About me
When I was a young teenager, my family visited Oberammergau, a small town in Bavaria, Germany, that is famous for woodcarving. Among the souvenirs my mother brought back from that trip were several finely turned bowls and a small vase, which I still have. My love of wood vessels began with those pieces. I remember returning to them repeatedly to cup them in my hands and stroke their shaped smoothness.
Many threads in my life came together when I took up woodturning. Much of what I bring to turning comes from my Japanese heritage: the philosophy of practice, as applied to crafts and more; a worldview that sees wood as an expression of living energy; an aesthetic, perhaps best expressed in the tea ceremony, that embraces the humble as well as the elegant. More concretely, the practice for several years of shiatsu, Japanese acupressure, refined my sense of touch. My sense of form comes directly from Japanese pottery: not only did I learn pottery making in Kyoto, but all of the various Japanese dishes I have fed myself from for as long as I can remember endure as memory in my hands. My Japanese heritage is genetic as well: my grandmother was a painter and calligrapher; my mother is a dancer, a musician, a poet, and a painter; one sister is a painter and a glass artist.
From my creative and professional life too come threads. In particular, as a poet, a prose writer, and an editor for more than two decades, I have learned the art of cutting. I keep handy as inspiration a quotation from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away” (from Wind, Sand and Stars). For me, in woodturning, perfection is not some artificial ideal but an expression of the wood’s essential nature, flaws and all, and one’s ability to see (and commit to) the perfection present in the raw chunk of wood is a tool that must be honed as sharp as any gouge.
In this commitment to the wood and to the art of turning is the most important thread of all. As a part of my nature, passion is a quality that I bring to all my endeavors, but with woodturning, that passion has become for me a calling.
One final thread bears mention: the idea of home. I grew up itinerant and didn't begin to find a home until I was in my twenties. I have found two homes in my life, one in Kyoto, the other in the desert Southwest. Each nurtures different, even opposite, aspects of my nature. In Kyoto, I remember balance and am steeped in an appreciation of beauty that is cellular. In the Arizona desert, my spirit remembers wildness and soars in sun. Somehow—through the wildness of the wood and the discipline of the art—woodturning brings me home to both.
Exhibitions
- “Wood You Believe.” Details Art and Design, Tucson, Arizona. Upcoming, October 3–November 3, 2008. Group show featuring wood artists.
- “12 × 12 Holiday Show.” Textures and Robert Roman Galleries at artspace, Scottsdale, Arizona. December 1–January 2, 2005. Group show, with Jane Chavez, Sharon Elliot, Terry Duffy, Debi Siegert, and Ginny Taylor.
- “Serenity.” Textures Gallery at artspace, Scottsdale, Arizona. May 19–July 7, 2005. Two-person show with fiber artist Judy Harmony. For more details, see the press release and photographs of the work on display.
- “Not Fit for Human Consumption.” WomanKraft, Tucson. February 7–March 27, 2004. Group show featuring coffee as subject and medium.
- “Holiday Bazaar.” WomanKraft, Tucson. November 1–December 20, 2003. Group show.
Juried Art Shows
- Casa Grande Fine Art Explosion, Casa Grande, Arizona. Invitational show, March 15–16, 2008.
- Street of Dreams Sidewalk Art Show, Oro Valley, Arizona. Special invitational show, March 24–25, 2007.
- Tubac Festival of the Arts, Tubac, Arizona. 48th–49th annual shows, 2007–2008.
- Tucson Museum of Art Holiday Craft Market, Tucson. 23rd–26th annual shows, 2004–2007.
- Southwest Flair A-Fair, Tucson. Big Brothers Big Sisters benefit. 14th–17th annual shows, 2004–2007.
- Tucson Museum of Art Spring Artisans Market, Tucson. 12th–16th annual shows, 2004–2008.
Demonstrations and Classes
- All-day demonstration. Channel Island Woodturners, Camarillo, California. April 26, 2008.
