Michael Gibson, Woodturner/Artist (USA)

Right when I thought I’ve seen all that could be made out of wood, an artist and woodturner like Michael comes around and shows you how little you know about this endlessly functional material. His wooden projects are awesome and the amount of detail he puts into them is incredibly inspiring to me!

You can visit his website at http://www.michaelgibsonwoodturner.com.

What is it about woodworking that you enjoy most and how did you first get into the industry?

I started working in the boatyards in England as a teenager making wooden yachts and that is where my love of wood started and continues to this day. I love the feel, the textures, and grain, which is different in every piece of wood.

You have lots of awesome teapots – wooden teapots? I though that would be horrible for hot tea… are these meant to be used in a real-life setting or just conversational pieces? Why did focus on teapots specifically?

All my teapots are wood and turned on a lathe. If you are willing to spend $5000 on one you can do what you want with it, although l do recommend not making tea in one, maybe the flavour of cherry may enhance the flavour. I have always liked teapots and being an Englishman thought they would be fun to make.

Can you share with me the design and build process that you go through building your teapots and what kinds of woods and equipment you prefer using? How long does the entire process generally take?

I demonstrate the process of making a teapot in clubs and symposiums, without turning anything, it takes half a day. Making them takes me a week.

I really like your “A Night at the Oscars” figurine – how different is it creating objects over teapots? Your Asian Bowl collection is also very nice – I like the details you add to give the wood a ceramic or steel look… how long does it take to build these?

The bowls are easy to make compared to the teapots, The Night at the Oscars piece was turned on a lathe as the bowls, except l used multi axis’s to make the figure. l can make each one of these in a day.

You have distinctive design painted on most of your work – how do you ensure that what you start at one side matches-up at the other side? Do you have a set method to ensure that everything looks right to the eye such as using grids or making larger designs first then smaller ones?

The designs on the pieces are not painted but are pyro-engraved by my wife. On a teapot it can take her a week to finish one. She sketches the design on first with a pencil all done by eye.

You have some awesome hats… wooden hats! I’ve never seen this before – that has to be rather challenging to build. How did you get into this and how long does it take to design and create these masterpieces?

The hats were made by Chris Ramsey, the best wooden hat maker in the world. He can measure your head and make a hat to fit, all turned on a lathe. The pyro was again done by my wife.

What advice would you have for somebody aspiring to get into a highly specialized niche within the woodworking industry as you have?

To became good in any field that you want to achieve success in say something like the lathe, one has to spend many hours learning and practicing the technics down until it is second nature, and at the same time understand how important form is while making a piece.