 | | Unlike many woodturning conferences, this was an event with appeal for everyone and not just for turners. Elisabeth Beaupere is a woodworking journalist who writes for French woodcraft magazines. She tells us what it was like for her: "Wow! Creativity, friendship, professionalism, internationalism...definitely an opening to the
international scene that will, I hope, open French eyes and encourage fresh ideas and people. At last some real work! Meeting all these world-famous people makes life so different. They are not as unreachable as we might imagine and their presence is truly nourishing. It filled my heart and my soul with woodturning and all that goes on around it. It made me want to help build links between countries and work on an international level. It made me need to get at the lathe and do some turning,
rather than just watch and admire. I feel more at home with woodturners than other woodworkers, even though I am not a woodturner!" | High praise indeed which confirms that if ever a woodturning event expressed national character, this was it. Nobody does it like the French. My hope is that other countries will learn from this idea and help visitors appreciate the character of the regions they visit. Let's get out of the hotels
and into the air!
In the meantime, Vive la France ! | Albert LeCoff turning while Mark Sfirri (L) and Phil Irons (R) pedal.
Jean-Do Denis, the maker of the lathe watches, rear 2nd from left. | | Students gather around Binh Pho at his class the week after the conference. |
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| These article originally appeared in "Turning Points", Vol. 16, No. 2, 2003 and are reproduced with the kind permission of the Wood Turning Center. | |
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