Artist Donald Olsen
Donald R. Olsen from Lincolnton, N. C., has been "working in the round" since his junior high school shop teacher introduced him to woodturning in '52.
Perfecting his craft over the years, Don and his lathe combine form and function to produce one-of-a-kind plates, bowls, urns, vases and wood sculptures.
Don is a member of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW), North Carolina Woodturners Association and the Carolina Mountain Woodturners. He formed a woodworking club at AT&T Bell Laboratories in '75 while working as a telecommunication engineer in the company's Naperville, IL location. At the time of retirement from AT&T, he was an active member of the Chicago Woodturners Association. He is also a member of the Gaston County Art Guild and a member of the Charlotte Art League.
Since retirement, Don moved to North Carolina where he works with native hardwoods. He has developed and published a technique to produce thin-necked hollow forms by hollowing from the bottom. This technique produces a smooth unbroken curvature in the neck of the vessel. He also demonstrates his art form at club meetings, industry shows, local symposiums and the AAW National symposiums in '98, ‘00, ‘01 and in '05. Don offers woodturning instruction to others, and has taught at The Icehouse Center for Craft and Creativity in Davidson, NC.
North Carolina juried art exhibits Don has participated in include: the 21st and 22nd Shelby Art League National Exhibit, the '96 Gaston County Museum of Art and History Annual Show; the '96 Rowan Mayfest Spring Arts Festival where he took first-place honors, the Natural View Art Show in the Schiele Museum in Gastonia where he received a merit award in'96 and '00; and in '97 where he received an honorable mention, the 12th Annual ArtFest in Matthews, September '97 where he received the first-place award in the sculptural category, the Carolina Foothills Handmade Association in Shelby, where he received second place from the "Peoples Choice Award", in November '97 received second place honors in the County-Wide Art Show in Lincolnton, and again in November '98 received an honorable mention, the Catawba Valley Open Competition and Exhibition in Hickory, in October '98 received third place and again in May '99 received an honorable mention, in September '99 received second place in the Visual Harvest Art Show in the Gaston County Museum in Dallas, in March '00 received the second-place award in the Bloomin' Arts Celebration 2000 in Shelby, in November ’05 received first place honors in the County-Wide Art Show in Lincolnton and in November '96, the Gaston County Museum purchased one of Don's urns for its permanent collection. Don has pieces in collections around the country.
International juried art exhibits Don has participated in include: in 2000, the 8th Biennial Works in Wood, An International Exhibit at the Chesterton Art Gallery in Chesterton, IN, and in 2004, the Sea to Odyssey international juried exhibit of woodturning in Orlando, FL and St. Paul, MN.
Don has hosted art shows in his own community at the Lincoln Cultural Center, Lincolnton, NC. He has work on display in the K2 Studio gallery in Asheville, NC. His pieces may also be seen by appointment at his home studio at 871 Bethel Church Road, Lincolnton, NC, 28092. Contact: 704-735-9335 or click on the links at the bottom of the page.
View More Of Donalds Work Here