PRIVATE LESSONS FROM A MASTER

David Ellsworth teaches turning in his woodland studio. David Ellsworth teaches turning in his woodland studio.

SHOP OWNER: David Ellsworth LOCATION: Quakertown, PA

I dropped by David Ellsworth's studio in nearby Quakertown, PA, the other day and found David conducting another of his weekend turning workshops, which he offers about 20 times per year. He has been running these workshops since 1990, specializing in teaching beginner-to-intermediate turners. He says with a wink that he doesn't take advanced students "because they already know too much."

Ellsworth is well known in the turning world for his development of thin-walled hollow vessels, which he pioneered in the early 1970s after he received his masters degree in sculpture from the University of Colorado. He has taught turning workshops in the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and his work is represented in the permanent collections of many prestigious museums.

 When I arrived, David was helping one of his students position a bowl gouge for a shearing cut on the outside of an ash bowl blank. In all there were four students this weekend--the maximum number David will accommodate at a time--though he has seven lathes in his studio, including two incredible Poolewood lathes, which he imports from England.

One of the highlights of the weekend is the three home-cooked meals per day that David and his wife Wendy provide for the students. Ellsworth says the social time spent around the dinner table is an important complement to the weekend's busy turning agenda. Anyone interested in signing up for a future Ellsworth workshop may call David at 215-536-5298 or e-mail him for more information.