Graeme Priddle — Woodturner & Observer June 2004
By Dave Forney

Graeme recently demonstrated for the Chicago Woodturners and gave several hands-on workshops for its members at which he demonstrated his technical methods and imparted his life philosophies. As a maker, much of Graeme’s work reflects influences from his life and environment. As a philosopher, his outlook on life is also reflected in his work.

Graeme is a high energy person who is also introspective. A vegetarian who practices yoga, he is passionate about setting life goals and doing the best he can at whatever he tries. He strives to tie together design, form, and technique and is his own best critic, next to Maxine, his wife! Recently an Israeli woodturner, Pablo Nemzoff, spent a month working with Graeme to develop his creative skills, and describes him this way, “picky, picky, picky”. But it is this drive for perfection that shows up in the quality of Graeme’s work.

A keen observer, Graeme will often spend hours watching the waves hit the shore of the beach near his home in Hikurangi, New Zealand, watching the water in a river as it runs over rocks, or looking at the patterns in the bark on trees, all the while assuring Maxine “yep, I'm working dear, still working”. Yet things seen during these observations later show up in his work. All those hours spent watching the river translate into a bowl design simulating what he saw. One branding design on a recent ‘Starfish Vessel’ was derived from a pattern he saw on a toy while playing with Casey, his one year old grandson. While Graeme never copies exactly what he sees, he uses details he sees as a springboard for ideas and textures with which he can impart his own interpretations. He believes that “our woodturning can tell people who we are” and loves to tell stories though his work. These stories usually revolve around his environment in New Zealand or reflect the culture and history of the place. The subtly carved curves in his starfish vessels reflect the patterns he has seen in the waves or sand on the beach and the marine life found in the ocean there. He often incorporates shell inlay into his designs to further communicate his love of the ocean. The branding on his work is often tied to the symbols of the Maori culture which is so significant to New Zealand’s history. Other designs are a reflection of a place to which he has traveled. A recent brand, developed while he was teaching in Seattle, was shaped like a raindrop.

During the hands-on classes, Graeme starts by having the group discuss who they are (“Hi, my name is Dave and I'm a woodturner.” “Hi Dave.”), where they came from and what they are passionate about. While this may border on psychotherapy without the couch, it does help provide focus to the attendees as they explore new ideas and concepts. Graeme also offers a pop quiz (Graeme calls this “a 5 minute design exercise”) on the first day of the course. Despite the groans of his students, there is a method to the madness. The students are asked to clear the mind, to draw 30 two inch circles on a pad of paper and then to draw designs inside of or incorporating the circles. At the end of five minutes, the students are asked to individually put an “X” next to the one circle of their work that they find the most interesting and to explain to the group why they selected that one. Graeme advocates repeating this exercise on your own every day as a way to generate new ideas and create new ways of thinking. Be sure to date the pages. On subsequent days, compare the circles to previous pages to see if any recurring themes emerge that could be used in your turning. When you can fill all 30 circles within five minutes, reduce the time to 3 minutes for even more of a challenge. For the students in my class, the first day was more an exercise in following directions as only one person drew all 30 circles before starting to fill them in. It is important to draw the circles first as the process of doing so frees the mind and prepares it for the next step of filling them in. Don't think about it too much, just draw.

The course was not about completing a finished object but more about “playing”; trying new things and seeing where they led and how they might apply to our work. It’s a very interactive approach. The only rule was that there were no rules. It’s an approach that allows students to explore and one in which Graeme can also learn from them. It wasn’t about Graeme filling our heads with knowledge and us then going home to apply it. Graeme is very passionate about turners finding their own voice; using their work to tell stories about the things that are important to them. His teaching approach is geared towards this goal. It's these explorations and trying things that may eventually allow a turner to “sing”.

Graeme has not always been a woodturner. In his youth, he had a passion for sailing and anything else involving salt water and the beach. At 16 he left home and started his professional career working as a technician for the government run communications company in New Zealand. As a problem solver, he often had to “think outside the box” especially when he was out in the remotest parts of the country. After he had been there about 12 years, the government sold the infrastructure to AT&T and employees were offered a generous early retirement (attrition) package. In 1989 Graeme, with his wife and three young children, took the package and bought 100 acres of rain forest near Hikurangi on the North Island of NZ. With a Quonset hut for a workshop and a lean-to next to it to live in, they set off with the goal and great expectation of making ‘freeform’ furniture. As they were moving in, Graeme ran into Godfrey Harvey-Smith who was building horticultural shade houses on a neighboring farm. While discussing what Graeme planned to do, Godfrey said “I used to do that, but now I’m working here”. He went on to explain that the stock market crash in the late 1980's had caused the bottom of the market for furniture to fall out and he could not eek out much of a living that way anymore. While that took some of the wind out of Graeme’s sails, soon after, Godfrey introduced Graeme to a group of local woodturners who gathered once a month to drink beer and tell lies. At the first gathering Graeme attended, the group viewed a video of a demonstration David Ellsworth had given during a recent visit to New Zealand and a new direction was sparked. Graeme hung out with the local turners and practiced as much as he could. He chainsaw milled deadfall timber on his property and sold it in order to put food on the table for his growing family while he started to establish himself as a woodturner. Eventually the amount of time spent milling timber decreased and the amount of time spent on turning increased. A few awards and gallery contacts gained at craft shows boosted his confidence and Graeme decided he was at a point in life where he wanted to turn full time. It was his selection to participate in the ITE program at the Woodturning Center in 2000 that really brought attention to his work. When he started turning, Graeme had set a ten year goal to have his work in the del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles. It was almost ten years to the day after setting that goal (and partially as a result of the ITE exposure) that Ray Leier invited Graeme to display his work at del Mano; proof that hard work and commitment does pay off.

While Graeme will tell you that there are only three important things in woodturning; woodgrain, sharp edges, and bevels, his skill and outlook obviously go far beyond that. What he imparts during his classes and demonstrations is that life is about discovery. He certainly embodies that in his work and also in his interactions with others. His message to other turners is this; “Take some time to look at the world around you. Discover the things in life that you are passionate about. Look for the details in what you observe and incorporate them into your work in order to tell your story”. What stories will Graeme tell us next? We'll just have to wait and see.

Dave Forney has been turning for about four years and is a member of the Chicago Woodturners Club and the AAW. He likes the immediacy that is provided by woodturning and finds it to be a stress relief from his day job as an IT Manager. Dave lives in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago.

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