I entered two pieces in the competition, the Ash Bowl With Flanged Rim<\/a> and the Cocobolo And Ebony Lidded Box<\/a>. The Ash Bowl was entered in the Face Plate Category and the Cocobolo and Ebony Lidded Box was entered in the Spindle Turning Category. Both, of course, were entered in the Novice Class.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nNeither of them won any award but the benefits that I gained just by entering the competition was more than I could ever have imagined. Because I had never entered such a competition before this really surprised me. I had no idea that just by simply entering my skill level and attitude towards woodturning would change.<\/p>\n
The Ash Bowl was turned back in November without any plan of it being entered and the Lidded Box was turned in January, specifically for the competition. It was with the latter, I believe, that took my turning to a new level.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t that this project took me out of my comfort zone with the new challenges it offered, like being my first end-turning. No, it was much more than that. Although the challenges certainly added to the fun of the piece it was the very fact that this piece would be looked at, nay, scrutinized closely, by other turners, professional turners at that.<\/p>\n
I could accept any piece that I turned prior to this one simply on the merits of my limited experience. I could ignore a bit of torn grain here or a less than perfect wall thickness there, knowing full well that this was merely ‘practice’ and that there would be many more pieces coming where my skills would be honed. Besides, with these other pieces I am normally the only one that would notice. The only other people that would get to view these pieces, even closely, were family and friends who, for the most part, would be supportive if I turned a bat and called it a toothpick! Remember the Spurtles<\/a>? A case in point. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Back to the shop…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"