Wrist issue that I deal with...

In my post a couple of days ago, I referred to my wrist problems. And that I worry that over the years this blog could start to sound more like a medical history than an artist's journal. So I will try to keep this brief, if you want to know more, you can ask me and I will pass along a longer email (it even includes x-rays) that I sent to some friends recently.

Four or five years ago, my right wrist started to hurt, and there were some particular processes in my work that seemed to exacerbate things – specifically sanding the interior surfaces of the shades. A cortisone shot helped for a while, but mainly I swapped things so that I was working more with my left hand. That worked for a long while, but in October, I suddenly had major pain in my left wrist. It took a long time to recover enough to allow me to get back to lampshades, but three months later, I got back to work. In the meantime, I was able to do small projects. Mainly that meant bottle stoppers, which are lots of fun, and very popular with my clients. But not making lampshades was a shock to my system. To a very large extent, I define myself as the person who makes these lampshades, it is challenging and interesting for me to make them, and I take a lot of pride in these large turnings. To some extent, I suppose this was a sneak preview of my future: at some point in my life, it will become beyond my physical capabilities to make lampshades. But not yet, not for 10 or more years I hope!

What happened to get me back to "shade-shape?" Well laying off surely helped, gave my wrist a chance to recover. And I developed a couple of technical solutions so that the steps in making a shade that were the most stressful on my hands are not so bad anymore. Finally, just at the point where i was able to get back to work full time, I also saw a terrific hand expert who explained what was going wrong, and understanding the underlying issues turned out to be a great relief, almost exhilarating.

To make a long story short, I have extra long ulna bones. The ulna is the smaller diameter bone running the length of our forearms. I have probably had this condition my whole life, but the work I do has brought it into play as a problem. There is a name for this: "ulnar impingement syndrome." The head of the ulna bone is getting pressed against a pad of cartilage that is in my wrist, kind of below my pinky. Seeing my x-rays and comparing them to the structure of a normal wrist is remarkable, and the diagnosis is very obvious. I have irritated that cartilage pretty badly in both wrists, maybe there is some small amount of shredding there too.

The good news is that I have adapted my work techniques to reduce the impingement issues. Even better for the long term, there is a surgical procedure that would shorten my ulna bones, and it is supposedly very safe, and does not put me out of action for too long. I don't have any plans to get this surgery soon, maybe never. But if and when I need it, I will get it done and move on. There should be no reason that this medical issue will stop me from making shades long in to the future!

Hooray!!! So now I am back to work full time. It is taking me a while to get back to full strength, but the shades are getting made, they are as good or better than ever, and I am happy to be doing what I want.

Been too long since my last post

Wow, hard to believe I have let things ride this long without a new post. I could say I was too busy, and that is an excuse that has some credence up until October. But for three months beginning in early October, I was unable to make lampshades, due to a wrist injury. I guess i will tell you more about that in another post, but I have this fear that my blog will become a running inventory of the nicks and bruises that come from being a turner of large scale objects, at an age that seems to be catching up to me. I will try to keep that under some control so that this does not sound like the TV show ER!

In any case, I am now back to work full time and trying to catch up. I accumulated a large batch of special orders to do this winter, more than I have had for many years, and sales were great throughout the fall. So, I guess my legitimate excuse for not posting to the blog will be in effect again. Still, I have lots of stories to tell.

•• The wrist injury, for those of you who want that sort of info.

•• A lovely huge commission that got installed in November

•• Our trip to Australia over Christmas to visit the exchange student we hosted last year.

I could also tell you about our Empty Nest Syndrome, as our son has gone off to college. Or my newly revived interest in photography. Or you could ask me questions about my work, my passions, whatever. I am never sure anyone is actually reading this blog, so please let me know what you find interesting. I will try to post about the topics I listed above, in the near future.

Thanks for reading, Peter

"A League of Our Own" -- Movie about the League

In my last post to this blog, about the League's 75th anniversary, I briefly mentioned the movie that the League has commissioned. Now allow me to expand on this subject.

