January 9th (Saturday):  I am currently scheduled to present two finial turning demonstrations at the Woodworking Show being held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, MD.  The Chesapeake Woodturners will be giving numerous demonstrations during all three days of the show.  My time slots are 1:00pm and 3:00pm on Saturday.  Additional information about the show is available through the The Wood Working Shows web site.

November 10th thru December 18th:  Several of my pieces are included in the "Works by the Chesapeake Woodturners" exhibition presented in the Lillian Vanous Nutt Room located in the Greenfield Library on the campus of St. Johns College in Annapolis, Maryland.  Pieces on display include "Echoes I", "Complex Hyperboloid Candlesticks" and "Neolithic Cup & Saucer".  Additional details are available by contacting St. Johns College at 410.263.2371 or via email at webmaster@sjca.edu

June 25 thru July 26:  Several of my turnings have been juried into the Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) "Sticks & Stones" exhibition in their Circle Gallery.  The Circle Gallery is located at 18 State Circle in Annapolis, MD.  Additional details can be readily obtained by contacting MFA at 410.268.4566 or via email at info@mdfedart.org.

June 6th & 13th:  I will be teaching a 2-day Woodturning Techniques workshop at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.  This workshop is designed for practicing woodturners who have their own tools and lathe and are looking to improve their techniques and design skills.  Contact Maryland Hall for details.

May 16th.  Woodturning demonstrations at American Craftworks Collection in downtown Annapolis, MD.  Weather permitting, demonstrations will run from 10:00am thru 4:00pm.

April 17th.  Attended a platter turning wokshop presented by Al Stirt.  Al has been turning since the early 1970's and is acknowledged as one of the world's premier turners.  He has written many articles on a wide variety of woodturning subjects and has had collections presented in museums across the US.

The Chesapeake Woodturners will be presenting their Spring Woodturning Exhibition at the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, Maryland throughout the month of March.  In conjunction with the Exhibition, the members will be doing woodturning demonstrations each weekend.  My woodturning demonstration slots are currently scheduled for Sunday March 22nd and Sunday March 29th.  Demonstrations run from 1:00pm to 4:00pm each day.  Join us at Montpelier for our demonstrations and our extensive collection of woodturning art.

January 2nd.  I will be doing turning demonstrations with the Chesapeake Woodturners at The Woodworking Show at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Timonium, Maryland.  I am scheduled to demo from 2:00pm to 6:00pm.  I hope to see you there...

Note:  Photos of the flooring project that I have been engaged have been posted on the Lumber Liquidators Customer Makeover/Hallway Gallery.  Cool!

During the last few months I have been focused on a major flooring project in my house.  This task has temporarily taken me away from turning as my shop needed to be configured for woodworking.  This project is nearing completion.  I will be uploading some project photos in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned!

I will be teaching a 2-day Woodturning Techniques workshop at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.  This workshop is designed for practicing woodturners who have their own tools and lathe and are looking to improve their techniques and design skills.  Contact Maryland Hall for details.

May 21st thru June 22nd:  Chesapeake Woodturner exhibition at the Maryland Federation of Art Circle Gallery in downtown Annapolis, MD.  News Flash:  "Sleigh Runner I"  has been awarded an honorable mention at the exhibition.

According to Juror David Fry "...Bark top sassafras bowl by Allen Alexopulos. Did the artist pause at the beginning before centering a natural void on the rim of this piece ­a most unlikely gambit? The stunning symmetry of the final scalloped edge testifies to his success..."

Sleigh Runner I
Natural Edge Open Vessel in Sassafras
Catalog #122
Base: 1 7/8" dia.
Height: 4 3/4"
Rim Dimensions: 10 1/2" x 7 3/4"
Finish: Tung Oil
$2000

April 1st thru 30th:  Several pieces from my "Black Finial Series" will be on display and available for sale at American Craftworks Collection in downtown Annapolis, MD.  My pieces will be part of a display of turnings by the Chesapeake Woodturners.  Please contact Kelly Richard at 410-262-1583 for additional information about the exhibition and companion demonstrations.

April 19th and 20th:  I am scheduled to demonstrate woodturning techniques with fellow Chesapeake Woodturners Mike Marek and Gene Adcock.  Hours are 10:00am to 4:00pm on the 19th (w/Mike) and 11:30am to 5:00pm on the 20th (w/Gene).

January 28th thru April 14th:  An intermediate level woodturning course will be run at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, Maryland.  Allen will teach a three week sequence during the course. 

