neither the cattle ranch nor the girlfriend came true.
Tony joined his cousin Charles at his carpentry business in Philadelphia. He had used his time there well - learned flooring, window making, trims, visited various museums and galleries in search of clever use of wood.
Little Round Table
by Anthony Farah
Throughout the years he had a number of other experiences from barn building to employment at a mirror shop at the time when mirror walls and ceilings were all the rage. A memorable and eye-opening experience was an on and off involvement with Filmways Studios in the Bronx where he built movie sets.
He started his own shop with just a handful of machines in his backyard, then moved through a succession of workshops of ever increasing footage and capacities. He is now comfortably set up in Uniondale, where he runs a woodworking shop Big Twig Woodworks. He makes custom cabinets in a variety of styles, creates sumptuous bars and paneled libraries, is well known for his railing work.
Glass Top Table
by Anthony Farah
In addition, Tony creates one of a kind furniture where he utilizes reclaimed and recovered wood. If he hears of or sees a fallen/felled tree of potential he will make sure it ends up stashed in his shop getting ready for a table/bookshelf/etc yet to be conceived.
Recently, Tony's interest and perseverance got an official recognition; he was a recipient of the Think Green Award given by Think Long Island First at The Long Island Fair, an annual event held on the grounds of the Old Bethpage Village Restoration. A console table of local maple and red oak was the winning piece.
Though Tony is a self-taught woodworker, he has gained his esthetic training and inspiration from the study of works by George Nakashima, Wendell Castle, Frank Pollaro, or Wharton Esherick whose staircase in Esherick's house/museum he considers one of the finest achievements of woodworking. Tony is a member of the Long Island Woodworkers Guild.
With great sadness we inform you of the sudden passing of our friend and colleague, Mike Denaro.
Many of you have met Mike at the Introduction to Wood Carving or the Artist Appreciation Day events and remember him as a talented wood carver with a lively personality and a great sense of humor. Mike considered himself a folk artist and pursued various crafts to a great success.
Mike granted us an interview, Mike Denaro, wood carver, and allowed us to film him a few weeks back.
Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Mike's family.
Services will be held at Mother Teresa Tribute Center at 123 Ronkonkoma Avenue, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY, on Thursday, April 21st at 12 noon.
Three local wood carvers, Don Daily from Huntington Station, Mike Denaro from Oyster Bay, and Bob Schiff from Great Neck displayed their work, spoke about their inspirations, very different techniques, and occasional injuries, presented their preferred tools and materials at an Introduction to Wood Carving event at the store last Saturday.
It was a very instructive and fun morning. All three speakers were generous with their advice in the true spirit of the craft. All three have met with supportive fellow carvers in the past and now like to share their knowledge and experiences.
Bob Schiff, wood carver from Great Neck, first encountered wood carving at Alley Pond Environmental Center where he attended a three day carving course. He liked it so much he decided to pursue it further. He joined a carving club, a supportive group of carvers in possession of passion, talent, and a great library. He worked with the club for many years and was at one point its president.
Bob does not come from an artistic background, but is very open to ideas. When his daughter, who did indeed graduate from an art school, tried different art techniques, Bob followed. He experimented with stone and clay sculpture, made objects of papier-mâché.
He now concentrates his creative powers just on carving as his time is already filled to a brim. Bob, a supercharged retiree, is a biking enthusiast, he bikes 30-40 miles a day. He plays tennis and roller-blades. Until recently he was an avid skier. Bob volunteers for the Big Apple Greeters organization where he meets tourists from all over the world and helps them discover New York.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
Originally Bob carved mostly birds - he is a bird watcher, keeps well stocked bird feeders in his backyard and a handy pair of binoculars. Bob likes to carve local birds, they are frequent companions in his garden, but had carved tropical birds, as well. With time Bob branched out to other subjects: he immortalized friends' pets, has done commissioned work, carved other animals, figures, and walking sticks for his family members.
For his painted (acrylic is his paint of choice) wood carvings Bob uses tupelo, basswood, or yellow poplar. For the natural wood pieces he prefers cedar, mahogany, black walnut, and most tropical woods. He purchases his wood at shows, exchanges it with his club members, receives chunks from friends and family. Another great source happens to be discarded wood from Steinway piano factory.
