Accidental Woodturner: Daniel Callahan

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Artist Statement: Daniel Callahan

“We’ve stopped listening to the trees.” --- Carl Jung  

My first teacher, the legendary David Ellsworth, caught my attention when he said turning wood is about having a conversation, paying attention to what the particular piece of wood might suggest as the chips being to fly. 

For me, part of engaging with wood as an art form also includes responsible husbandry of our resources. Virtually all the wood I use is either harvested from trees that need to come down, ones that have come down in storms, or quite literally pieces sometimes left on the side of the road. Each log is different; pieces from the same log can vary dramatically! I was not drawn to working with clay, metal or glass. An imperfect artist working with imperfect specimens can find new and unforeseen delights in each piece.

Like many men of a certain age, I first encountered the lathe in junior high school woodshop.  The responsibilities of family and work left time for an occasional bookcase or doll furniture, but not for developing a craft. A good few years down the road, responsibilities decreased, and my wife gave me a turning lesson for Christmas. There began the journey from an accidental woodturner to working in my dedicated turning studio today.

Turned wood art is a three-dimensional medium, hard to appreciate through photos. The pieces you see here have multiple perspectives to hopefully allow you a close to real life appreciation of the various facets of each piece. If you choose to purchase a piece, I hope it brings you as much pleasure as I have had in my conversations with the original log!