This movie was created by Ken Browne Productions, from NY City, and has been in production for two year. It is an hour long, and will be shown on NH Public TV on July 18, and probably other times during the summer. The style is basically in the Ken Burns vein (he made the Civil Wars, Baseball, and Jazz documentaries for national public TV). The movie is called "A League of Our Own," and it does an incredible job of capturing the history of the League, as well as explaining what is important to the League, and what makes fine craftsmanship important in our culture. I can't speak too highly about the production values and the dedication that Ken put in to this effort.

And I am happy to note that I have some presence in the movie. Ken interviewed me about a year ago, and there are three places in the movie where my voice is used to explain some aspect of the League or of fine crafts. Those sections are accompanied with images and video of my lamps and of me doing some work on the lathe. At the very end of the movie, there is a section about how craftspeople are moving forward in to the future, including the internet...., and you will hear me talking about this very blog that you are now reading.

As I said, the movie will be shown on NHPTV on July 18, and it is being pitched for national public tv distribution as well. It is also available as a DVD from the League http://www.nhcrafts.org/pdf/DVD-Order.pdf or by calling 603-224-3375. If you have any interest in the meaning of fine craft, or in the League, this DVD is well worth owning.

League Turns 75!!!

The League of NH Craftsmen is the oldest state-specific craft organization in the country, and almost the oldest craft organization of any kind. And this year the League celebrates it's 75th anniversary. In May, the League had a wonderful party at the Grappone Center in Concord. I was hugely impressed by this event. There were 300 people on hand, including Governor Lynch. Laura Knoy, the well known voice of The Exchange on NH public radio, was the host, and she did a great job. The speeches were fascinating and well deserved awards were given to a couple of long time ((and world renowned) craftpeople in the League. A silent auction was held that raised $9000 for the scholarship fund.

Many of the people in attendance had significant historical connection to the League, and many of them I have not run across for a long long time, so there was a lot of reminiscing. And a lot of self-congratulating for the huge strides the League has made in the past 10 years under the leadership of Susie Lowe-Stockwell, the Executive Director. In terms of financial stability, reputation, the tightening of jurying standards, and the overall well-being of craftspeople, the League has never been in better shape.

The party was more than simply a one time event. To me it represented a deep well of support for the League, and a high level of morale and goodwill towards the organization. That speaks so well for the future prospects of the League of NH Craftsmen.

One wonderful way that the League is celebrating this anniversary is thru the creation of a fantastic hour long video. That movie had it's world premiere at the party, and I think every single person in the room was newly informed and emotionally affected by seeing this production. I will talk more about the movie in another blog entry.

This picture is of myself and Gary Kalagian, who is chairperson of the hugely important Standards Committee of the League.

Incidental National TV Shade Viewing!

On Friday night, I got a call from a friend: “Turn on ABC right this second!” So I did, and there was an interview with a celebrity,..., and one of my table lamps was prominently displayed in the background. This was World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, and they were showing a 5 minute segment on their Person of the Week, Paul Simon. The lamp shows up maybe 3 or 4 times.

It was a nice ego stroke for me, even though probably hardly anyone else noticed. Still, if you are curious, you can check it out on this link: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3190827 -- it starts with a short advertisement that cannot be avoided, but the piece is quite interesting. I have no idea how long ABC keeps this link alive, so eventually it may expire.

Back-Saving System Installed in Shop

A few weeks ago, I had severe back spasms. I have had them before, but this was much worse. Probably the cause was my own failure to do as much stretching as I normally do. Anyway, it scared me a bit, and I resolved to figure out some ways to make my work a little easier on my back, and therefore hopefully to prolong my career as a heavy-duty woodturner.

