Starfish lamp by Seth Rolland from a past show.
Loon transformation mask by Ben Tyler from a past show.
During the first week in November — from Monday, November 1 until Monday, November 8 — you’ll have the opportunity to view the 2021 Port Townsend Woodworkers Show by taking an easy stroll down Taylor Street in Port Townsend.
Because of Covid-19, the Splinter Group, who organizes the annual show, has moved it from a weekend at the American Legion Hall to a full week as a storefront show on Taylor Street — more specifically, in the windows of Coldwell Banker and Olympic Art and Office, who are generously making their windows available for the weeklong show.
The 2021 Exhibitors: The 2021 storefront show will feature the work of members of the Splinter Group, as well as graduates of the intensive programs at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking. Be sure to swing by and see what some of our amazing local makers can envision and create.
Next year’s show will hold special significance for us because it will feature pieces that use local wood from Valley View Forest!
The red alder and bigleaf maple from Valley View Forest will provide material for entries in the 2022 the show. Photo by Tim Lawson.
As part of the 2021 Valley View Forest pilot harvest, the Land Trust offered a tree to a number of nonprofit, educational, and tribal partners. The Splinter Group and the Port Townsend School of Woodworking both accepted this offer.
They plan to harvest a western bigleaf maple and a red alder, and mill it on site at Valley View Forest. The cut wood will be air-dried for a number of months, put into a dehumidification kiln at Wayland Constructive, and then made available for sale to local makers in spring of 2022 so they can create their entries for the 2022 Port Townsend Woodworkers Show.
According to Tim Lawson, a skilled woodworker and member of the Splinter Group, this process should ensure that the local wood is easier to work with when using hand tools.
In addition to the cut wood, branches and limbs from the two trees will be offered at the time of felling to local and regional woodturners and green woodworkers wanting to enter the 2022 show. Any branches and greenery not collected will be left to enrich the soil and provide habitat at Valley View Forest.
The partnership between the Land Trust, the Splinter Group, and the Port Townsend School of Woodworking is an exciting one. These groups, along with many other nonprofit, education, and tribal partners, have participated in the planning for Chimacum Ridge Community Forest. Together, they’ve helped shape a vision for the creation of a forest that offers ecological, economic, and recreational value to the community. And the creation of a local wood economy that supports local artisans and makers is an important part of that vision. We can’t wait to see what our local makers will create using local sustainably harvested and processed wood.
To learn more about and apply for the 2022 show, click here.
Call for Storage: The Splinter Group is looking for approximately 400 square feet of covered, well-ventilated storage where the cut wood can air dry for a few months (from late November until February). If anyone has a large corner of a barn that’s currently empty, please contact Tim Lawson via email at lawson.tim@gmail.com.
The 2018 show at the American Legion Hall.
The Port Townsend Woodworkers Show was originally started in the late 1990s by John Marckworth and Jim Tolpin — two of the three founders of the Port Townsend School of Woodworking. It was held for a few years and then fizzled out as John and Jim got busy with other endeavors.
In 2006, some woodworker friends who really enjoy working together formed the Splinter Group. Their purpose: to re-launch the Port Townsend Woodworkers Show. For more than 15 years, the show has been going strong and, in non-Covid years, draws up to 2,000 visitors to the American Legion Hall during the first weekend in November.
Click on any of the photos below to view a selection of entries from earlier shows.
