Arch, I miss the musings...........................

Last night I had a rare opportunity to addend a museum opening for a
solo exhibition by Binh Pho. The exhibit is in Long Beach at the
Museum of Art. There were several notable turners there, a bunch of
collectors and other art patrons.

I drove to the exhibit with Ernest Grabbe and Don Derry. Ernest is a
woodturner and collector. Don is a professional turner who some of you
may know.

One of the very interesting things about Binh's work is that it tells
his personal story of escape from communist Viet Nam, recapture,
imprisonment, difficult ocean crossing and ultimate freedom in the USA.
Every one of his pieces tells a story of something outside of
woodturning -mostly his life's story.

On our drive home, Don made the comment that many artists seek and find
their inspiration in their art. In other words, the culture is
"inbred". Although a little bit of a cliche, he asked why rock and
roll music is about "sex, drugs and rock and roll"? His point is that
musicians are drawing on their life as musicians for their inspiration.

He noted that many woodturners are the same way. They find their
inspiration in other woodturning instead of their life, their
environment, their relationships, their work, or their faith. When we
look to other turners, our work emulates theirs or extrapolates from
theirs. When you look at Binh's work, you would be very hard pressed
to identify his woodturning influences. I would speculate he is
influenced by Frank Sudol, but that is all I can determine. Binh's
work is his own.

So the question becomes, where do I get my ideas, my spark, my
inspiration?

Joe Fleming - San Diego