Patricia "Pat" Wilkerson

Pat Wilkerson fell in love with the art of woodturning by watching a child “turn” a piece of wood into a pencil by using a rubber band and an X-Acto knife.

“I decided then that kids couldn’t have all the fun,” says Pat, but adds that she wanted to play with real tools. “That’s when I bought my first lathe. I now have two more.”

While the Clermont artist fell in love with woodturning 45 years ago, her real interest in the art form began about 15 years ago after taking classes taught by national and international woodturners at the Indianapolis Art Center.

“The best part is taking pieces from all of them and figuring out what suits you best,” she says.

Manipulating the wood for each new creation is like heading out on a surprise road trip without knowing where you’re going to end up. Even if you start with a vision for the piece, there’s no guarantee it will turn out that way, Pat says.

“I use all different aspects of wood. None of it is alike,” she says, explaining how she crafts art from a lot of castoffs from wood cut for other purposes, as well as discarded tree branches and other scrap wood.

Like many Hoosiers, Pat says her family learned to “make do” with whatever resources they could acquire while growing up in Indiana.

“I find that this also applies to the wood I use,” she explains. “I like to fix cracks, dry my own wood, and make do.

“Although, the wood I use for segmented turnings mostly comes from lumber companies. The wood must be finished sometimes to a hundredth of a degree and be blemish-free,” she adds.

While woodturning takes patience, she thinks women have a special knack for the art form.