Who: Paul Stafford
Medium: Wood
His story: In the late 1980s, after a career as an aerospace engineer, Stafford found himself in the same quandary as many retirees: bored and looking for a hobby. Nothing really clicked until he discovered woodturned bowls.
For Stafford, woodturning provided a perfect way to combine his left-brained problemsolving skills with his right- brained vision and imagination.
“Whenever you’re working with a piece of wood,” he says, “you study it and see that the grain runs a certain way, that there are knots, splits, cracks, and you ask yourself, ‘What’s the best way to cut what I envision on the inside?’ ” he said. “I think of myself as an unwrapper of gifts from nature.”
Stafford, who calls himself a wood whisperer, specialized in woodturned bowls and other household pieces until four years ago, when he found a gray, weather-beaten cedar fence post.
“I imagined a big vertical zipper that I could open and see the beautiful grain inside that old cedar log,” he said.
That gave him the idea for his signature zippered vessels. They’ve won numerous invitations to juried art shows and several awards, including first place in the 3-D category at the 2007 Evergreen Art Open show, and first place in the sculpture category at the Lone Tree Art Exhibition.
Stafford uses his honors and reputation as tools in his quest to elevate woodturning from craft to art.
“A lot of gallery owners think of woodturning as a way to make salad bowls,” he said.
“Few realize artistic contemporary woodturning has transcended the limitations of functionality and is being accepted as a decorative art form. There are at least a dozen woodturners in Colorado who enjoy worldwide recognition and reputations, and yet are pretty much ignored by the local art fashionista.”
Philosophy: Stafford forms each zippered vessel from a single piece of wood, using a lathe to create his signature multilayered petal effects. The zippers are commercial grade, glued into a slot or groove cut into the wood.
Stafford occasionally adds color with an acrylic airbrush.
“You can control the value and hue better with acrylics than with stains,” he said.
For some of his pieces, Stafford collaborates with Arvada artist Cindy Brown, who creates custom glass beads.
Cost range: Zippered vessels: $150 to $3,000. Other pieces: $50 to $2,000.
Where to find his work: The Evergreen Gallery, 28195 Colorado 74, Evergreen; and online at.
Vicky Uhland, Special to The Denver Post