January 23rd thru April 2nd:  Allen will be teaching the Wednesday evening session of Maryland Hall's Basic Woodturning course.

January 5th:  Allen will join the Chesapeake Woodturners in woodturning demonstrations at the Woodworking Show in Baltimore at the Timonium Fairgrounds.  Demonstrations will run from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

December 15th:  Allen demonstrated the use of the Elbo articulated hollowing tool at the monthly meeting of the Chesapeake Woodturners.  This presentation was done jointly with fellow turner Doug Bartos and covered general hollowing concepts, tools and techniques.









                                  Photo courtesy of Mike Marek

Teknatool International the New Zealand-based manufacturer of the NOVA lathe series has included an image of "Echoes I" in their online User's Gallery.

November 18th:  "Echoes I" co-wins the "Best-in-Show" award at the Chesapeake Woodturners Winter Exhibit!  According to Juror David Fry, "...This piece just soars.  Wonderful proportion of the body to the finial, a plunging interior, lightness in the hand, and crisp detail converge to great effect in this stunning vessel...". 

Catalog #165 "Echoes I" Spalted Norway Maple Hollow Vessel w/Dyed Holly Finial Base: 2 1/8" dia. Overall Height: 17 1/2" Maximum Diameter: 3" Wall Thickness: 1/8" (typ) Total Weight: 4.5oz Finish: Spray Lacquer $1500

November 9th thru December 16th:  Five turnings on display at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts (MHCA) Deck the Walls exhibition in Annapolis Maryland.  Contact MHCA by calling 410-263-5544 or emailing info@mdhallarts.org for additional information.

November 15th thru December 30th:  The Chesapeake Woodturners will be presenting an exhibition of turned art by its members at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, MD.  A reception will be held on November 18th.

Saturday, October 13th:  The Chesapeake Woodturners will be demonstrating woodturning techniques at the annual Homestead Gardens Fall Festival.  My demonstration slot is scheduled to run from 11:00am to 4:00pm.  Homestead Gardens has many activities for children and a wonderful selection of garden supplies.  We hope to see you then!

_____________________________________________________________________________

                                                   >>>>>  News Bulletin  <<<<<   
                                                                                                                                      
                    Allen appeared in a "Cover Story" clip on WBFF (Fox45) in Baltimore on             
                    Friday, September 14th during the 10:00pm news hour.  The clip focused  
                    on the contribution of the Chesapeake Woodturners to the restoration of the  
                    USS Constellation.  The clip can be viewed by linking to the WBFF web site
                    and selecting the "Turning Time" video in the Video List section.  _____________________________________________________________________________

September 5th thru October 31st:  I will  be teaching a Basic Woodturning course at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, Maryland.  Classes will run each Wednesday from 6:30pm to 9:30pm during that time.  Additional details are available on the Maryland Hall website.

August 25th:  A production crew from WBFF (Fox 45) television in Baltimore visited fellow woodturner Temple Blackwood's shop to film and interview us for a piece about the Chesapeake Woodturners' involvement with the restoration of the USS Constellation.  This photo shows the crew filming me while I turned a belaying pin.  I will post the dates/time that their piece will be aired when they pass that information on to me.

July 21st:  I was invited to do a bat turning demonstration by the Bethesda Big Train baseball team.  The Big Train is part of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League.  During the course of the evening I turned a miniature bat from a square stick to show the many youngsters in attendance where bats come from.  I later turned a full-sized professional style bat from a maple billet kindly supplied by Walter Ambrosch of Ambrosch International. 

Allen showing youngsters how to find the center of a round billet.

May 17-18:  Attended workshop presented
by Bill Grumbine.  Bill focused the workshop
on natural edge forms including winged bowls
ormed out of Norway maple crotch pieces.

April 21st.  I will be demonstrating woodturning techniques at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis Maryland as part of their Earth Day Celebration with the Chesapeake Woodturners.  My current time slot begins at 10:00am and runs through 1:00pm.  Please join us at this wonderful venue.

The winter woodturing classes that I taught
at Maryland Hall for the Creative arts have
been completed.  My Basic Woodturning
class students did an especially good job
with their project work.  None of the students
had ever touched a lathe prior to the first
class session.  The turnings that resulted
from their hard work are shown in the photo
to the right.

March 4th thru April 1:  Five of my turnings were accepted into a jurored exhibition at the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel Maryland.  The exhibition is sponsored by the Chesapeake Woodturners.  Four of the five turnings are available for sale.  Please contact Montpelier Mansion for additional information.  They can be reached at 301-953-1376.

