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Flared Bowl - turquoise

Allen W. Davis-Winchester Woodworks

My wife, the quilter, says I quilt with wood. My woodturnings, "pieced" from precise cuts of hardwoods, have a geometric "quilt block" appearance, with the pattern running through the entire piece's thickness.

Interest in creating my own blanks, instead of using one piece of solid wood, began when I assisted a workshop on “polychromatic segmented woodturning.” This interest shows no sign of waning.


My bowls, vases, lidded urns, oil candles, cutting boards, and ikebana use native hardwoods, (often cut from my own 10 acres) layered and assembled alternately with imported exotic hardwoods (recycled from cabinetmakers’ waste bins.) The large urns contain 450 or more cut shapes. My finishing process uses progressions of fine micromesh and grit papers, followed by food-grade oils and waxes to reveal the natural grain and color of these special woods. No dyes or stains are employed; all pieces are meant to be functional and are food-safe. Some of my favorite showy woods are osage orange, spalted maple, African iroka, dogwood, canary wood, South American purpleheart, cocobolo, zebrawood, and marblewood.
More of my work can be seen at my own website: www.winchesterwoodworks.net

I retired from the corporate life in Florida to the mountains of Western North Carolina. With leisure time to be filled, and a dormant woodcrafting interest leftover from high school Industrial Arts classes, I began to experiment with the lathe in 1997. Though largely self-taught, I have studied with recognized woodturning specialists-Nick Cook, Don Russell and the late Willard Baxter. Promoting my craft whenever possible, I’ve done workshops for at-risk teens at Eckerd Youth Alternatives Camp in Hendersonville, NC, and for Big Brother/Big Sister of Haywood County. In return for shopwork hours at Winchester Woodworks, I offer woodturning instruction.
In addition to all the Guild Shops, my work can be seen at these galleries:
New Morning Gallery, Asheville, NC
deYoung Museum of Contemporary Art Museum Shop,
San Francisco, CA
By Hand South, Decatur, GA
Textures, Waynesville, NC
Tresa Vorenberg Goldsmith, Sante Fe, NM
Bellevue Arts Museum Shop, Bellevue, WA
Sawbridge Studios, Chicago, IL
Just Because, Northampton, MA
Smart Gallery, West Jefferson, NC
Hand in Hand, Flat Rock, NC
The Design Gallery, Burnsville, NC
Art Masters Gallery, Watkinsville, GA
Fat Cat Limited, Madison, NC
Tin Roof Studio, Highlands, NC
Contemporary Center, Torrance, CA
Oswego Lake Gallery, Oswego, OR
Sabbath-Day Woods Gallery, Canton, NC
Berea College Gift Shop, Berea, KY
Carlton Gallery@Creekside, Foscoe, NC
Craftsman House, St. Petersburg, FL
Meadows Museum@Centenary College,Shreveport, LA

2007 Show and Demo Schedule----
Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands,Asheville,NC,
July 19-22
Parkway Craft Center,Blowing Rock,NC,(Demo) Sept 6-9
Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, Asheville, NC,
October 18-21
Cumberland Crafts,Middlesboro,KY, (Demo), October 25-27
American Craft Council Show, Charlotte, NC, November 2-4
Crafts@the Castle (Show), Boston, MA, 11/30-12/2





Diane Davis
Spider Web Footed Platter
13" diameter $300
Maple, Oak, Cocobolo

view image gallery

Allen W. Davis


Waynesville, NC


828-421-2693



Wood


email Allen Davis

personal website link