About the Contest

The Spring 2007 AAW Forum woodturning contest results are in. Congratulations to Bill Tilson, the first place contest winner. This was the 9th turning contest held on the AAW forums. The theme was "footed bowls" following along the design guidelines featured in the Spring 2007 AW Journal, on page 36, by Neil Scobie. The contests winners are:

1st place: Bill Tilson
2nd place: Miguel Balaguero
3rd place: aawforum

Click on each of the winner's names for a view of their creation. And click here to view photos of all twelve entries.

The AAW would like to thank Neil Scobie for judging this contest.

If you would like to consider entering the next contest, watch for announcements in the AAW forums.

 

Comments from Bill Tilson:

Petal Bowl -  Birdseye Maple Burl, Mesquite  7 1/2“ X 2 7/8“

Probably like most of us, I was introduced to woodworking in high school shop and still have my first bowl.   I continued with woodworking as a hobby through out my “corporate life” turning very little.  The last 4 years I rediscovered the joy of turning.  I am mostly self-taught so when I joined local turning clubs and the AAW, I really learned a lot; fellow turners sure like to share information and techniques.  Joining also encouraged me to experiment.   I am also a Marquetrian and frequently incorporate my veneer patterns into the turnings. 

When the AAW announced “Turning Green” it started me thinking about how I could turnsomething using the minimal amount of wood and having minimal waste.  I’ve been experimenting with flower formsfor a while so started the old juices churning.  I came up with a unique process of incorporating veneer into my turnings by bending and forming it around a turned form that would resemble a flower.  My first couple turned out to be vases.  Showed them to the wife and after “oohing and aahing” (aren’t wives great!) she called them “Petal Vases”. 

Then the spring contest was announced and I thought a petal bowl would be nice to try.   Used the maple burl and with just the plain white wood petals, I knew something was missing.  Then along came the Journal and “Voila’!” back to back articles: Michael Allison’s on color and then Neil Scobie’s on footed bowls. While I was reading the articles, my imagination just took over.  I was inspired to try airbrushing the petals with dye and to turn and carve a foot that mimics the sepals on a flower.

Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed the petal bowl.