My good friend Kevin Plunkett is a fantastic jeweler, but he was originally trained as a mechanical engineer, and has all sorts of metal welding and cutting tools. More importantly, he is ingenious at figuring out gadgets and systems to solve unusual problems. Best of all, he is the kind of person who jumps in with both feet to help! A friend indeed!!!

What we decided on is an electric winch for lifting the heavy Aspen logs from the floor up to the lathe level, and a trolley that moves the winch along an I-beam so that it can be positioned exactly as it is engaged by the two ends of the lathe. Maybe that sounds simple, but it was important to figure out how to hold it up to the ceiling in a totally safe way. In the end, the weight of the system and the log are suspended from a total of 9 roof trusses.


Two unintended benefits arose from the installation of the winch system. First it also allows me to lift the lathe bed extension in to place. The extension is used only occasionally, when I make floor lamps bases, but the thing is probably 300 pounds and very awkward. Now I will create a wheel system for moving it along the floor, and the winch will lift it in to place. Hooray!

But the more subtle and interesting benefit of the winch is the total freedom it has given me about when I start the work of making a shade. In the past, I could only begin making a shade when Kathy or Tom were around to help me lift and position the heavy Aspen logs chunk, some of which approach 200 pounds. They both have busy lives of their own, and Tom is off to college next year...., so the process of “logging on” was something that needed to be planned. Now with the winch and trolley system, I can begin work on a log whenever I want. That may not seem like much, but in reality it has made me more productive. Late in the afternoon, when my muscles are warmed up and I happen to have some free time, I can put a piece on the lathe and get some of the initial work started. Maybe I even do that with 3 pieces, one after the other. The most heavy duty aspect is done when my body is best able to absorb the jackhammer vibration.


Kevin is now building me a system for moving the logs from my outside chain sawing yard to the floor near the lathe, and a related system for grabbing the log with the winch, both of which will provide for less physical stress. So.... from the excruciating pain of the spasms in my back have come some real and innovative solutions. All thanks to Kevin. He has my deep gratitude for the assistance and the dedication.

Catching Up, Exciting Projects and more

It is hard to believe I have not posted to this blog since March. It is probably a good indicator of how busy I have been; it seems like I have been going non-stop since then and taking time to compose a blog entry just hasn't risen to the forefront of my priorities. But I know that about 25 people visit this blog every week, so I should keep on top of it better. Anyway, here are some things that have been happening...

The NE Woodturning Symposium in May was a huge success, with lots of demonstrators, a huge trade show and perhaps 400+ woodturners on site during that day. And the event was a big fundraiser for worthy causes, with about $10,000 in profits funneled to Pinkerton Academy's woodworking program, the Guild of NH Woodworker's scholarship program, and the Guild's regular operating budget.

Once I was done with being the overall coordinator of that event, I was fully back in to my own woodturning activities, and business has been good. The League of NH Craftsmen's 9 day fair at Mount Sunapee was a wonderful success, and lots of work has come my way thru other leads and venues.

One particular project was a great challenge and had great artistic rewards. I designed a piece for a home near Philadelphia that involved three large shades hung from an black steel spiral created by David Little. The piece hangs in a very tall and narrow entry way to their home, and in terms of size and drama, it is a giant step ahead in my career. I feel sure that this type of work will lead to other creative projects. There is a picture of this piece at the top of this blog posting. The diameter of the spiral is 4 feet, and the total height is about 9 feet!

I also made a variation on the Apple Blossom lamp that is described in an earlier blog posting from January. The new version has four lobes, and I called it the Four Leaf Clover. It was displayed at the Living With Crafts exhibition at Sunapee in August and now hangs in my showroom in New London. You can see a photo of that ceiling light sculpture, as well as lots of other lamps, by going to www.woodshades.com/ExamplesLampPictsv3.html

