Object ID Number: 2016FBMB101

Object Number: 2016FBMB101

Notes: Back in 1981, this piece was selected to be in the First North American Turned Object Show (ITOS). This was very pivotal as it exposed me to the larger turning world. I was working in a vacuum and had no idea that anything like a Turning World even existed. When I delivered my piece to Albert LeCoff, he realized that I was completely new to all of this. He was kind enough to show me slides of not only what had been accepted into the show, but also all of the other pieces that had been submitted for consideration. It completely blew my mind. I felt as if I had spent my entire time in one room and all of a sudden was taken outside into the broader world. It was amazing... Then I went to the symposium that he organized to go along with the opening of the show and my life was never the same. I listened to a one hour slide presentation by Stephen Hogbin and I remember telling Albert that I felt like I had already received the price of admission for the weekend. I was off and running. And I am still at it. Fortunately I had gone to art school so copying other people’s work was out of the question, but taking inspiration from others and coming up with something new, now that is legit.