Lucinda VanValkenburg is a third generation resident of Arlington, Washington. Born in 1954, creating things has been lifelong passion. Working in many mediums she has fashioned pieces from fiber, clay, wood, leather and metal. She learned to knit at age six, made her first project on the sewing machine shortly there after and received a woodburning set as a gift at age ten. Girls weren’t allowed to take woodshop when she was in school or it would have been her choice as an elective.
“Many of my earlier woodworking projects were made out of necessity. Storage units, toys for my sons, repair work on our rented farm and later the finish work on our own house. My first set of cabinets was for my sewing room.”
She finally had a chance to teach herself woodturning after her sons were grown. While making a weaving loom in the late 1990’s she needed some round pulleys that she could make on a lathe bought many years before at a surplus auction. Since then she has taken many one or two day workshops taught by woodturners from all over the world.
“Segmented work, cutting up wood into small piece and gluing them back together, is what I started doing but I wanted to spend more time on the lathe so I took up making many different objects out of solid pieces of wood.”
Most of her work is turned from found or reclaimed northwest hardwoods and she enjoys bringing out the natural color and texture these woods present. This avenue of resources is unlimited and a great way to turn what might be considered unusable wood from a commercial viewpoint into functional and artistic pieces that can be enjoyed for generations.
She takes pleasure turning wood into useful and decorative pieces. Her work includes very practical kitchen and garden items such as spatulas, scoops, bowls, spurtles, dibbles as well as attractive and eye catching display pieces.
Rexville Grange Art Show 