Since the summer, I have been catching up and making as many shades as possible, to be ready for my upcoming November events. First I have the Open Studio Weekend. This is an state-wide event organized by the League of NH Craftsmen, and takes place Veterans Day weekend, November 10-12, 10am - 5pm. In addition to my regular showroom at our house, we will be converting the rest of the downstairs of our home into show space, with every lamp I have on display and lit. It will be an unusual opportunity to see lamps in real home settings. Additionally, I will have my workshop open, and will be having brief demos at 11, 1, and 3 o'clock each day, so you can see me working on lampshades at various stages. Snacks and cider will be offered, and there are other open craft studios in the area so you can make a day-long adventure and see lots of fine crafts and studios. To learn more about the state-wide event, go to www.nhcrafts.org/OpenStudio.htm

Then one week later is the Paradise in Marlborough Craft Show in Massachussets, 45 minutes west of Boston near the intersection of the Mass Pike and I-495. This is a very prestigious event with fine arts and crafts from all around the country. It runs from November 17-19, and you can get more info from www.paradisecityarts.com/

So that is a long blog entry, since I had so much to relate. I didn't even get to non-woodturning things in my life, such as my son's great soccer season as captain and goalkeeper for a terrific high school team. Perhaps another time.... Til then, hope to see you in November or elsewhere, Thanks for your interest, Peter

If You Are a Turner, Read This

If you are a woodturner, or have an interest in the field, there is an upcoming event that should not be missed: the Fifth New England Woodturning Symposium. The date is May 13, and the location is Derry, NH (just south of Manchester) at Pinkerton Academy. This is an event that I have a very personal involvement in, since I founded this series of Symposia in 1997, and have been the Overall Coordinator each time around.

On the big day, we will be putting on 28 demonstrations covering almost every aspect of turning. The presenter come from as far away as Minnesota, Quebec, and Pennsylvania. There is also a terrific Trade Show, and something called the "Instant Gallery"... every turner who comes to the event is invited to bring one or two items for the Gallery, so it becomes an incredible display of turned objects that inspires and dazzles. I am guessing that there will be over 500 objects in the Instant Gallery this year.

Registration for the event is only $50, and that even includes lunch! But you need to sign up soon. We limit registration to the first 300 who send in their form, and we always sell out. With two months to go, we are just about 2/3 towards being fully subscribed, so clearly time is of the essence. You can find out more info, and download a registration form from this site: www.gnhw.org/turning2006.

There are also several aspects of the event that are open to the public without the need to register. The Trade Show, the Instant Gallery, and four of the demonstrations (particularly oriented towards beginners) will be available to everyone. To gain access to the areas where the other demonstrations occur, you will need a badge.

As an aside, one of the things I am most proud is that the NE Turning Symposia are a huge fundraiser for worthy causes related to woodworking. All of the participants in the event (demonstrators and organizers alike) volunteer their time, the facility at Pinkerton is provide gratis by the school, and the other expenses are very minimal. Over the years, we have generated a profit of about $35,000! One specific project that has benefited from this is the extensive scholarhip and grants program that is offered by the Guild of NH Woodworkers. This program was started with seed money from the Symposium, and one third of our profit still goes to this fund.

The Turning Symposium is the largest woodworking event in New England, and it ONLY HAPPENS ONCE EVERY THREE YEARS! So sign up right away!!!

Another Creative Interest: Video

I am always busy with my regular wood lampshade business, so it seems a bit odd to me that I felt the need to find another creative outlet. Nevertheless, that is just what I have done.

This past Autumn and Winter, I created artistic and unusual DVD that is a collaboration with my wife (Kathy Lowe), who recently released a new CD "Above Water." The music on this recording represents a sound adventure unlike anything you have every heard before: soothing, mysterious, ethereal, and spiritual. Kathy recorded the main vocal tracks into the side of a million gallon water tank, taking advantage of the incredible natural reverb generated by the airspace in the tank. The songs are elegant in their chant-like simplicity, while layered with nuance and unexpected pleasures that give a depth and haunting beauty that will stick with you forever.

