Never one to miss a day out a visit to Border Woodturners offered a chance to see Richard Kennedy at work, a turner who produces some of the most beautiful thin walled, pierced and carved work going.
The weather was not ideal but we battled through the snow to a warm welcome at the club in Brampton, it's an easy enough venue to find and they're a friendly enough bunch.
Richard started off the day with a slight recap on an old demo by going through the final stages of one of the small hollow forms he is knwon for and concentrating on the colouring and finishing of the piece rather than the turning - an area often neglected!
First project out of the way Richard went on to demonstrate a small (75mm) square dish in Sycamore which was then ebonized, carved and decorated with variegated metal leaf. The dish was small, thin and Richard discussed and showed a number of possible finishing options for those of us who are "colour averse".
Lunch was a buffet with plenty for all and we managed to snatch a few minutes with Richard and some of the other club members.
The third part of the demonstration was a small pot , turned and hollowed (using a woodcut hollowing tool), this pot was then decorated with a pyrography tool in the style of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian - squares and rectangles to the rest of us. A selection of the squares and rectangles were then filled with an assortment of metal leaf, carving and pyrography.
Richard rounded off the day with a candlestick in the style of Rude Osolnik
All in all a good day was had by all, if you ever get the chance to see Richard then take the opportunity - you won't be disappointed!
