Artist of the Month Suzette Edwards

Edwards moved her works carefully to a better spot for the light to show the detail of the wood in the south room of the senior center. As she placed a small "flower", she explained the process that makes the delicate bloom, "You turn this while the wood is wet and [as] you can see the dark line, that's the heart of the wood and it works around that."

"I want my people," Edwards gently lifted the larger piece last to set in the place of honor. "This is my pride and joy."

"Bountiful generosity" is the name of the piece and the work was cooperative design by Edwards and two other female wood turners within the sub group of the American Association of Wood Turners called Women in Turning.

"Each year, they have collaboration where they bring women together and when COVID-19 hit, they would team us up with people all over the world [remotely]."

Edwards shared the concept with her team and the woman from South Carolina contributed the glasswork, which was finished in four days; the painting, which took two days to complete, was from another female wood turner in Michigan; and Edwards provided the figures and clothing, which took about three weeks, "Doing those people was a Booger."

She explained the effort taken to turn the torsos and carve the bellies, etc, "Then, the shoes, I cut them round and hollowed them out and then I made the coats." The others of her team sad she could keep the finished work, "and I'm not letting it go".

When Edwards was a youngster, her father bought a lathe and the process of turning "fascinated" her, but life intervened and she did not get to it until four years ago, saying, "I started turning and joined a month later to learn more about it because, basically, everything I had learned was on YouTube."

Currently, there are only about 300 female wood turners associated with the organization wherein there are thousands of male turners and Edwards advocates other women to try the craft.

"I would like to see more women get involved. Some people look at it a say, 'Ooohhh, that's kind of scary', but if you use good caution and safety...I think women would find it fun!"

Edwards joined when she and her husband lived in Washington and, while the various hard woods with which she is familiar are scarce in this area of Wyoming, "You can do stuff with pine, but [not] fine work; it's a very soft wood."

Precut wood is expensive and through the association, she and others are informed of opportunities to acquire quality timber, "We all come with our chainsaws, cut it and hauled it off so when I moved over here, I shipped 160 cubic feet of wood."

Edwards is proud of her tools, which include several gouges and a lathe that occupy her garage. Unlike a standard carpenter, though, she does not really measure a great deal, "The wood just kind of tells me how it wants to be done."

"That's what I love about wood turning," Edwards smiles whimsically, "you take something and pick it up, you start turning it and it looks plain, but as you go down into it, you discover things. It's a lot of fun."

Many of Edwards' works are currently on display at the Moorcroft Senior Center on the south side of the MTC. Guests are welcome and encouraged to drop by between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday to take a look.