90% of his work is done with electric tools, many of them dental instruments, Bob before his retirement used to be a dentist, 10% is done manually.
Bob does not like parting with some of his pieces. Once a potential customer asked Bob for a carving of a blue heron. Bob happened to have one ready, he gave a rather high price for the piece to discourage the buyer. To his surprise the enthusiastic customer whipped up a check book and bought the piece. Bob made another carving of the blue heron, priceless, just for himself to keep.
Bob will be one of the presenters at the Introduction to Wood Carving event on Saturday, March 12th, between 10 am and 12:30 pm.
Do you know what veiner, fluter, or sloyd? You may have your chance to learn or to show off whichever the case might be.
Three local wood carvers - Don Dailey from Huntington Station, Mike Denaro from Oyster Bay, and Bob Schiff from Great Neck will conduct an Introduction to Wood Carving session at Think Long Island First on Saturday, March 12th, starting at 10 am.
Come join us and learn about the carving materials, tools, and varnishes. Bring your completed or ongoing projects to discuss with Don, Mike, and Bob.
A lot has been written about Harry Wicks, wood turner from Cutchogue, and about his work. Harry himself, at times a magazine editor, produced six books, some for large companies, some published under his name. Harry's website www.harrywicks.com is a good source of information and includes many photos of his work.
Native Long Islander from a farming family that settled in Western Nassau and Queens in early 19th century, Harry cannot recall any artists among his ancestors. He obtained a degree in graphic illustration from the Pratt Institute, one of the best art schools in the country. In his professional life in carpentry, furniture making, and publishing, he created many prototypes and designs, and participated in countless projects. Harry eventually discovered wood turning, taught himself the turning and varnishing techniques, stocked his workshop, and decided to devote all his creative powers to it.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
On our two visits to Harry's workshop we were welcome by classical music blasting full steam. Harry has the music on to muffle the sound of his tools and the hum of air purifiers. The sequence of compositions, either classical or jazz, is carefully planned by Harry to match his mood, his energy level and the energy of the piece with which he works. Harry will frequently stop just to listen to a particular passage; Puccini may bring his work day to an end, as after hearing his music nothing more can be added in any medium.
We have talked about the analogy of silence in music to an empty space in a vessel. Both are significant and, when used properly, enormously effective. You will see this principle applied in many works of Harry.
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht
Harry turns both dry and green wood. He will start by taking a piece of wood, will draw an initial sketch, study the wood, work it and then adjust the original design as he uncovers layers in the wood - sometimes problems, more often nice surprises.
He may turn a perfectly finished piece, geometrically complete, so to speak, and classical in form, where exact shape of wood is well under control. He may also allow the wood's qualities to take over the piece, let bark with its rugged contour become a design element, a bit like improvisation or rubato in music. There is beauty and harmony in both approaches.
He likes working with fruit wood, his sources are more often local than otherwise. Part of his work comes from clients who commission Harry to create pieces from a recently fallen or felled tree of historical or emotional significance to the clients. It happens that some trees are too diseased to be used, but there are many happy endings. Circle of Mercy series was one of such successful and meaningful projects, created for Our Lady of Mercy Academy, a school attended by one of Harry's granddaughters.
Listen to Harry talk about his work and present a few of his pieces.
It is sometimes said that shoemakers' wives go barefoot. We are pleased to say Harry's lovely and supportive wife does not fall into the above category. Harry, with the help of his sons, built the house where the couple now lives. Most furniture and many ornamental and utilitarian objects were made by Harry. How much more 'made on Long Island' one can get?
Harry can be reached at 631.734.5738.
Latest update - June 25th 2011
Harry Wicks revisited
Harry Wicks, woodturner-artist from Cutchogue, has been rather busy in the months that passed since we have interviewed him last. Among other projects, he developed new styles of candlesticks and lamps, perfectly utilitarian but very artistic. He also worked with wood from a black locust and a copper beech which were very dear to us. The slideshow below includes examples of his latest pieces (photos courtesy of Harry Wicks).
Harry's son shot a nice video of Harry in his studio, with further examples of the recent work plus a presentation of various stages of the creative process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQpaRcKTjoM
