In my native Libya, North Africa, the Sahara desert dominated the environment. Few eucalyptus, acacia, olive and orange trees managed a stunted existence. Only cactus, palms and sagebrush did a little better. It is a strange coincidence that I was seventeen years of age before I was to be exposed to “a proper tree”; that was when I moved to Italy. My first exposure to woodworking was while observing my grandfather making useful items at his farm. I was fascinated by his dexterity – with a few simple hand tools, he fashioned a spigot to use on a wine barrel out of a broken olive tree branch. His ability of using broken pieces to make into useful items, and his love for wood, left a lasting impression = “repurposing on steroids”.
You can’t be a woodturner without being a tree hugger.
Since departing Libya, I’ve lived in Europe, Canada and the United States. In all my travels, one of the memorable experiences remains my first seeing the “red woods” in northern California. Even though my life and career has been dominated by “metal,” engineering and manufacturing wood has always held a special attraction. I dabbled with woodturning in the past, as a necessity of my custom manufacturing needs. It wasn’t until I joined the American Association of Woodturners and the Chicago Woodturners Club, a local chapter, that I was exposed to the unlimited possibilities of woodturning.
As of my retirement, woodturning has fulfilled my creative needs and enriched my life. I enjoy working with local, urban wood and take every opportunity to save fallen trees from the inevitable garbage dump! It is especially rewarding to turn a discarded piece of wood into something useful and beautiful – I guess remaining faithful to lessons learned in my youth. I enjoy teaching, mentoring and passing along the tradition of working with your hands. A day spent watching my now grown grandson Alex at the lathe is a good day!
