Colourful Creations

Guest editor Pat Carroll introduces artist Elizabeth Weber and her beautiful work

American woodturner Elizabeth Weber has always loved working with wood and her creativity and skill are very evident in her pieces. Texture and colour are major elements in the artist’s work. Originally from Tennessee, Elizabeth is now based in a studio in Seattle.

Tell us about your background and training

My background is originally in civil engineering. I chose engineering because when I was in high school, I had a love of maths and art, and I wanted to find a way to merge the two. My interest was in bridges, so I thought that would be the direction I would take, but as soon as I took my first few structural engineering courses, I found the curriculum too rigid and shifted more towards site development/infrastructure. I ended up working on various construction sites in East Tennessee before moving out to Seattle, WA, in 2012. Around 2015, I was looking for a way to decompress and landed on woodworking. We had just bought our first house and were looking to replace our Ikea furniture, so my husband was all in. I really loved the maths and creative opportunities that building furniture gave me.

What led you to woodturning?

I got into woodturning purely by chance. I was building furniture and wanted to start incorporating turned components into my builds. So, in August 2018 I signed up for a bowl turning class. I thought if I could turn a bowl, I could turn a spindle. I wouldn’t say I was initially bitten by the woodturning bug. I thought it was cool, but I had furniture to build. But I kept taking classes. My first instructor was Tom Henscheid. His pieces were unlike anything I’d seen before. Warped, textured, and colourful. I was actually asking myself what I was getting into. After about six months of taking classes once a week, an instructor asked me why I was taking all these woodturning classes if I wasn’t going to practise what I was learning. I started to take my turning more seriously after that, and, well, here I am.

How do you like to work? What are your favourite tools and why?

I like to work on several projects at a time. Each project is in various states of finished, so while one project has finish carving on it, I can paint, carve, or turn another one. For embellishing, my favourite tools include my carving gouges (Flexcut and Pfeil), and my Mastercarver Micro-Pro. For turning, I use Glenn Lucas woodturning tools. He makes a 3⁄8 in bowl gouge for finishing cuts that is my favourite. My next-favourite is his back hollowing spindle gouge. It’s fun to get super-long shavings (some longer than I am tall) when you’re back hollowing. I love turning boxes.

Describe your workshop – what is the set-up and how long have you been there?

My workshop is in a shared space with four other woodworkers. There is an area that all of us can access which includes table saws, mitre saws, jointers, planers and a bandsaw. Then we each get our own individual areas to work on our separate projects. I have a space that houses my lathe and bandsaw that I use for processing green wood. I have been in this space since January 2021. I was in a part of a friend’s garage before this.

How does your design process work?

I usually try to think of things that are inspiring me at that moment. This helps me to find a story to attach to the pieces I create. Then I start to work through the process of how to make that idea a reality by creating story boards. It ensures that I’m more likely to have success in putting the work on my final piece. Plus, a storyboard is a lot of fun to work on. After I have a process worked out, then I start work on the actual piece.

Which woods do you most like working with and why?

My favourite woods include cherry, Pacific Northwest (PNW) madrone, and sycamore. All of these turn and carve beautifully.

Do you work with other materials as well, and how do they compare?

I work with a lot of maples because they’re readily available in the PNW. Sometimes walnut when I can get my hands on it. Walnut is another wonderful wood to turn and carve. Maple is good because sometimes the wood is pretty bland but easy work, and therefore a good candidate for the type of embellishing I do.

What sort of finishes do you prefer and why?

They all lived happily ever after! (Pat later clarified that was not what he meant.) My favourite finish for artistic pieces is Golden Archival Varnish. Its satin is not overly shiny like some other brands and its matte is dead flat. If I am leaving the wood natural, I choose Waterlox, which is a tung oil-based finish. I have been using it since I first started building furniture. It’s a bit of a process to apply, but it ages really well. For most food-safe pieces, such as spoons and bowls, a simple walnut oil suffices.

