Bob McClurg
Working with wood has always been a part of my life, going back to my youth making furniture with my dad in the garage. In my many years of turning, there have been many cycles of life. I’ve turned most things that can be turned, including doing Ornamental turning, and when I started doing my gallery pieces they did well. Then there was the financial downturn in 2008 and 09 when galleries were not doing well. I had to come up with something. A Canadian friend suggested bottle stoppers since he does well with them in Canada. I apparently don’t live in the same environment as he, they didn’t sell well here. After some struggling, I decided to try pepper mills. The decision was a gamble, since we don’t have any of those at home due to my wife’s severe allergy to pepper, making it forbidden in our house. However, they went over well, and I have expanded my design and wood selections greatly, making many different styles. Using both natural and colored died woods and making many different varieties of mills out of all these products expands my inventory. In making the decision to expand, I started to add new products out of those woods such as serving sets, ice cream scoops, pizza cutters and other handled items. Many of my clients now come back time and again to add to their collections or start someone else on their collections as gifts. Each year I’ve tried to add a new item or so. Some of these are my own creations, one being the wired cheese slicers. Unlike a lot of other turners that limit themselves to bowls, or pens, or one or two kinds of gallery pieces, I basically do three kinds of turning. Production turning (making 300-400 mills each season, and the handled items to go with each) including pens and other small items, gallery pieces encompassing much more time and creativity, and my Rose Engine ornamental turning which is extremely time consuming and detailed unique pieces, using a special lathe. In addition, I often do inlay and pyrography with some of my pieces, adding an additional artistic element. With the emersion from the pandemic, many of the mechanics I use are hard to come by and am having to make some tough choices and alternatives when available. Finding the right woods can be difficult as well these days with milling operations going out of business or changing their processes. I am always looking for new outlets and options for creativity in my turning. The galleries I am in across the country seem to accept my options, so I keep evolving with the times.
Wood Turning, Pyrography, Rose Engine.
Bigbear_95663@yahoo.com. Web: GrizzlyGallery.com Facebook: Grizzly Gallery
Mediums: Woodworking, Wood Turning, Pyrography, Rose Engine.