Triple award winner

Times Contributor  

 

If you drive down Thornburn Road in Strathmore, you would not know that behind one of the garage doors a master artisan is diligently creating award-winning art.

Joseph Van Keulen’s woodturning skills earned him three awards at the 2012 Calgary Stampede. 

“I have always wanted to do something with wood, but never had the time,” Van Keulen said about his start in woodturning.

He came from the Netherlands and worked as a Power Engineer at Agrium prior to his retirement.

He began experimenting with various woods and forms in 2005, getting wood from neighbours and from different sites that he has visited.

He uses assorted dyes, detailed wood burning and a dental drill to make blended colour and intricate patterns on his projects. 

“The good thing with free hand, I can put the design where I want to put them,” said Van Keulen.

Some of the turning is so fine, it feels like lightweight china to the touch. Using the drill, he makes lace like patterns that blend with the mood and grain of the wood. He says he gets his inspiration from many places, pictures and patterns he sees, and sometimes the wood itself speaks to how a project develops. “Quite often there are pieces with chunks missing and I incorporate that from there,” said Van Keulen.

Samples of his unique work can be viewed on www.joevankeulen.ca 

His work can be commissioned, by contacting him at joe@joevankeulen.ca,or  403 934-4833. He often attends the various Calgary area art shows like the Turner Valley Festival of Arts, Aug. 11. 

Van Keulen has won various awards, the latest at the 2012 Calgary Stampede Art Show. A beautiful wood turned bowl with an intricate burned design called a ‘Bowl of Blackberries’ won first in Open Category and First Overall medal in section with a prize honorarium of $150.

His second piece was a platter with an encircled native design Bison head, called ‘Lost Spirit’ in the Spirit of 1912 competition. It won third place overall.

The Southern Alberta Wood Turner’s Society Juried Exhibition awarded him the Harold Biswanger award in 2011 and he won the People’s Choice award at the 2011 Strathmore Heritage Days Exhibition.  He has published his work in several magazines and has taught classes in woodturning at Black Forest Woods in Calgary.

He intends to make an entry in this year’s Heritage Days Creative Art Show, Aug. 3-6, and hopes to place first this time. He is expecting some competition, so those who would like to rise to the challenge can contact Lynn Walker. Items for the Craft and Art exhibition will be accepted

Thursday Aug. 2, at the Civic Centre, between 4 – 8 p.m.

For more information, call Lynn Walker 403 901-0833. She will have details about entry procedures.