I recorded the video for this on a short section of a brook that is near the water tank where Kathy sang for the CD. Some of the footage was shot during foliage season, the rest while ice was forming on the edges of the brook. Much of what I shot is very closeup scenes, often unrecognizable for what it captures. When I edited the footage into the final movie, I chose to use quite long shots, averaging around 30 seconds. The combination of the subject matter and the the editing, accompanied by Kathy's music, makes for a mulitmedia meditative experience that is beautiful, relaxing and hypnotic. The quality of the production is professional and crisp, and the response from the many people who have seen this this project is uniformly ethusiastic.

If you go to http://www.woodshades.com/AboveWater.html, you can see a short segment of the video, compressed to work as a download. The entire DVD includes 6 of Kathy's new songs and is 28 minutes long. We sell the DVD for $15. The CD is also $15, or you can buy both for $25. Kathy's music can also be heard at CDBaby.com.

I am totally unclear about where this project will lead me. Certainly I have no intention of cutting back on my production of the lampshades. I have a long term interest in video, mainly thru my volunteer activities with the Guild of NH Woodworkers. Thru that organization, I have helped create a huge library of over 100 demonstration videos, and last winter when I was injured, I transfered all those tapes to DVD format. So I have had the equipment and the technical skills, and now I am inspired to uses those to work on creative projects.

There is one strong connection between my lampshades and this new video projecct: they both provide an experience that emphasizes relaxation, calmness, intimacy and an appreciation for the gifts of nature. So in the end, perhaps these two disparate creative endeavors are really just branches of the same tree.

The Apple Blossom Lamp

It has been a while since I have posted to this blog. First I was so busy with fall work.... and more recently I have been quite involved with a complicated commission. That is what I want to talk about today. This new piece is quiet remarkable in several ways. First of all, it started way back last spring, when some clients came by my studio to buy a lamp. While here, they began to discuss a potential new project, and by the time they left, we had some initial drawings. But the concepts involved in this piece as so different from anything I have done before that I aked if they could be patient until business slowed down after Christmas. That was a lot to ask of them, but their patience paid off, I think. The resulting creation need that extra time to develop in my mind.

Here is an attempt to describe the piece verbally, in case the picture in this blog entry is unclear. If you think of my wall sconces, and then assemble five of them together, so that the small ends are all bunched together and the five shades radiate out from a central hub. The whole construction is mounted to a circular disk and that in turn is designed to mount to the ceiling. Each shade holds a 60 watt bulb, giving a total of 300 watts. At the open end of each shade I have installed a semicircular cutout from a shade, so that there is a translucent end cap which is spaced away from the shade so that there is some light spilling out. That in turn creates an interesting pattern of light and shadow on the ceiliing as the light from each shade intersects with it's neighboring shade. The central hub is turned and hollowed out so that there is a place to join all the wires, and that is covered with turned lid, much like one of my lidded bowls.

An amazing coincidence occured with this design. Once I had drawn the initial sketches, my clients pointed out that the piece bore a striking resemblance to an apple blossom, and that they had a very special connection and appreciation for apples. Since my crab apple tree was in flower, I was able to go pick a blossom and see how similar my drawing was to this natural form.

Building this lamp has been a bit of a trial. There were so many aspects to figure out. for example, the geometry of the junction between the narrow end of the shade and the curved side of the turned central hub was something I could only devise by carefully imagining the 3D aspects of the parts and then some trial and error. And the system for mounting all the parts to each other and to the circular plaque was confusing to me until I figured it out. Of course like so many things, now that the piece is done, it all seems obvious. But along the way I had many choices to make.

I am thrilled with the results. In the next week or two, the clients will pick up the piece and once it is installed, I will get a photo of the room with the Apple Blossom filling the space with bright and warm light. There is a good chance that you will get to see some variation on the Apple Blossom at the Sunapee show in August (see my web site for details), since I have submitted this concept for the Living With Crafts exhibition.

Something I Learned

Sometimes things are so obvious..., after I figure them out! So here is a story about something I learned recently, that gets to the core of what I do and why it interests me.

