AAW Turning of the Week spotlights collaborative holly vessel with bold surface design

AAW put a collaboration at the center of its May 4 Turning of the Week, and that choice mattered. Russ Braun was filling in for Emiliano, who was traveling in New Zealand, when he selected Waking Dream - Danza Pagana by Roberto Ferrer and Carol Hall, a holly vessel that stood out less as a lone turning than as a finished conversation between form and surface.

The AAW media entry says Carol Hall added the embellishment to a holly vessel sent by Roberto Ferrer. It describes the piece as about 11 inches tall, with the image taken on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 2:23 PM. The forum homepage also congratulated Ferrer and Hall for the selection, underscoring how quickly the piece registered with the AAW community as more than another polished showpiece.

Braun’s response focused on the way the two makers’ jobs complemented each other. He singled out Ferrer’s holly form, especially the strong rim treatment and the elegant curve that carries the eye through the vessel. He also praised Hall’s embellishment and surface design, saying the black-and-white treatment was the right match for the form and let the vessel show off instead of getting buried under decoration. That balance is the point: the piece works because the surface never fights the turning, and the turning gives the decoration room to breathe.

That is also why Waking Dream - Danza Pagana landed as a Turning of the Week winner instead of fading into the pile of solo showcases. AAW’s members see plenty of clean bowls and well-executed hollow forms. What gets attention here is the timing, the handoff, and the restraint. Ferrer supplied a sculptural holly vessel with a shape that already had presence. Hall answered it with embellishment that sharpened the silhouette without turning it into visual noise. The result reads as a hybrid object, part turned vessel, part collaborative artwork, and that combination tends to travel well inside a forum built around both technique and imagination.

Ferrer’s background helps explain why the collaboration landed so strongly. The Ohio Valley Woodturners Guild describes him as a Chicago-based wood artist, sculptor, woodturner, instructor, and demonstrator, and says he has been featured in several AAW journals. Marc Adams School of Woodworking scheduled his workshop Turning Wonderful Wall Sculptures with Embellishments for April 27 to May 1, 2026, with tuition listed at $1,100 plus a $50 material fee. The course description points to a practice built around rotary tools, hand-carving gouges, flames, high-power wood burners, brushes, and paint. In other words, this was not a one-off decorative flourish. It was exactly the kind of partnership Ferrer’s work invites, and exactly the kind of piece that shows what woodturning can become when two makers know where to stop and where to push.