As a child, Kathleen was introduced to woodturning by watching her father make knobby-legged, furniture for the family. She was fascinated as chips flew off the spinning wood. Unfortunately, it never occurred to either that he could teach her the craft he so enjoyed. It wasn’t until after his death that she first attempted to turn something on the Shopsmith she’d inherited from him. Although not entirely successful, she knew why her father had so enjoyed working with wood and she was hooked. Little did she know those early attempts lead to an art and craft through which she would meet turners from all over the world and even take her to Turkey to demonstrate her craft.

She turns a variety of objects – everything from large bowls to delicate Christmas ornaments, magic wands to spinning tops, gnomes to spheres.

After retiring in 2014, she started “piercing” her work. Her pierced pieces are small vessels, turned to 2 mm in thickness and pierced with a dental drill. The intricate designs give them a lace-like appearance.

Kathleen is a member of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW has 15,000 members worldwide), the Cascade Woodturners and the Southwest Washington Woodturners. She served two terms on the AAW Board of Directors (2015-2020).

Artist’s Statement

“Many of the woods I use are from trees that have been cut down due to disease or construction. This is wood that would otherwise be burned or end up in a landfill. To me, it is exciting to find the hidden beauty in a chunk of wood. Even a very plain piece of wood offers design opportunities. With plain woods, I often enhance the wood by carving, texturing, or burning. My designs mimic textures and patterns found in nature.”

“Each piece I turn has to have a balance between touch, shape, proportion, and any embellishments I decide to include. I turn a variety of items – both functional and artistic. I have recently started turning very thin (2mm) bowls and piercing a design into them with a high speed dental drill.