The instant gallery is an amazing, overwhelming collection of wood art, ideas, creativity and craftsmanship that is really hard to take in all at once.  So many ideas and so many different skills that are all in one place in no particular order.  I have gone through and taken pictures of just about everything in the past and not sure what good that did me, so I just took some shots of things that got my attention for one reason or another.  Mostly for inspiration of my future work.   Here is what I came home with in no particular order....

I thought these were very cool.  I am not sure how they did it but found it intriguing to think about how to do it.  Also is pretty math-geeky...  

I make mostly bowls and I like the beads on the outside of a normal bowl.  Black is fine and done a lot these days but like the shape of the bowl. 

 I liked this shape and the grouping of different sizes.  I really want to pick them up and feel them, how heavy are they? how does the curve feel?  how do they compare?  one of the problems with keeping everyone's work safe.

 I love Phil Brown's Vortex bowl.  I have touched this and love the feel of his work.  He has combined his two favorite shapes with this new design and I really like it.

I liked that they combined these huge turnings with the mini versions.  I like the shape and can't get anywhere near the large ones now but may try a smaller version.

I have made Christmas ornaments for the past several years and  always looking for new ideas... I am not really into piercing but liked these.  I also liked the bottle and glass in the background.  What I would use sooner than piercing is the ornament holder. 

Here are more ornaments I would be more likely to make.  Many ideas are here...

 

In the spirit of ornaments something a little different, Halloween bat houses. (not really from the instant gallery)

I am not into segmenting but I really like the semi-random walk of the piercing.

 I am not sure I like this shape/final piece but I like the idea of pieces put together or maybe a multiple axis piece like this...

 I like ducks and these are cute.

Scenic St. Paul.

 The trip to St. Paul was wonderful.  I had a great time at the AAW Conference and St. Paul was a wonderful place with many things to see and do.    I only made a short walk about the area we were located but what fun!  Across the street from the convention was the Science museum with the King Tut exhibit.   My wife made it over there and found a lot of interesting exhibits on the Mississippi River and King Tut.

 

Turns out Charles Schultz was born and raised in the Twin-Cities.  Charlie Brown and friends are everywhere  around town.  They were in a ballroom in the hotel, store windows and snoopy was hanging out in the street everywhere.

It was a pleasant surprise to have the NHL Draft going on in the arena attached to where the convention was going on.  The Minnesota club was a block down the street and is a big hockey connection.  Several limo's were often parked out front.   We came around the side of the club to find this inflatable draft guy behind the statue of Herb Brooks.  

 

Also along the street were some pianos that were painted and left along buildings like the convention center and arts buildings.  We even saw a couple of people playing them.

From our hotel room we had a great view of the river and the railroad tracks along it.  We spent some time watching them come from way up the river and try to figure out where they were going.  The train draw-bridge even was raised and lowered several times!

I saw this along the wall and thought it was inspiration for people to work harder..

... but it was just telling us what we should be aware of.

 And finally I loved the slogan from the donuts for sale in the convention center Mini-sota Mini-Donuts.  Beyond the slogan these things sent an aroma through the basement of the Convention center that was heavenly!  I went in there around lunch time and without having breakfast that smell was getting to me, but just in time Cindy called and asked if I wanted to go to lunch, so we did.  Later during the next session I got a text "where are you?".... then 1/2 a bag of Mini-Donuts showed up.  Surprise and Delight was Just Right!