February Update

JIm quoted somebody (I forget who) the other day and it made great sense: "If it doesn't make sense to invest in the market then invest in yourself." In the "Plane and Simple" class last weekend it was wonderful to watch the satisfied grins as the students created long thin shavings with the planes they had just tuned up. Their investment had just paid a major dividend! Join us for some some fun and satifaction: Woodworking for Women Martha Collins runs our Woodworking for Women Program. Martha now makes wonderful turned wood jewelry. In a former life she ran furniture making workshops. She teaches a series of classes for women which allows you to explore woodworking at your own pace. There is still space in her classes in March and April Finishing Workshops We are incredibly lucky to have Michael Dresdner teaching finishing this year. There is just one place left in the March Fearless Finishing class. We will rerun this class in the TBA slot in August. There is still space in Michael's Staining and Colouring workshop in April (editorial note - I'm English and I find it very hard to misspell colour). I think that this will be one of the most fun of Michael's workshops. Adding colour, whether to emulate a darker wood or add elements of the rainbow to your work, is about process and experimentation. This is the class to learn the process and to experiment. Build a Windsor Chair - April 13-17, 2009 The definition of a Windsor Chair is pretty simple - the chair is made of woods appropriate to its function and manufacture. The legs are made of a hard wood that takes good detail when turned. The seat is made of a wood that is easy to carve like pine. The hoop of the chair is made of oak or ash - woods that bend well. Building a Windsor Chair is not for complete novices but a little experience goes a long way. Enthusiasm counts for a lot. You work mainly with hand tools - there are brief excursions to the bandsaw. Woodworking at it's best. The class has achieved critical mass and will run. There are still spaces on the course and we encourage you to explore this wonderful tradition. Even though there is a tool list in the course description - you don't need to bring any tools along. Out of Square with Seth Rolland This course is really about design, visual composition and how to make furniture "Out of Square". Seth emphasizes that if you have skills in other visual arts - pottery, sculpture, painting or drawing you'll find that experience helps. The course is not about fine joinery or fine woodworking. You need some woodworking experience but not a lot. You should be comfortable using a bandsaw and a table saw. Seth teaches pragmatic quick methods for making and joining curved forms. This course will both challenge your creative skills and be a lot of fun. April 25th - May 1 2009. The Art and Craft of Working with Wood Lecture Series: Restoring and Preserving Old Buildings with Kevin Palo on Thursday February 19th 2009 at 6:30 A final reminder for Kevin's free lecture at the School tonight. This is very timely given the discussion of planning and permitting rules on old buildings here in Port Townsend. Kevin is teaching the Practical Historic Preservation class in Mid-March. You can sign up for the whole week or just days of the class.

Some courses are full Darrell Peart's Greene and Green Details I & II Classes are both full. Darrell is open to running more courses this in the fall. Let us know if you are interested. Bonnie Klein's Basic Woodturning class in May is full.