Happy New Year to all of you. 2024 has just ended; for me, it was an excellent year.
In January, I was accepted to the Yucca Art Gallery in Old Towne Albuquerque. Yucca Art Gallery is a co-op gallery with about 40 local artisans (Albuquerque, NM, and the surrounding area), and it has just celebrated its 60th anniversary. It has given me great international exposure, with visitors from all over the world coming in. Because I am a member, I have increased sales to new levels.
I taught many classes both at Dovetail Community Workshop and personally throughout the year. It is always fun for me to teach and experience with my students as they experience the fun of woodturning.
I participated in two Holiday Markets this year: the Placitas Holiday Market the weekend before Thanksgiving and the New Mexico Artisan Market the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Enough about the past, and on to 2025.
I was voted in as the Director of Yucca Art Galler for 2025. I am looking forward to working with all of the artisans in the co-op to expand and elevate their particular expression of art and the sales of that art.
I am launching a part of the Veterans Woodworking Workshop as a non-profit to help with outreach to my fellow veterans in my part to eliminate veteran suicide. I believe that we all have an artistic expression. Your job is to find yours and express it. Connecting with veterans through Veterans Day in the shop each month may help some discover woodworking as an expression of their artistic outlet. If not, I have connections with glass blowers, painters, clay sculptors, musicians, and more. Once I get in my studio and start creating, I am connected to my sense of purpose. That changes my life all the time, creating something new.
I have many new ideas for turnings that I will share in videos I create and post on my YouTube Channel.
Thank you to all who have purchased from me or taken a class in the past, as well as to all those who subscribe to my email.
I wish you all a happy and wonderful 2025. Please go out and find your artistic expression and express it to the world. I would love to see what you create if you want to share it with me. I find inspiration to create new things from seeing what others create.