David Goosman
livermoreartassociation.org/art-david-goosman
Fine Woodturning
As an experimental physicist I have always liked to create things. My wood turning started when my wife wanted me to buy her a small woodturning. I thought I could make something similar. I read a book and started to turn a few pieces.
Then a storm blew down our Sweet Thorn Acacia tree. In trying to preserve some of it as much as I could I naturally started turning wood. Now that I look at a tree I think of the objects that can be made from it. Only later did I realize that God’s hand was in this. It is both a challenge and a joy to discover what beauty lies within each piece.
I entered my first hollowed out turned piece in Fine Art at the Alameda County Fair in 1996 after convincing the coordinator that it was for Fine Art and not for the Hobby department. I won a Silver Award. I was competing with all media at the time and much surprised. It inspired me and I kept entering art shows whenever we could find shows we could both enter. Since then I have been fortunate to get several more awards.
Wood turning is a time consuming process involving initial turning, up to nine months of drying out in a special environment, while partially turning it in between. Final turning takes several more hours and five to ten hours of finishing with 10 grades of abrasives and a coat of carnuba wax.
Turning wood is a good way to forget the stresses of life. Total concentration is absolutely necessary to avoid destroying my creation or myself. It is a shame that much good wood gets burned as firewood polluting our air.
BETTER TO TURN IT THAN TO BURN IT