American Woodturners: Marge Felder

Celebrating 80th birthday 8 years ago

My ninth decade is my most joyful yet.

When I am turning, I am the closest to doing, being, not thinking much at all.  My feelings move my hands this way and that as I work. Later, I realize that I was really after a certain feeling. It took a certain shape to bring that feeling into being - in me and later in the user.

I live in the beautiful woods of northeast Georgia, dividing my time between woodturning and psychotherapy clients. In my lifetime I've developed an approach to therapy that emphasizes what's right with people - facilitating personal development. In my woodturning, I've become fluent and prolific.

As a woodworker, I make small wooden objects as functional sculpture. I've always wanted to make art that people use in everyday living. And I specialize in small objects.

From the very beginning of my woodworking, I have wanted to do small things. Partly this comes from a desire to conserve wood, but essentially it fits me. As a child, I loved to send off for samples of hand cream, tooth paste, anything that came in miniature replica of the larger product. I didn’t care what was in them, I loved the little tiny containers.

Woodturning Style

I have been told that my style is “restrained elegance.” These are not words I would have thought to apply to myself, but I can’t entirely disagree. I have been influenced by what is called Danish Modern. My work holds a certain tension or balance between two forces. On the hand I love simplicity. On the other hand, I love what in music would be called grace notes or musical embellishments. My work combines both into what I hope is a graceful harmony.

Woodturning Ideas

My woodturning ideas come from shapes I see. Sometimes the shape just appears in my mind. Other times, I see something in the world that nudges me. I realize I could turn wood to make that shape.

Since I've been making perfume bottles, I see perfume bottle shapes everywhere! From a flower to a tall building, almost anything can inspire a perfume bottle. This make for wonderful fun.

Turning Wood

Turning wood is like carving wood, using a lathe and sharp lathe tools. So I start with a piece of wood larger than the finished piece, and carve away till the shape in my mind forms in the wood itself. Often I glue different woods together first, so a delightful pattern appears along with the shape.

Wood Colors

Even as a beginning woodworker back around 1978, I loved woods for their natural colors. Now, over 25 years later, I know what each wood will do. The different woods have become my artist palette.

Woodturning technique

I am essentially a spindle turner. Most woodturners are bowl turners. I sometimes do turn a bowl, but most of my work is spindle turning. Occasionally I do turn bowls or boxes, but most of my work is like what you see here.

This means that I work with the wood between centers on the lathe. When I first began turning wood, I was struck by some tiny lace bobbins I saw. They're a fine example of delicate spindle turning.

As soon as I saw these, I knew I wanted to learn to do this kind of woodturning. These tiny bobbins were exquisitely turned with what I thought of as appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas. I yearned to be able to turn something that fine, that graceful and beautiful. Not lace bobbins, but something with spires and turrets and balls and flutes of small dimensions.

Now I make Christmas tree ornaments and perfume bottles that do have this kind of musical rhythm and shape. Some of the perfume bottles have turrets indeed.

And I make turned handles for gift items like a butter knife, pie server, or bread knife. These handles usually have the balls and flutes I enjoy so much.

Woodturning Instruction

In addition to selling my woodturning here and at the Center Gallery in Sautee, GA, I offered woodturning instruction until my retirement in May, 2009. After so many years as a psychotherapist, I am very comfortable working with one or two people at a time. And it's natural to me to help people work at their own pace, doing what they most want to do.

To share what I learned the hard way, I've written a Notebook for Beginning Woodturners. It will be available online eventually as an e-book.

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Perfume Bottles

Pocket Toothpick Holders
(also use as Pill Holders)

Turned Wood Bowls

Turned Wooden Keepsake Boxes

Woodturner Marge Felder

Woodturning instructions