March 25th & April 1st: I will be demonstrating woodturning techniques at Montpelier Mansion between 1:00pm and 4:00pm.  Our demonstration area is located in the Carriage House.

February 24th:  I am scheduled to do a woodturning demonstration at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, Maryland.  This show is the largest juried indoor craft/arts show in the United States.  My demonstration will run from noon to 1:00pm.  I will be representing the Chesapeake Woodturners at the event.  Please stop by and say hello!

January 6th:  The Chesapeake Woodturners will be providing woodturning demonstrations at the annual Woodworking Show in Timonium Maryland on January 5th thru 7th.  My demonstration slot is scheduled for Saturday January 6th in the afternoon.

December 31st, Near Year's Eve:  The Chesapeake
Woodturners have been invited to demonstrate
woodturning techniques at the First Night Annapolis
festival.  We will be demonstrating woodturning
techniques in the lobby of the Circuit Courthouse
at 7Church Circle in Annapolis, Maryland.
Our demonstrations will begin at 6:00pm and end
at 11:00pm.  Additional details can be found at
the bottom of page 3 of the online
First Night Performer Bios.  We hope to see you there!






LatheScape turnings on display at
First Night 2007 Annapolis -->

December 5th:  Allen along with members of the
Chesapeake Woodturners presented the Honorable
Robert L. Ehrlich, Governor of the State of Maryland
with turnings fashioned from a historic White Ash
tree.  The tree was felled on the grounds of the
State House in Annapolis.  Additional details can
be found in the December 2006 Final Cut newsletter

December 2nd thru December 29th.  Four of my turnings have been selected by Juror Francisco Marin-Price (Marin-Price Galleries, Chevy Chase, Maryland) for inclusion in the Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) "Moveable Feast 2006" mixed media show.  The MFA's Circle Gallery is located at 18 State Circle in Annapolis, Maryland.  I will be attending the show's reception on Thursday, December 7th.  All art work exhibited in the show is for sale.

Featured Turning at the MFA Show: "Finialed Hollow Form"

Lidded Hollow Form with Finial Chestnut Oak (Quercus Prinus) and Madagascar Ebony (Diospyrus perrierii) Catalog #144 Base Diameter:1 1/2" Hieght:  8 1/2" Max Diameter: 5 3/8" Opening Width: 1 1/4" Wall Thickness: 1/16" at opening On display and available for sale at American Craftworks Collection in Annapolis.

November 12th:  Attended Trent Bosch's "Vessels of Illusion" demonstration sponsored by the Chesapeake Woodturners.  More information about Trent can be found at www.trentbosch.com.

September 30th and October 1st 11:00am thru 4:00PM, I will be demonstrating woodturning techniques at Homestead Gardens in conjunction with their Fall Festival.

September 10th:  Attended a hat turning demonstration by Johannes Michelson sponsored by the Chesapeake Woodturners.

September 6 thru November 1, Wednesday evenings 6:30PM-9:30PM.  I will be teaching a Basic Woodturning class at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, Maryland.  Several slots are still availabe. Contact Maryland Hall for details.

Gavel Set and Natural Edge bowl turned from a white ash removed from the Maryland State House.  The gavel, sound block and bowl illustrate the characteristics of the heartwood, sapwood and bark of the white ash.  The tree was estimated to have been over 150 years old and stood adjacent to the historic Old Treasury Building. These pieces will be donated to the State of Maryland.

June 22-24th:  I attended the AAW Annual
Symposium in Louisville, Kentucky.  "A" list
turners were plentiful at this year's AAW
Annual Symposium.  In this image Lyle
Jamieson is describing the operation of his
hollowing system in the equipment show.

May 21st (Saturday):  I attended a Shape & Form
class presented by Don Derry.  A full-time artist
and woodturner, Don has achieved world-wide
notoriety for his use of brilliant colors to enhance
hollow forms to  the point that  they appear to be
made of glass.  His artwork can be viewed
at www.donaldderry.com.

April 22 (Saturday):  I will be doing turning demonstrations for the Chesapeake Woodturners Earth Day event at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, Maryland.  Demos will run from 10:00AM thru 4:00PM.  My demo slot is from 1:00PM to 4:00PM.  I hope to see you there!

Finished up the intermediate turning class at Maryland Hall.

On Saturday, March 18th I will be doing a demonstration at the monthly Chesapeake Woodturners meeting at Maryland Hall on photographing wood turnings.  I expect to bring the rig that I use to photograph (i.e., "digitally image") my turnings.  I've made some important upgrades to this rig in the last few weeks which will further improve the images that I post on Lathescapes.com.  These will be discussed at the meeting.

