Keith Gotschall, Colorado

My background is in woodworking, having been in the furniture making business since the early 1980s. I ended up at a firm that specialized in unique furniture designs, eventually becoming shop foreman. The furniture was wacky, and a real challenge to build. Eventually, myself and another employee pooled our resources and opened our own shop. That was in 1989, and for the next ten years I built and designed my own furniture, for public and private clients, in and out of Colorado.

During an Open Studio gallery tour I was re-introduced to the world of woodturning. Not only was the old fire rekindled from way back in high school, I immediately saw that woodturning had taken on a whole new place in the world. I was hooked immediately and bought a lathe, chuck, tools by the end of the month. Within a years time I had turned my focus to production wood turning. I made salad bowls for the wholesale market, craft type items for weekend art and craft shows, and hollow vessels etc. for the gallery market. In 2002 I moved to Salida Colorado, a small town of 5,000 or so. I now work on production and architectural projects, some art work as well as the occasional furniture commission.

In my demos I like to reflect on the confusion and difficulty that I experienced when I started. Though I had a head start with my furniture work, knowing about wood, and edge tools, and sanding /finishing; it took a little while to really understand what was going on with the turning. I was lucky to have some very good teachers, some of the best in the world! I try to bring the enthusiasm of a beginner to my demos, and also clear up and address some of the problems that we all face in our turning. I often have people come up to me afterwards and thank me for going over “the basics”. Many have never mastered the basic cuts in woodturning and get frustrated when trying them. I really enjoy when I see confusion turn to enlightenment of the faces of attendees, even advanced turners often learn something in the most basic of demonstrations.

Handout for Keith’s presentation

keithgotschall.com