Bonnie MacDonald
Bonnie MacDonald joined the Co-op in June of 2017.
She was first introduced to the art of wood turning in 1999 when she was given a broken mini-lathe, fixed it, took a class in making pens in St. Louis, Missouri and then made pens for all her family and friends. Selling pens enabled her to buy a Powermatic, which began bigger projects in woodturning. She also works with glass. She dabbles in “sagged, draped and fused glass” work using a kiln.
She moved to Dallas in 2001 and began to turn bowls and platters. Throughout the years she has taken various classes from very gifted and renown contemporary artists, allowing her to incorporate this knowledge into making beautiful artwork of her own. One of the things that she learned was the process of marbling, usually applied to cloth and paper. Applying that technique to wood made it very colorful and unique, and allowed her to step aside from the traditional forms of turning. Additionally, she has learned other coloring and texturing techniques from varied contemporary artists and has combined these to go outside the box and make colorful classics of her own. She is working on making new perspectives in contemporary turned wood. Every piece is unique and signed by the artist.
She has displayed her work in galleries located in Santa Fe, Dennison Texas, the Plano Art Gallery and now has collection of her art at the Caladium Arts & Crafts Co-operative in Lake Placid Florida.
One of Bonnie’s favorite quotes is: “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.” By Joyce Kilmer.
Bonnies says that she has always been impressed with the beauty of the tree world. Knowing that a tree is home to a universe of other creatures inspires her to preserve its beauty and value. When a tree dies, it lives on in the form of wood to create living spaces, furnish them and heat them. It also lives on in creative artistic expression.
A piece of wood on the lathe is her canvas for creativity. The outcome is limited only by the boundaries of the visions in her mind. The exploration of the wood leads to unexpected twists and turns as it evolves from original intention to finished piece. She has total freedom during the process of making a bowl or a platter and is honored at the opportunity to achieve unique beauty with her own hands from a piece of God’s work.
Her particular path of woodturning involves the creation of wooden beauty that has no function except that of bringing joy and happiness to the beholders.
She also explores multidimensional work that includes various coloring techniques, and incorporate other materials, such as metal and glass. She is devoted to creating objects of art that are unique and pleasing to the eyes and to the souls of those who gaze upon them.
Should you have questions for Bonnie MacDonald you can contact her through our Contact Us page