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Rude Osolnik: Grandmaster of Woodturning While other woodturners sought the perfect piece of wood to shape, Rude Osolnik opted to find beauty in nature's imperfections. His use of stumps, fallen logs, spurs and other lumberyard scraps to create unique turnings was a radical notion in the 1950's, but this vision helped shape the direction contemporary woodturning would take over the ensuing forty years. Widely recognized as the most versatile woodturner in America, Rude Osolnik is equally at home with production work and one-of-a-kind art objects. His salad bowls and signature candlesticks were staples at early Southern Handicraft Guild Fairs and widely used in homes throughout the region. Museum recognition of his turnings as art began with the purchase of one of his first laminated bowls by the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in 1975. His work is represented in many prestigious collections, including Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago's Museum of Art and Industry, Atlanta's High Museum of Art, and Louisville's J.B. Speed Art Museum. Rude Osolnik was born in Dawson, New Mexico in 1915. This town no longer exists, but its offspring has gained international recognition as both an educator and an artist. For forty years, Osolnik was a faculty member at Berea College where he established and served as chairman of the schools Industrial Arts Program. He was a founding member of the Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild, serving as both president and treasurer. In 1991 he received his state's most prestigious award, the Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, and in 1994 he was named a Fellow of the American Crafts Council. Accolades continue to be bestowed on this humble man who resides outside Berea, Kentucky, on land he calls "Poverty Ridge". People come there from across the country to take workshops from this master woodturner whose lifelong fascination with wood and the lathe continues to inspire each new generation of woodturner. Martha Connell October, 1994
Martha Connell owns and operates the Connell Gallery in Atlanta, GA and for many years was a major facilitator in introducing Rude and his turned objects to the public. She continues to promote and represent his work and presently has a few pieces at the Connell Gallery.
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