The highpoint of the American Association of Woodturners Symposium, if there can be anything above what I have already written about , would have to be the exhibits. This is where one gets to get up close to hundreds of woodturnings by the best turners in the world!

There were several different exhibits that included the Instant Gallery, The Spindle exhibit, exhibits by Gary Knox Bennett and Merryll Saylan, the Chapter Collaborative Challenge and the Spirit of the Southwest exhibition.

The Instant Gallery is an annual event where the attendees to the Symposium are invited to bring pieces in for this presentation. Each year, the attendees bring a wide range of beautiful pieces from all skill levels, from novice to professional.

This is the largest of the exhibits with the last estimate that I heard was around 900 pieces! Unfortunately, although I took hundreds of photos, I can only post a small sampling here:

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The Trade Shows at the AAW Symposiums are obviously one of the popular spots and here at the 2009 Symposium with almost fifty vendors it was no different.

The Trade Show was opened throughout the Symposium which allowed you drop by anytime. As you can imagine it was a hubbub of activity.

There were tool suppliers, lathe manufactures, wood suppliers, books, videos and a full variety of woodturning accessories. Some of the vendors included Craft Supplies, Fox Chapel Publishing, Jet/Powermatic, Oneway Manufacturing, Packard Woodworks, Stubby Lathe USA, Tropical Exotic Hardwoods, Unique Mesquite, Woodworker’s Supply and dozens more.

One of the neatest things about walking around this area was not only the fantastic tools, deals and buying opportunities was some of ‘big names’ of woodturning that you would meet.

Here’s a few photos taken from the show room floor:

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The first Rotation that I went to on the third and final day of the American Association of Woodturner’s 23rd Annual Symposium was “Signature Dye Stain” with Chris Pytlik.

Chris demonstrated the painting and finishing technique that he uses on his vessels and discussed the development of a signature dye for hollow forms. He also explained in-depth his lacquering and buffing process.

The vibrant colors are achieved through this unique staining process and the brilliance of the finish is a result of up to a dozen coats of carefully applied lacquer.

Seeing this pieces up close and being able to handle a few of them was worth the price of admission!

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It was another beautiful day in Albuquerque and another great day at the American Association of Woodturner’s 2009 Symposium! For the first Rotation on Day 2 I went to “Getting Creative With Epoxy” with Marilyn Campbell.

Marilyn first gave us a great slideshow overview of her past work and work done by others that displayed the results of the technique that she would explain today. She then went through the steps for using epoxy not only as a glue but as a medium.

She demonstrated two particular techniques, one where the wood was cut into flowing shapes and refitted with epoxy of varying colors and thickness and the other where a channel was cut in the top of a plate and then filled with different colored epoxies and materials, like these pieces here:

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