- “In the Spotlight,” “Box Basics,” and “Turning Air.” The WoodWorks Show, York, Pennsylvania. November 9–11, 2007.
- “Box Basics” and “Turning Air.” The WoodWorks Show, Ontario, California. February 23–24, 2007.
- “In the Spotlight,” “Box Basics,” and “Turning Air.” The WoodWorks Show, Portland, Maine. October 27–29, 2006.
- “Turning Spheres.” 2004 Desert Woodcrafters Fall Fling, Sun City Vistoso Community Center, Marana, Arizona. October 30, 2004. Cosponsored by Desert Woodcrafters and the Rancho Vistoso Woodturners.
- “Sharpening Woodturning Tools.” Desert Woodcrafters meeting, Tucson. October 2, 2004.
- “Filling Cracks and Voids.” 2003 Desert Woodcrafters Fall Fling, Sun City Vistoso Community Center, Marana, Arizona. October 4, 2003. Cosponsored by Desert Woodcrafters and the Rancho Vistoso Woodturners.
- “Turning a Bowl.” 2003 Chuck Rhoads Woodturning Memorial Event, Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona. July 19, 2003. Cosponsored by the Arizona Woodturners Association and the Prescott Area Woodturners.
Residencies
- 2007 International Turning Exchange, Philadelphia. Upcoming, June 8–August 5, 2007. Photojournalist and lathe artist. Sponsored by the Wood Turning Center.
Publications
As Subject
- “International Turning Exchange,” by Holger Graf, Drechsler Magazin: Das moderne Fachmagazin für Hobby, Profi und all Interessierten, spring 2008, pp. 16–21.
- “Gallery” column, Woodwork: A Magazine for All Woodworkers, February 2008, p. 41.
- “Three of a Kind,” by Mark Mussari, Tucson Home magazine, fall 2006, pp. 40–41.
- “Designer Showcase: Lynne Yamaguchi,” Woodturning Design, summer 2005, pp. 52–53.
As Author or Photographer
- Photographs, “International Turning Exchange,” by Holger Graf, Drechsler Magazin: Das moderne Fachmagazin für Hobby, Profi und all Interessierten, spring 2008, pp. 16, 21.
- “Community in a Crowded Field,” Turning Points, Vol. 17, No. 1 (fall 2004), pp. 36–37.
Grants and Scholarships
- Conference/Workshop Travel Grant: Individual Artist, Tucson Pima Arts Council, 2007.
- Sam Maloof Scholarship, Anderson Ranch, 2006.
- Educational Opportunity Grant, American Association of Woodturners, 2004.
- Conference/Workshop Travel Grant: Individual Artist, Tucson Pima Arts Council, 2004.
Woodturning Education
- “Beyond Basic Woodturning,” with Mark Gardner. Anderson Ranch, Snowmass Village, Colorado. July 24–28, 2006.
- Wood 2005 World Turning Conference, Philadelphia. September 21–25, 2005. Cosponsored by the Wood Turning Center and Collectors of Wood Art.
- American Association of Woodturners Annual Symposium, Overland Park, Kansas. July 22–24, 2005.
- “Intermediate Woodturning,” with Stuart Batty. Craft Supplies, Provo, Utah. July 5–9, 2004.
- Utah Woodturning Symposium, Provo, Utah. June 10–12, 2004.
- Utah Woodturning Symposium, Provo, Utah. May 8–10, 2003.
- “Special Projects” (hollow form), with Richard Anderson. Woodcraft, Tucson. February 22, 2003.
- “Special Projects” (natural-edge bowl), with Richard Anderson. Woodcraft, Tucson. January 26, 2003.
- “Intermediate Woodturning,” with Richard Anderson. Woodcraft, Tucson. January 19, 2003.
- “Introduction to the Lathe,” with Richard Anderson. Woodcraft, Tucson. January 10, 2003.
Professional Associations
- American Association of Woodturners (since 2004)
- Southern Arizona Woodturners Association, Tucson (founding member)