February 27 (Monday) & March 6 (Monday):  I'll be teaching sessions of the intermediate woodturning course at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis.  These sessions will focus on turning natural edge forms.  A third session will be added later that will address turning small boxes with finials.

This woodworking mallet was turned from some beech chunks left over from the wood I collected for the beginning woodworking class.  It is an example of a two-piece mallet which uses the same turning techniques that one would use to do gavels (like the one that I did for the Mayor of Annapolis).  Just about every woodworking/turning shop has a need for a solid, often sacrificial wooden mallet.

Beech 2-piece Mallet Head: 5" long x 4" diameter Length: 11 1/2" Weight:  27.5 oz Finish: Waterlox over Watco NFS; Contact me if you would like a similar mallet custom-turned for your shop.

NFS.  Example of a 1-piece woodworking mallet that I turned as a Christmas gift out a chunk of relatively green beech. Since the turning was done with the grain running along the central axis of the mallet, shrinkage should cause minimal cracking problems as the piece dries out.  After taking a few whacks at a drive center or other metallic object, a small crack will hardly matter.  I'm including this image to illustrate the difference between 1- and 2-piece mallet designs.

January 7th (Saturday) from 10:00am to 2:00pm
January 8th (Sunday) from 10:00am to 1:00pm

I will be demonstrating woodturning techniques at the Wood Working Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Cow Palace in Timonium, Maryland.

January 18th thru March 15th, 2006

I will be teaching a Basic Woodturning class at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, Maryland on Wednesday evenings.  Contact Maryland Hall for details.

I will be doing woodturning demonstrations at Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, MD on the following date, weather permitting:

Sunday, December   4th, 11:00AM-3:00PM

I will be doing woodturning demonstrations at Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, MD on the following dates, weather permitting:

Saturday, November   6th, 1:00PM-4:00PM
Sunday,   November 12th, 1:00PM-4:00PM
Sunday,   November 26th, 1:00PM-4:00PM

Please stop by and say hello and enjoy the exhibition of over 70 turnings created by members of the Chesapeake Woodturners.  The demonstrations and exhibition are free.

During this time I have worked on a number of turning projects including a small bowl made from a branch from the famous Wye Oak.  There was just enough material left over from the branch to also turn several pens.  I turned several open forms for the upcoming Montpelier Mansion exhibition.  Images of them will soon be posted on this site.

I also turned a gavel and sound block set
for the Mayor's office in Annapolis out of
the willow oak harvested in February of
this year (see activity listing below).  This
set along with pens and bowls turned by
members of the Chesapeake Woodturners
have become part of the City's collection.

Additional information is available on the
The Capital Newspaper's online archive.

May 21:  It is a great honor to announce that I have been elected to the office of President of the Chesapeake Woodturners group.  I'm looking forward to serving the group in every way that I can and learning from the many talented members of this esteemed group.

April 17:  Attended a workshop hosted by Troy Beall of the Chesapeake Woodturners.  The instructor was Cindy Drozda, one of the world's top professional turners.  Cindy is noted for her outstanding lidded, open and classic vessels and miniature boxes.  Many of Cindy's turnings include intricate finials and internal surprise elements.  We spent the day focused intently on learning Cindy's design philosophy, tool selection and techniques.

With Cindy Drozda

1st Four Fridays:  Attended a pyrography course taught by John Noffsinger.  John is an outstanding turner who adds excitement to his pieces by strategically adding pyrographic, color and carved elements.  John is fundamentally a highly skilled artist who works intricate Celtic knot, portrait and landscape pyrography into turned platters and subtle shading effects into open and closed form turnings.  One of his special pieces includes an image of Dorothy ("Wizard of Oz") pyrographed and colored on a turned platter.

Pyrography as an artform includes the use of friction burning, woodburning pens, butane and propane torches and ultra-high speed grinding wheels to create images and shading effects primarily on wood surfaces.

Pyrography Class Project.
April 2005
Writing Point, Spear Point Tips

April 3rd:  An opportunity came up to harvest a couple of chunks of Bradford pear from a private residence in Ellicott City, Maryland.  The pieces were already cut and simply had to be picked up and transported back to my central processing facility (the area in front of my shed) for coarse shaping.  Many thanks to Bob for once again supplying me with pear, a wood species that I really enjoy turning.  Pear has a fine, consistent grain which is relatively easy to turn and takes a super high quality finish.

