Woodturning is more than just setting a cutting tool to a piece of wood on a lathe. A well-programmed machine can accomplish this. The true talent that goes into a well-turned bowl must come from a wood turner's ability to read the grain and color of the wood. He must also have sense of the elements of shape, contour, proportion and balance and be able to recognize the contribution of the various defects that show up in woods used in the craft.

Often the Woodturner does not know what a particular bowl will look like when he first starts cutting on a piece of wood. The woodcrafter as an artist must be cognizant of the rules of balance, proportion and form. However, as he removes the wood from an unformed piece of wood, it is often the flow of the grain, the variation of color and the feel of the cutting tool that dictates how the final product will look.

It is with the guidance of master wood turners John Jordan of Tennessee, Michael Lee of Hawaii, and Todd Hoyer of Arizona that Jerry applies these principles. But the final product must come from within the artist that is guiding the tools that produce the final form. And therein lies the final satisfaction for the woodturning artist. Jerry's delight is in the discovering how the inner-grain of a piece of wood reveals the shape of the final product.