LEN MENARD

I was born in Edmonton Alberta in Sept 1943, and grew up on a farm not far from there. At age 16 I started to learn guitar to accompany a voice inherited from both my Mom and Dad who had beautiful voices. I played in bands until I was near thirty then abandoned music for over 20 years to make room for another great love, photography. I took and taught many courses and thrived on Ansel Adams and John Weston among many other creative geniuses. I once took a course with Ansel it drove me to pursue my black and white photography even more.

I spent a good part of my working career in the floor covering industry, both selling and installing. I retired in 2003 on disability due to back problems, and my wife and I moved from Surrey where we had lived for 30 years, to the peaceful sea side City of Powell River. This city maintains much of it’s original small town flavor and is a haven for hundreds of very talented artists and musicians.

I’ve worked with wood all my life, but it wasn’t until we moved to Powell River that I really had the chance to indulge myself in wood turning. I built a very heavy duty lathe with a 3hp motor to handle the largest wood I could find, but find that I do most of work on another home lathe that will turn bowls up to 18” in diameter.

My wood all comes from local sources such as urban foresters and local land owners who have to remove trees. Like every other turner I’ve ever met, I have a great reverence for wood, and feel a duty to reveal the best in each piece I turn. Often this requires a lot of extra time and effort to include natural defects that create the distinct one of kind look of the piece. I also spend a great deal of time on my sanding and finishing to ensure that each piece gets the finish that will best compliment the grain and colour of the piece. I use tung oil to finish the great majority of my work. I put on anywhere from 3 to 5 coats of oils with drying and sanding between each coat. This method requires at lot of time however I like the deep sealing and hard wearing, lustrous finish that this method provides. The final finish is a coat of museum conservators wax which prevents fingerprints from showing on the surface.

Turning not only brings me pleasure and fulfils the desire to create something beautiful, it is also a therapy for the winter blues. I’m back to singing and playing guitar again since I moved here, and I go out to the farmer’s market to perform every Sunday, as well as doing most of the festivals that occur here every year.

Life is good here on the Sunshine Coast and I hope that I pass on some of my love and joy in every piece I present, and that those who buy my work will share those feelings.

I''d love to have comments on my work from any one who has seen or bought it. len.menard@yahoo.ca