Wednesday, June 17, 2009

McLain's work among exhibition's elite

T.S. Last El Defensor Chieftain General Manager

By profession, Jim McLain works as a facility manager at New Mexico Tech. But on his own time, the Socorro native has carved himself a niche in the world of woodturning.

McLain will be one of 30 artists with a piece on display in the Spirit of the Southwest exhibition at this year's International American Association of Woodturners Symposium, held Friday through Sunday, June 26-28, at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

According to the association's Web site, the Spirit of the Southwest exhibit features works that capture "the history, environment, flora, fauna, past and present cultures of the Southwest."

McLain's piece, selected from 130 entries by an AAW jury, is a vase called "Chaco Passages," and is one of a series inspired by ancient pueblo ruins at Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico and southwest petroglyphs.

"With the Chaco series I tried to capture the Chaco brick motif and the repeating doors and windows," he says. "It's something that evolved over time."

McLain has been at the craft since 1991. He had previous experience working with wood as a furniture and cabinet maker. Eventually his hobby evolved into pure art, where he created meticulously manufactured decorative pots, bowls and vases.

One of his creations is made up of 1,100 pieces of wood, each shaped to size with a dental drill. But most of his pieces are cut from one of chunk of wood, beginning with a chain saw. McLain says a lot of the wood he uses is green wood and firewood made available by the State Land Office near Datil.

McLain uses a variety of wood in his work, including Mesquite and Honey Locust, but he prefers Alligator Juniper.

"It's softer and more dense and has good color," he says. "It grows under so much stress that it gets knots in it and the grain is really pretty."

McLain places the wood inside plastic bags until its ready to use.

"It's better if the wood stays fresh, so I'll put them in plastic garbage bags until I'm ready to shape an object," he explained.

After cutting the wood to size, McLain sculpts the piece using a lathe in the converted garage that now serves as his workshop. He shapes the wood and carves it to a thickness of between 3/4 inch and 1-1/2 inches, depending on the size of the piece.

The object is then soaked in a mixture of pentacryl and alcohol.

"Dry wood in our climate is hard, because of the humidity, so I'll put it in a cardboard box and seal it for four to six months to let the moisture dissipate," he said.

McLain then sandblasts the object and sometimes burns images into the wood. Some are adorned with inlaid malachite or turquoise.

The process takes "hours and hours," McLain says, but its time well spent.

"I do it for self-satisfaction — seeing my ideas come together," he said. "It's also a stress release."

McLain has been selling his sculptures for the past eight or 10 years. Some of his work is at the Marigold Arts gallery in Santa Fe. Closer to home, he has pieces at Pepper's Gallery in Magdalena.

Although he doesn't do it as much anymore, McLain also hawks his wares at various art shows. He's a regular at the Festival of the Cranes art show at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge each November. His pieces range in price from $100 to $4,000.

McLain has earned other accolades for his work. He's twice won Best in Show in the Master Woodturning Division at the New Mexico State Fair and took first place two other years. He's also had pieces featured in several woodturning and woodworking publications.

The symposium showcases the art of woodturning and includes demonstrations, presentations and other activities, some of which require advanced registration.

McLain recommends the visiting the instant gallery, which is open to the public during the three-day event. Featured woodturners are permitted to show up to six samples of their work.

"It's quite a thing to see," says McLain. "There's some really fabulous work in that show. It's worth seeing."

tslast@dchieftain.com

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