Wow! The votes were in, the chits were tallied and the ceremony began! The Nova Woodturners Guild 2009 Woodturning Competition Award Ceremony was held today and it was a huge success! There were awards, prizes, laughter and fun. Above all, there were dozens of pieces of beautiful woodturnings. What a day, what a great day!

The coveted award, the Warman Castle trophy, which is given each year to the member that wins the People’s Choice Award was won by Don Moore.

The Warman Castle trophy is a much sought after prize within the club for a couple of reasons. First, it represents its namesake, Warman Castle, who not only exhibited knowledge and skill but was also one who went to great lengths to share it. It also represents the peoples choice, the public at large, where a piece is not only chosen for it’s design and workmanship but by simply how appealing it is – the piece that most people liked. To be chosen from among the list of entries, where each one is a piece of art in it’s own right, is truly an achievement.

On being awarded this trophy Don gave a heartfelt speech on what it meant for him to receive it. Don included his own memories of Warman and how he had played a big part in his growth as a woodturner. Ever the one to be helpful and sharing, Don also took the time to carefully explain his winning piece to us, enlightening us with the intricacies, and some secrets, to its creation.

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Last night’s meeting of the Nova Woodturners Guild was focused on the highlight of the year – our upcoming ’2009 Nova Woodturners Guild Competition’! This was an informative session that explained the rules and regulations, how to fill out the entry forms, how to package our work, how to label it, the judging process and more. This was our regular monthly meeting, held tonight because of a storm on Monday.

There will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in both the Face Plate and Spindle Turning categories. Awards will be given to these winners as well as prizes drawn for all participants. In addition, there will be the People’s Choice award with the coveted Warman Castle Memorial Trophy as the award.

This award is in memory of Warman Castle, a long time woodturner and Guild member who passed away a few years ago. Warman was not only a great turner but also a great teacher. This became clear as a couple of members shared humorous anecdotes about him. It was really nice hearing these heartwarming stories because they gave a connection to the Guild’s past as well as history and meaning to this award. As a newer Guild member I can now understand why this is such a ‘coveted’ award.

The 2009 Nova Woodturners Guild Competition will be held at our local Lee Valley store with our turnings on display from January 27th and culminating on February 7th with the Award Presentation.

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Last night’s meeting of the Nova Woodturners Guild was a glimpse into the world of wood finishes and a grand view into the Guild member’s workmanship!

This meeting was a ‘make-up’ meeting since the one last month was cancelled due to the weather.

After a bit of a fun doing the ‘room rhumba’ we settled into a more comfortable classroom and the evening started with Club President, Bill Luther, bringing us up to speed on a few things. Of note was information on the upcoming Woodturning Competition and on how important it is to fill out the entry forms correctly, especially the section on ‘Intent’. This section being where you can let the judges know what you wanted to achieve with your turning. There will be more on this at our regular meeting next week. The deadline for competition entries is January 24th so get turning! Remember last year’s competition? It was a lot of fun!

There will be a month long exhibition (not a competition!) in Truro, Nova Scotia in either May or June (member interest indicates June) which the Guild will be a part of. More on this as information follows.

There will also be a Sorby Tools demo at BusyBee Tools in the very near future! About 70 members attended the last Sorby demo held here and it proved to be a great time! Can’t wait for this one!

From here we went into Show and Tell and it was fantastic! I’m not sure if it was the fact that we missed last month’s meeting or perhaps member’s had some time off during the holiday season but whatever it was there was sure a lot of items! There were bowls, ornaments, a clock, a table and more! Here are some photos of these great turnings:

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Last night’s meeting of the Nova Woodturners Guild was a busy one with almost 50 members in attendance!

Don Moore was there to demonstrate how to turn small Christmas ornaments. With just over a month before the big day this was a timely presentation, and very inspiring, indeed!

Don turned a couple of different ornaments while giving instruction and tips on the making of each as well as on general woodturning. He demonstrated his techniques for hollowing out end grain, coloring by burnishing with different colored woods and the various finishes that he uses while turning a small snowman and an icicle.

He also brought in a collection of ornaments that he turned in the past to show the wide variety of options available, from the simplest icicles to snowmen and bells. Here are a few photos showing some of them:

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