Barrie Harding
Barrie is a Mechanical Engineer by formal education. After 30 years at IBM, he graduated (retired) in 1998 to turning wood into pretty things. He emphasizes letting the wood retain its natural features such as natural edges, bark, voids, etc. He does not use paint, stain, bleach, or dye, but occasionally uses semi-precious stones, `thus emphasizing only the natural beauty and colors. This emphasis is especially prominent in segmented work where the contrast of the various natural woods is most amazing. Pierce carving is sometimes used to create nature scenes/designs on the natural wood media. Barrie does fine salad bowls and other usual items but really likes to do unusual and artistic pieces using various techniques like: bias turnery (turned at an angle to the grain and bark of the wood), multi-center turnery (eccentric), incorporating shells and antlers, combining turned elements into sculptures, pierce carving, and inlaying stone.