Two weeks ago, a bunch of us were savoring our last day of class together in Pete Galbert’s new workshop facility in Berwick, Maine. Pete’s old workshop was in a 19th century former mill building and it was a great place to work. The new workshop is better.

The inside is spacious with a comfortable wood floor. Large windows fill the room with light and invite views of the countryside outside the shop. They also allow refreshing breezes to flow through, although the first three days of our class we opted to use the mini-splits to cut the humidity. We were able to concentrate on our carving during three brutally hot days.

This was my first bird bowl class, and it was also sort of a class reunion, as six of the students had been in my Bowl Explorations class together last August. They were eager to get back together and they welcomed three newcomers. The encouragement that students give one another, and the sense of togetherness that develops as we work side by side is a wonderful thing to be a part of. Joel Paul, on the far right, joined me as an instuctor with this class and his knowledge, understanding, and sense of humor were a critical part of the success of the class.

Above, Joel is guiding Gary through the sharpening of his drawknife.

Oh — and we carved bird bowls. Here is a ladder shot of nine goose-inspired bowls. I was thrilled with how the students tackled this challenging form and with the creativity and imagination they demonstrated. I emphasize not to be concerned with mistakes on the class projects, that we’re here to learn skills and concepts. But it is nice when it turns out well.

Another shot from a lower angle.

We also got our hen bowls carved with a few details and painting to finish up at home. There’s Joe carving the flute under the wing.

And Mac shaving the side of the tail.

There was also plenty of bird inspiration all around us.

The swallows love Pete’s barn.

One little bird even joined us in the workshop. This chipping sparrow couldn’t seem to find his way out and he was very cooperative when I was able to assist him in returning to the field and trees.

You never know who’s going to drop in to Pete’s. I had been eager to meet Frank Strazza for a long time. One afternoon he just walked in to see Pete and we (me and whatever students hung around) got the chance to talk about all sorts of things, especially his incredible marquetry work.

A couple days later, Tim Manney dropped by and we we dove into tools and talked about all sorts of stuff. I’ve known Tim for almost ten years and every time I talk with him I learn something new about sharpening or woodworking in general. He’s got a weekend class coming up at Pete’s if you can join in.

Pete has a sitting area just outside the shop, and good coffee (so they tell me). Not a bad spot to begin the day.

When I returned home, I found the neighbor’s red maple tree had fallen in a storm. So I started on a few things while it was fresh, including this shrink pot in progress. More on that later.

I’ll be back at Pete’s in October with a few tweaks to the class procedure after the first run. Meanwhile, lots of projects in mind.