Will Form 3520 Recipient 2023-2024

Music I started collecting wood and glass many years ago. When I met Ben, I realized that wood Turner's could actually show a feeling through their art. In wood, you could tell about some of his life experiences and the pieces that he made. I think what he did was show that wood could be really art. Vince influenced was fairly obvious early on at the aw symposiums and Hanson gallery. You'd see the people that had studied with him or taken his classes. You'd see the technique used quite often. You'd see his trademark imagery, such as butterflies or dragonflies. As time went on, more and more we saw people understanding the idea of storytelling and starting to use stories in their works, which I think Ben really brought to woodturning. Theo, to a large extent, one way that I thought about Ben was almost like an incredibly bright light source, like say, like a moon or a sun. When say, like a moth or whatever flies around that light source, they get illuminated, and you can see every little feature about them. There were times where I felt like that's how we were. Anyone that came into contact with Ben, he just brought out every part of you, especially as a creative. But I think he brought it out in every possible way. He just had a way of illuminating people. I guess it's personal for me because maybe he saw this in me, that I wasn't very secure with the artwork that I was doing. I wasn't sure of myself. He helped me to open up and to bloom, and then I had the courage to tell my stories. So Ben fo has been a driving force for basically bringing wood art into the public's eye. She...