Bill Abendroth

Artist Statement

I’ve been a woodworker all of my adult life. I have always been inspired by the natural beauty of wood. As I often say “Mother Nature does good work”. I’m normally opposed to using stains since I want to show off the natural beauty and warmth of a beautiful piece of wood. However (and it’s a big HOWEVER), as an artist, I love to “play with color”. The different hues of the artist paints provide an almost infinite number of possible color combinations.

My current body of work manages to combine the natural warmth and beauty of wood and my desire to “play with color”. Although I prefer not to stain wood, I do sometimes fall victim to the alluring call of some dyes or stains.

There is an old saying that no amount of color or surface decoration can make up for bad form. I find this to be especially true with my work so I spend a lot of time perfecting the shapes. Sometimes an ⅛ of an inch is the difference between a successful implementation or a clumsy and awkward piece. The Moody Blues had an album in 1968 titled “In Search of the Lost Chord”. I guess my life could be titled “In Search of the Perfect Shape”.

Wood can have a somewhat iridescent quality so I use this to my advantage by using segmented construction. Segmented construction is where wedges or pie shaped pieces of wood are glued together to form a circle. This technique provides a very stable vessel, allows me to show off very precise joinery and provides those iridescent qualities as the light strikes the piece from different angles. After the vessel is assembled it is turned on a lathe and then paint and metal foil are added to complete the look. Although no two pieces are the same, 40 to 50 applications of primer, paint, foil, and clear coat are not unusual.