All about Derek

Many of the visitors to my studio or craft-show booth want to know what I did before I started woodturning. Now my blog readers can learn a little about me by taking a look at the lens I made about myself at Squidoo.com:

Squidoo : Derek Andrews, woodturner

Why I think my work is Worthwhile

Anita Sharpe writing in the Worthwhile Blog has asked to hear your thoughts on why your work is Worthwhile. Here is my response:

As a woodturner I am helping to keep a traditional craft alive and in the public eye. The ability to be creative is important to me, and in turn it brings a little joy to my customers. I work with a material which is sustainable and which helps to keep the planet alive whilst it is growing.

I believe that small independent businesses are vital to a stable economy. My work is labour intensive, not capital intensive, so less of my income goes to large corporations.

I take pride in being self employed. I do not rely on others to keep me employed. I take pleasure in my successes and responsibility for my failures.

I believe that these things are all worthwhile.

Technorati tags: worthwhile, woodturning, craft, business, environment, economy

It's summer time, OK?

I know I haven't blogged for a while. It's not because I'm spending all day at the beach rather than working in the shop. Quite the contrary in fact. I have just been too busy to sit down, gather my thoughts and write something meaningful and coherent.

Summer is always a busy time for me, when tourists and cottagers are in the area. This year I have taken a booth at the Pictou Weekend Craft Market, which takes away two days that I would otherwise be busy in the workshop. So I have more sales and less time to make new stock, and it is a struggle to keep the shelves filled. But yesterday I did take a day off.

My R&R actually began on Wednesday evening when I took in a ceilidh at Pictou's deCoste Centre, with music by John Spyder MacDonald, John Ferguson and fiddle player Alycia Putnam and family. Yesterday I drove over to Antigonish County and hiked the Fairmont Ridge Trail with my dog Maggie. It was a great walk, some of the slopes made for a great workout, and I feel much better for having done it.

Earlier in the week I made some inlaid weedpots. They have been selling very well this summer, and I only had two left on the shelf. This batch includes inlays of bubinga, ziracote, black ash, cherry burl, spalted elm and the spalted beech which I cut up back in April.

Today I started work on an order of favors for an October wedding. I got forty turned today, so I can take them with me to the craft market and burn the inscriptions while I am not waiting on customers. Woodburning is one of the few jobs I can do out of the shop.

Cover Story

That's me on the cover of Atlantic Connection, Industry Canada's Atlantic newsletter. The cover story in the premier edition no less!

The story is about how my website got started thanks to the Community Access Program (C@P) . I am delighted to have been part of the River John C@P committee since it's inception, and I am pleased to report that it has gone from strength to strength. Apart from being the catalyst for building a new library in the village, it has created numerous jobs for trainers, researchers and web-designers. Our projects for this year include digitizing local cemetery records, creating a multi-media CD to help promote the village, and pursuing options for bringing broadband internet service to our rural area.

One added bonus for being on the front cover of a Canadian Government publication is that I also get to be on the back cover in French:

Virage payant
Derek Andrews 'Netpreneur' à son studio de bois tourné à River John (Nouvelle-Écosse).


Tags: Canada, River John.