by Pam Lacey

Jim at the lathe

What kind of people make up our extended family of artists and friends? Some very interesting, talented and generous people are part of Brookfield Craft Center's "Creative Community" of shared values and interests. Here is a profile of one.

Jim Degen

To think Jim Degen, faculty and active volunteer for the Brookfield Craft Center, was not a fan of childhood art classes is almost impossible. But it's true. It took retirement and "the call of the wood" for Jim to find his artistic side.

After retiring from the corporate world in 1997, Jim took Beginning Turning with Beth Ireland the following February at the Brookfield Craft Center. Recalls Jim "I signed up for the class, made a three legged stool and went out and bought a lathe. I guess you could say I was hooked." For the first year after taking the class, Jim focused mostly on bowl turning. He continued to take more classes, both at Brookfield Craft Center and other locations, including a week long class with Richard Raffan. Jim also joined the Nutmeg Woodturners League, which meets monthly at Brookfield Craft Center, serving as Co-President and President. Each Spring, members of the League come out in full force and turn many bowls for the annual Brookfield Craft Center Bowl Fest fundraiser. Several of Jim's students have also joined the Nutmeg Woodturners League.

Last Fall, a group of students participating in a four-week evening class that I taught on Wednesdays asked if they could just continue on for another four weeks. "That's the reward of teaching, when students just want to know more and want to keep at it. Sometimes I'll have a student in my class and I can see this student has a certain feel of the tools, and I'll know, he or she is just going to take off... a natural."

Jim offers private tutorials through BCC. One tutorial in particular involved a man who was very active in a vintage baseball league. He wanted to learn how to make authentic replicas of vintage baseball bats, which until then had been difficult to find. He took to what he learned right away, bought a lathe and today is successfully selling beautiful, handmade baseball bats.

Jim's Turning Work

Jim's involvement with BCC also helped bring the new Turning Center, located in the former train station, to life. Jim is now studio manager for the facility.

Jim believes that learning never really stops, there's always room for more and he continues to take classes. This past spring he studied with Bob Rosand, who specializes in turning small objects like ring holders, ornaments and little boxes. "Every thing we did in class, I had already done, but I learned different ways to do what I already knew." Last fall he studied with Michael Hosaluk from Saskatchewan, learning more artistic approaches to woodturning, more interesting and unusual shapes, as well as combining painting and wood burning with the turning for a different end result.

In 2000, Jim upgraded to a professional quality lathe. His woodworking goals as an artist continue to focus on turning, but with a more creative approach, experimenting with more decorative techniques, including carving and the use of dyes.

"As I've grown in turning, I've developed a real appreciation for the wood, the intricacies of the grain and the patterns. I'll start with a log and think I'm going to do one thing and then I'll discover a wormhole or a knot. I have to work with the surprises. It's really the wood that tells me what it's going to do. More than anything, this has to be fun. That's just what I tell my students - if it's not fun, let's not bother."

Jim's work can be seen at the gallery shop at Brookfield Craft Center.