What inspires you? Where do you get your ideas from?

I’m inspired by history and bold colours found in nature. I believe that art represents the essence of an artist and that each piece reflects a person’s background. Growing up with two parents who are history professors, I find it important to understand how past experiences influence the present. To move forward in more positive ways requires that we understand not only our past, but also our connections to broader surroundings.

I sometimes attach a story to my pieces, as the storytelling begins with the turning process and lives on in the finished product. Each decision and method builds on the story, using shapes and surfaces to draw on a variety of experiences. I use bright colours to evoke happiness and emotion, using milk paints and acrylics to complete my work. I spent most of my life following the rules, so playing around with colours allows me to start challenging some conventionally accepted norms in woodturning and begin conversations. I do believe colour is nature’s way of smiling.

What is your favourite piece you have worked on and why?

My dad’s retirement piece, Poppies for Dad, is my favourite to date. My dad was a history professor for 52 years and he touched the lives of thousands of students in that time. One of his areas of expertise is WWI. Shortly after the second battle of Ypres in 1915, Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields which talked about the fallen soldiers buried under the poppies. The red blooms, fragile yet resilient, provided a striking contrast to the chaos and destruction of the war.

In 1920, the poppies became a symbol of remembrance and hope for a peaceful future. Not only that, but I used to keep a sketchbook of flowers in high school and am enamoured with how delicate petals are. This allowed me to reconnect with that love.

What is the most challenging piece you have worked on, and why?

The poppy piece. Not only is it my favourite, but it is also the most challenging piece for so many reasons. Trying to capture the movement that you find in poppy petals while also keeping everything looking delicate was a difficult balance. I was trying a lot of new-to-me techniques around embellishing, so there were some unknowns going into the project. At any point, the piece could have failed, but it was a risk I was willing to take. On an emotional level, it was difficult because it was the realisation that my dad was closing a big chapter of his life. I never thought I’d see the day he’d retire. It was a big milestone in his life, and I really wanted this piece to be special.

How have the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns affected your work, and do you think any of the impact will be long term?

During the pandemic I lost access to the space where I was renting a lathe and tools. I sat in my basement carving spoons because I didn’t know what else to do to keep my sanity during lockdown. The AAW was putting out its Voices video series, and I remember seeing a woman talking. Everything she said resonated with me, which doesn’t happen often, but I had no idea who she was.

So I rewound the video to get her name. It was Merryll Saylan. I looked up her work and was floored by her use of colours and textures. That started me on the journey of exploring carving and texturing. I had a pile of unfinished bowls sitting in the corner, so I grabbed them and started to play around with surfaces. At the recommendation of my mentor, I looked at a couple of other woodturners known for carving and colours, Liam Flynn and Helga Winter. The pandemic forced me to pivot in an unexpected way, and my work will forever be different as a result.

What are your aspirations for the future?

I would love to continue exploring organic forms on turned surfaces and doing more with unexpected shapes and colours. One of my biggest goals is to expand my teaching and pass on skills that can help other woodturners in their journey. Sometimes one of the surest ways to help define your own work is through helping others, as it helps you put words to what you are trying to convey and think more deeply about the process. As a woodturning instructor, I assist others in realising their creative dreams. In my experience, bringing together students of diverse backgrounds and skill levels does this best.

If you had one piece of advice for beginners, what would it be?

Process over product. I see a lot of beginners get caught up in the final product and throw technique out the window. Learn the correct process and allow yourself some grace when things don’t go according to plan (remember, wood grows on trees!). Eventually the process and the product catch up to each other.

What do you do when you’re not woodturning?

I like to carve spoons and watch true crime documentaries. Not necessarily together. I like hanging out with friends and inviting them over to my place for a southern-style barbecue. My mother is French, so I also like to explore making French food. And when I have a bit of time, I like to take trips to the Oregon coast. There is nothing is quite as beautiful and relaxing as watching the waves crash on to shore.

Further reading

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF ELIZABETH WEBER