News

Wizardry in Wood will be returning to Carpenters' Hall, in the City of London, from 13–16 October this year. In addition to a variety of exhibitions on the subject of woodturning, there will also be a wide range of demonstrations and exhibitions from some of the UK's leading woodturners, two of whom are Tobias Kaye and Louise Hibbert.

Tobias Kaye

Tobias' Sounding Bowls are used in recording studios, health-projects and private lives from birth to death and the whole adventure in between. On the COVID frontline, Jacob Marshal has been part of a team creating 'recharge rooms' for stressed hospital workers, more information on which cam be found here. Jacob has an international following as a 'sound designer' and uses an ash wood lyre bowl. The smaller Sounding Bowls have also achieved a following and he has been offering meditations such as this one to contribute what he can to healing the stresses of this time.
   The largest bowls Tobias makes have been selling off-the-lathe before they've been completed. A video with more information on this can be seen on his website.

Louise Hibbert

After years of living with and loving their wood art collection as a whole, Judy and Jeff Bernstein decided they would start the process of deaccessioning part of it. They contacted curators at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum regarding their desire to add wood art to the Renwick's permanent collection. After several years of discussion with multiple curators, current Renwick curators, Mary Savig and Nora Atkinson, were given the green light by the Smithsonian to begin the process of selecting objects from the Bernstein's collection. Mary and Nora had maximum flexibility in what they could choose, visiting their home multiple times for in-depth study. Pieces of interest were researched and eventually put through an extensive review process as dictated by the Smithsonian. This resulted in the selection of over 40 pieces from 29 artists. Judy and Jeff We are very happy about the pieces they chose and also very pleased that, for 23 artists, this will be their first object(s) accepted into the Renwick’s permanent collection.

The current pieces will be donated to the Renwick Gallery: 'Radiolarian Vessel VII' and 'Cinachyra Box'. The donated pieces will form part of a building wide exhibition taking place in honour of the Renwick’s 50th Anniversary. It is currently planned to open in May 2022 but the details and planning for the exhibition are still being determined. However, all donated pieces will be on display during the exhibition.

For more information on Wizardry in Wood and to purchase advance tickets, click here.