A three foot long chunk of Bradford pear
along with a crotch section.  The tree
had been cut about a week earlier and
was exposed to heavy rains for most
of that time.  The adverse weather helped
keep the exposed end grain moist.  As
a result the pith areas were just about split-free.

The logs yielded blanks which will be eventually
turned into bowls (the rounded blanks), mallet
heads and flatwood projects (the stack in the
lower left), and some pens and ornamental
finials (the stack in the lower right).  Shortly
after this image was captured the blanks were
sealed with AnchorSeal and placed in long
term storage in the shed.  The "N.E"
designator on the top bowl indicates that it
has been shaped to optimize the appearance
of a natural edge final form.

March 29th:  One of my generous friends dropped a maple log off at my house a couple of days ago.  I processed the log using what has become for me a standard coarse blank processing technique:

Step 1.  Maple log with bisection line chalked in.

Step 2.  Maple log after bisection
engthwise through the pith.  As
wood seasons, internal stresses
are focused along the pith.  If not
properly cut and then sealed, cracks
will eventually radiate out from the
pith, rendering the chunk useless.

Step 3.  After a careful examimation of
each piece, lay out a circle that evenly
divides the darker heartwood and the
lighter sapwood into two halves.
Attention to details at this point will help
mprove the overall appearance of the
finished piece.

Step 4.  Each coarse blank is sawed into an
octagon shape and the bark is removed with
the chainsaw on the reverse side.  This
procedure saves some time later when the
piece is about to be mounted on the lathe.
At this point the blanks can be turned into
either a formal bowl or a natural edge piece.
A coring tool can also be used to create
a nested bowl set.

Step 5.  The end grain of each blank must be sealed
to prevent splitting during long term storage.  I have
had very good success with a product called
AnchorSeal for stabilizing green wood.  The sealer
becomes transparent when dry, allowing the species
and date information to be seen.  I usually seal all
sawn surfaces of rounded blanks, as these pieces
sometimes "go to sleep" for several years.  They
are stored out of the weather in an unheated shed
until they are turned.

These pieces will eventually be roughed out into the approximate shapes that I want, then placed into grocery bags for about 3 weeks during which time the largest wood-splitting stresses will equalize out.  They will then be taken out of the bags and stored in my basement for several months until they are dry enough to turn.  Over the years I have learned that patience is one of the most important woodturning tools.  Many thanks to our good friends Judy and Dave in Severna Park Maryland for contributing the log!

March 14th:  I demonstrated natural edge turning techniques to the woodturning club students and faculty at the Queen Anne School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  We discussed turning safety, natural edge design and turning sequence for natural edge bowls.  Temple Blackwood the school's headmaster, master spindle turner and exceptional mentor provided a nice facility and all of the amenities required for a succesful demonstration.  The turning club at his school has recently received a significant grant from the AAW and the Chesapeake Woodturners organizations for new turning equipment.  I was honored to have the opporturnity to help Temple "break in" some of the new equipment.  My thanks to Temple, his staff and most importantly, the students who spent their valuable time learning about an important art form for making my visit both enjoyable and rewarding.

March 12th:  Attended demo by UK woodturner Jimmy Clewes at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts during the Chesapeake Woodturners monthly meeting.  Jimmy presented techniques he uses to turn oriental style rectangular boxes.

This month I participated in a wood harvest at Back Creek Nature Park in Annapolis.  Members of the Chesapeake Woodturners and Capital Area Woodturners were invited by the City of Annapolis to harvest a large willow oak tree that had been deposited in one of the park's parking lots.  I made several trips to the site, cutting and hauling a number of chunks of the willow oak that will eventually be turned into bowls, tool handles, pens, mallets and a other interesting objects.  Many thanks to Marisa Wittlinger (Chief Environmentalist for the City of Annapolis) for making the timber available.

Once harvested every chunk had to be assessed for ulimate usage, cut into appropriate shapes, sealed with a wax-based sealer and tucked away into my shed.

Log pile at Back Creek Nature Park in Annapolis, Maryland.  The largest of the trunks measured about 38" in diameter.  Post harvesting by the club members, this pile was reduced in volume by about 80%.

The Chesapeake  Woodturners held an informative demostration by the British woodturner David Springett at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.  David specializes in the development of turning processes that are designed to give the illusion that the object could not possibly have been turned without divine intervention.  David maintains a web site that can be linked to by clicking:  David Springett's Web Site  You can read more about his demostrations by visiting the Chesapeake Woodturners's web site and opening the March 2005 Final Cut newsletter.