I have a new product line: wine bottle stoppers. At the upcoming show in Marlborough (November 4-6), they will get their debut. And I am having so much fun making them. I do make other small items such as stamp dispensers, candle lanterns, etc. and I like them very much as objects and designs. But the bottle stoppers are different. I find myself compelled to go to my shop in the evenings or Sundays and making a few. I started to ask myself why these struck such a vibrant chord with me... in some ways the same feeling of joy and creativity that I have when I am making lampshades. Compared to the lampshades, the stoppers are so totally different in scale, function and uniqueness. I had to ask myself why they brought up these feelings for me.

The answer is that in both cases, there are only a few basic design constraints that relate to the functionality, but mostly I start with a chunk of wood and carve away in an instinctive way, sculpting the ultimate shape in an right-brained improvisational state of mind. Very little of the decision making is predetermined or consciously purposeful. I am just seeing and doing. And that is a lot of fun, for me. I have made about 50 bottle stoppers so far, and no two are alike. Sometimes I make one that I like a lot, and the next one might have some related elements or lines -- or it might not!

It is the same with the lampshades. Usually I discover the shape gradually during the hours I spend turning away the extra wood, by "seeing" possible shapes as I go along, or by finding grain patterns and colors that will be best displayed by some particular profile. Rarely (usually when I have a special order to fill), I will have a pre-established idea of what I might make with a particular piece of a log. But if the log "calls out" to me that it wants to be some other shape, then I respond to that urge, and the special order waits until the next log, or the one after that.

I knew already that this sense of discovery was a big part of the allure for me in making lampshades. It never crossed my mind that this joy could come from making other things. So that is the lesson I learned from making the wine bottle stoppers, and maybe it will lead to further new ideas. Who knows?

Sconces and Largest Shades Are Very Popular!

It has been a while since I last posted, just before the Sunapee show. That was a hugely successful event, despite the oppressive heat. I made lots of great connections with clients new and old. There was particular interest in wall sconces, due in large part to the installation of all the sconces at New London Inn.

And the very largest shades for floor lamps and hanging lamps have been remarkably popular. These are the most expensive shades I sell, sometimes going for as much as $1600 for just the shade. But they are also the most dramatic exhibition of the effect of translucency and wood. The large scale makes a wonderful visual statement and fills a room with a warm glow and romance in a way that is hard to resist.

I pride myself on keeping a very large inventory of lampshades on hand at all times, so that when someone calls or visits my showroom, I am fairly likely to have what they want, ready to go. Right now, this is the first time in many years when I have been completely sold out of one particular category of shades: the largest floor lamp shades. I have some medium-sized floor shades (at a lower price, too), but I am actually sold out right now with the big ones. I have several special orders to fulfill before I can replenish my own inventory. But large shades are almost exclusively the objective of my work schedule these days. Last week and this, I have made the shades that will fill the special orders, and now can begin working on the others.

The creation of all of my shades is a always a physical challenge. I talked about that a few months ago in the aftermath of my knee injury. Thankfully, the knee does not slow me down now, but the overall intensity of the activity really shows up when I make the largest shades, one after the other, no days off. Today I had to take a break from the efforts -- my body is shot, my muscles are kind of humming in some deep and subtle way, and I had trouble just getting out of bed! Tomorrow I will get back to it, today I am catching up on desk work and shipping and that sort of thing.

The good news with these largest shades (18-20" in diameter) is that they are absolutely stunning. They are all coming from two logs that have been hidden in the back of a pile since April. The warm muggy summer has been uncomfortable for us humans, but the logs have benefited by aging beautifully and quickly over the last few months. The grain patterns that were naturally in these logs has been amplified by the effects of the aging. As beaten up as I feel physically, I am even more excited to be bringing these lampshades to life. I feel so fortunate to have this job, and to be capable of accomplishing the tasks. And that my clients relate to my work as strongly as I do.