Being a Woodturner
James Jernigan - The Heart of the Matter
The beauty of people is often hidden deep inside. And, with a piece of wood, the beauty is found deep within the tree. A felled tree lying on the ground calls out to me to come over and look at my heart and let me tell you the story of my life. It is my responsibility as an artist to reveal to the world the beauty of this once living entity.
About Me
I came to be a woodturner later in life, after I was introduced to it by my dad, Douglas Jernigan, with the gift of a mini lathe. Although not his primary passion, he is one of those people that could build anything, especially out of wood, if he set his mind to it. It quickly became my passion and within a year I had completely taken over our garage and was making sawdust daily.
I have been asked what I enjoy most about woodturning. For me it is two-fold. I truly love the fact that no 2 pieces will ever be exactly alike. They can have similar shapes, but they can never be the same because each piece of wood is different. The other reason I love woodturning is puts me in the moment. I am not thinking about anything except what I am working on at that minute and for me that is a liberating feeling.
Who inspires me? I love the old masters like Ed Moulthrop, Bob Stocksdale, Harry Nohr, Rude Osolnik and David Ellsworth. Each brought a unique and different perspective to woodturning taking it from a utilitarian craft to an art form.
Finally, I would be amiss if not to mention Matt Moulthrop. I am not only a great admirer of his work as well as a collector of all three generations of the Moulthrop’s work. His kindness and genuine desire to encourage and help me in my own woodturning has been inspirational.