AAW names Evan Tenenbaum vessel turning of the week for May 25

A vessel with a large overhang and wood that was out of round and out of balance leaves very little margin for error at the lathe. Evan Tenenbaum’s “My Cup Runneth Away” met that challenge head-on, and the American Association of Woodturners highlighted it as Turning of the Week for May 25, 2026.

Donna Banfield, posting for the AAW TOTW Team from Derry, New Hampshire, framed the piece as more than a polished finish or a clever silhouette. She described it as a visually pleasing work of art, the kind of turning that makes non-turners stop and ask, “How did you do that?” The answer, at least in part, was adaptation. Banfield noted that Tenenbaum began with one plan, then changed course midstream and arrived at a different, but successful, result.

That pivot is what made the selection feel earned inside the woodturning community. The overhang was not just decorative. It was a technical hurdle, and the out-of-round, unbalanced stock meant the form had to be negotiated as much as designed. Experienced turners reading the thread focused on exactly those pressure points: how to keep the piece stable, how to preserve flow, and how to prevent a dramatic profile from reading as top-heavy. The comments from Darryl Fective, Darryn Achall, Pat Wisniewski and Jaramiah Severns echoed that reading, praising the piece’s movement, its visual appeal and the fascination of turning something that had to be managed so carefully.

The forum discussion also homed in on the two carved feet, along with the lip and base that keep the vessel grounded. That balance between structure and lightness is part of what separates a showpiece from a solved problem. In this case, the feet were not a minor embellishment. They helped anchor the composition and made the overhang feel intentional rather than precarious.

The recognition landed in a busy AAW stretch that also included the May 2026 Turning Challenge, themed around a bud vase, and the association’s 2026 virtual symposium. That symposium is set to livestream June 4-7, with 20 live demonstrations and recordings available through September 24, giving members a chance to watch from anywhere, not just in Raleigh, North Carolina. It fits neatly with AAW’s larger mission of advancing the art and craft of woodturning worldwide through education, information and organization.

For turners looking for the real lesson in “My Cup Runneth Away,” it was right there in the overhang: the best forms often start as a plan, then become better when the wood forces a smarter one.